Assemblyman Billy Jones (D-Chateaugay) announced that the Assembly’s 2017-18 state budget proposal makes New York more business-friendly by providing tax cuts for small businesses and tax credits for businesses conducting research and development, as well as expanding eligibility for the Excelsior Jobs Program.

“The Assembly’s proposed plan supports North Country businesses and helps ensure that they can afford to stay and create more opportunities,” Jones said. “By improving New York’s business climate and making state resources more accessible to our family-owned businesses, we can grow our local economy.”

The Assembly’s budget proposal reduces the income tax rate for small businesses earning $290,000 or less from 6.5 percent to 4 percent for corporate filers. It also allows personal income tax filers, such as sole proprietors, farmers and partnerships, to deduct 15 percent of their adjusted gross income (AGI) before the personal income tax rate is applied, up from the current 5 percent deduction.

The proposal would also double all research and development tax credits. Businesses that are personal income tax filers would receive a 14 percent tax credit for qualifying research and development property. Corporate filers would receive a 10 percent tax credit for the first $350 million of investment and 8 percent for anything above that figure.

The plan also expands eligibility for the Excelsior Jobs Program and increases tax credits for certain participants. The program incentivizes businesses to relocate to and expand in New York, as well as make capital investments in local facilities and create jobs. The Assembly proposal would make it easier to participate in the program by reducing the threshold for job creation and capital investment by 50 percent.

“People looking to start a new business or grow theirs will have more help from the state under the Assembly’s proposal, which is exactly what the North Country needs,” Jones said. “This plan encourages entrepreneurship and cuts the cost of doing business in New York.”