TRENTON – Legislation that would create a new energy-related sales tax exemption to help stabilize the state’s shrinking manufacturing sector and lure new businesses to New Jersey has been introduced by Senate President Stephen M. Sweeney and Assemblywoman Celeste M. Riley.
The bill (S-1949/A-2767) would exempt from sales and use taxes the electric and natural gas bills of manufacturing facilities where at least 50 people are employed and at least half of those jobs are in the direct manufacturing process. The manufacturers based in any of the state’s Urban Enterprise Zones have been able to benefit from a similar sales tax exemption since 2004.
With the energy-intensive needs of most modern manufacturing plants, Sweeney and Riley said the anticipated savings would not only help the in-state industrial sector survive, but make New Jersey a more attractive home for business.
This measure (S-1949/A-2767) is pending before the Senate Environment and Energy and Assembly Telecommunications and Utilities committees.
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