Ban it. The government’s issue is not that it doesn’t have enough revenue. The issue is spending. If you give the govt a dollar of your hard earned money, they will spend 4 dollars. Enough. Get them out of our pockets

This tax doesn't even impact the vast majority of NH citizens in any way. This is one of those examples where if you want lower taxes...this is something that should remain in place. They should be finding ways to lower property taxes, not helping out wealthy families lower their tax rate. I want lower taxes and my wife and I make a decent amount of money. We're not saving a dollar if this goes away, just means that money will wind up coming from somewhere else.

They say more than half came from households with more than $200,000 in interest and dividend income. I would then assume that the other half came from those with less than $200,000 in interest/dividend income. That's where my problem would be with it.

I don't think full repeal is the best option here but I do think someone retiring expecting 40k a year from investments shouldn't need to pay additional tax.

Punishing people for investing in their retirement when the government won't cover their retirement is exactly why our government fucking sucks.

I am asking a question I don't know the answer to that may help differentiate what that statement means.

What percentage of people with interest or dividend income are making over 200k per year? Probably a tiny minority but I don't know the answer.

I understand why you think it is the wealthy that benefit. And to some extent that may be true. Interest and dividends are a vital way for many senior citizens to fund retirement. As inflation continues to eat away at buying power, the income that is generated by interest and/or dividends is crucial for many. Not just “rich people.” Keep in mind that as people approach retirement age, the amount required to maintain your standard log living will easily require a net worth over 1 million dollars? Is that rich? I guess the real debate is, what is rich and does that vary according to geography as well?

Iras and 401ks are exempt.

Other question is, why are we always looking to increase taxes and never really looking at operational efficiencies with the huge budget that states have? Same thing with the fed. They always want more. And we always get less.

I make faaaaar less then $200K and pay the I&D tax.

Good riddance to a tax that punishes people for living within their means and saving money for retirement.

The government's going to get that rich asshole money one way or another and I'd rather it come through the IRS than a lobbyist.

How are you paying any significant I&D tax without being a trust fund baby?

Edit: 401Ks and IRA have tax benefits that let you save for retirement with significant tax benefits. Unless you're maxing out contributions to one or both why would you make taxable investments?

Because you don't need that many stock holdings to get hit by the tax. I earn significantly under that limit and just by putting away a few bucks a week, I earn significant (to me) dividend income.

The exemption amount has stayed constant - not indexed. Seems they could have increased the exemption amount and index it for inflation to keep less people from being impacted. This would also provide a reduction in taxes without fully eliminating this revenue stream.

For many people those still aren't enough to retire on without something like social security. Nevermind if someone becomes disabled before they reach retirement age.

Once you have enough liquid assets to cover emergencies, you should be putting that money in a retirement account with tax benefits.

What if I want dividend income before retirement.

There nothing left to squeeze from the fruit. That's the reality. Government is already lean and underfunded.

Tax advantaged accounts have limits. If you live within your means and sacrifice the newest trend you can hit those limits. When you hit those limits, your savings go into taxable accounts. Additionally a 401K style account wasn't available for the first 10ish years of my career so all I had available was the Roth IRA which was easy to max--then it was back to sticking things in taxable.

GFY with the trust fund baby BS. My folks are still working their blue collar jobs well into their 70s.

Not everyone has access to 401Ks.

So, you're older than 50.

If you're putting away $37,000 a year+other tax shelters, you can afford some tax on the rest. "Live within your means and sacrifice" my ass. I'd have to sacrifice eating to put away $37000/year.

Hahah. Too funny. Govt lean and underfunded? It should be. After all most citizens are feeling that way too

Other than the Police State which is way too large and over funded, please provide examples where you believe there are too many state or local government employees.

>Punishing people for investing in their retirement

I was responding to that comment. Everyone can put money in a tax deferred savings account, IRA, 401K SEP etc. They are all exempt.

NH like just about every other state, cannot do deficits. They cannot spend 4 dollars for every dollar of taxes, they can spend approximately one dollar for every dollar of taxes.
Meanwhile, I know this will come as a shock, but it actually costs money to run a government and provide the infrastructure and services that a government provides.

Yeah? So each individual gets a 2,400 exemption, so for people such as you are so concerned about, they will not have 2400 in interest or dividends to tax, so I am not understanding your concern.

The $4 comment was somewhat tongue in cheek. It is a shock it costs money to run the govt. I appreciate the lesson. The one of the goals of govt should be to operate as efficiently as possible to not waste the taxpayers money. If it was capable of doing that quite possibly people might feel like they are getting a value for their hard earned money.

Education Administration, police, and general govt admin. Cut 10% headcount and the same work could and would be done. Business does it every couple of years. Why can govt?
NH govt does a lot of things that I like fiscally. But anytime there is an opportunity to keep money that I have earned and use it, I will take it.

Works for some people. But what if you want to use your nest egg to start a business

I clearly missed that paragraph. Thank you for pointing it out.

They also noted that this has no effect on 87% of NH residents. I'd be surprised if the majority of that group "under $200,000" weren't pretty close to that 200k threshold, not that it really matters.

As noted in the table in the article, in order to pay $500 to this tax a one would need between a $250,000 to $825,000 in investments to generate $10,000 in interest and or dividends. If you've got enough money invested to earn that kind of dough then you can afford the $500. If you have that kind of money and you can't afford the $500, take a long look in the mirror and try to figure out why you suck so bad at money management because it's not taxes that are screwing you, it's your own ineptitude.

• I'm using "you" in the collective sense, not specifically #WhoWhatWhenWhenHowY

Then pay the tax on the interest from your investments. You'd need ~$80k in the bank before you pay this tax.

Wait, isn't the first $2.4k untaxed? $83k at 3% APR is about that. How much do you need?

Not older than 50. 401K limits are 22,5 for 2023 which is way up 2K from 22. IRA limits are 6,5 for 2023 which is up 500 from 22.

While I just went to public school, I don't think that adds up to 37k.

The numbers change after 50, but you put away $28k last year and $29k this year. Probably more in another tax shelter like life insurance. Plus at least $60k in other investments and probably some home equity.

Why are you pretending to be working class?