Small Business Cries Foul as States Tax Their Federal Bailouts
Though free from U.S. taxes, almost a dozen states regard PPP loans as taxable income or bar deductions related to them—or both.
Vermont is one of 11 states—including California, Florida, Hawaii, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Washington—that have been taxing PPP loans or considering it. The legislature in Montpelier last month moved to repeal the levy.
Photographer: Getty ImagesLindsay DesLauriers was on a roll early last year. Her family had recently bought back the Bolton Valley Resort in Vermont, which her father had originally developed in the 60s. The business was on a “really positive growth trajectory,” she said. Then the pandemic hit.
Vermont’s shutdown in March 2020 came at a terrible moment for the resort, eliminating the last three weeks of the winter season along with the revenue that sustains it through the lean summer months. DesLauriers went from 300 employees to eight.