The Professional Employer Organization (PEO) industry is now into its fourth decade. As it is with emerging business service industries, it takes some time for state regulators to understand and implement appropriate rules and legislation to govern any new way of conducting business.
The first PEO licensing bill was enacted by Florida in 1992. New Hampshire was the next to follow in 1994. Today, nearly 40 states have enacted legislation to govern the efforts of PEOs operating in their respective states. Given that the PEO is recognized as a co-employer in a PEO-Client partnership in the Granite State, concerns were raised when implementation of the Business Enterprise Tax (BET) enabled that the PEO, not their New Hampshire clients, could claim the BET tax credits against business profits. While many PEO clients are small enough that the BET tax credit is not significant, it is not true for larger companies in a PEO relationship.
Diane Stevenson, President and CFO of Genesis HR Solutions sparked an initiative at the National Association of Professional Employer Organizations (NAPEO) to address this issue. “It’s a matter of fairness”, said Stevenson. “Clients of a PEO should be entitled to any and all tax credits that would be available absent a PEO-Client relationship”. Her opinion, which has been universally accepted in the PEO industry is providing the impetus to change this anomaly in the law, which will protect the interests of the small business community in New Hampshire. NAPEO responded in kind by authoring a bill that would address this issue.
Stevenson’s Genesis leadership partner, Patty Hilger, President and COO, a New Hampshire native and resident of Nashua spoke to the small business needs of her home state. “The small business community in New Hampshire is experiencing a renaissance, especially in the southern part of our state. This initiative is not only the fair and right thing to do, it makes sense to encourage the growth of small and medium sized businesses in New Hampshire” said Hilger.
Now that the PEO industry has helped create growth opportunities for the business community in New Hampshire, it is important that legislators embrace the concept that small businesses drive the economic engine in New Hampshire. Passage of legislation that would protect these interests would be a step in the right direction.
For more information, please reach out to Genesis HR Solutions at AskUs@genesishrsolutions.com or 800-367-8367.
Genesis HR Solutions is the premier PEO provider for Massachusetts based businesses.
