Montana Legislature

Kalispell lawmaker wants to change business equipment tax

Posted: Jan 23, 2013 10:03 PM by Marnee Banks - MTN News

HELENA - A Republican Senator from the Flathead wants to lower taxes for Montana businesses.

Senator Bruce Tutvedt is proposing to reduce the business equipment tax, which is a levy on items such as construction vehicles, machinery, mining equipment, tools and furniture.

The current rules state that if a business has $3 million or less in equipment, the state taxes it at 1.5%, and anything above $3 million is taxed at 3%.

Tutvedt's bill would raise the threshold so that businesses with equipment valued at less than $10 million would be taxed at 1.5%, and those above that threshold would pay 3%.

The Montana Department of Revenue reports 41 Montana businesses would be impacted by this change and pay a lower tax rate.

"This is a jobs bill. This is to incentivize the small businesses that do jobs and the mid size businesses that are looking to come to Montana,"Tutvedt said.

We looked at the Money Trail on this bill, and according to the Montana Department of Revenue, if this bill passes, the state would lose $7.7 million in revenue this budget cycle.

The state would then continue to lose about $5 million annually each following year.