An Act to promote employee ownership

This bill (SD 255) allows small businesses with fewer than 500 employees to deduct capital gains from selling company shares to an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) when the ESOP owns at least 49% of the business. It directly affects small business owners who sponsor ESOPs, providing a tax incentive to transition ownership to employees. The key provision amends tax law to permit this deduction for gains from the sale of employer securities to qualifying ESOPs. The bill must be sponsored by the business itself and applies only to non-publicly traded companies. The measure was recently referred to the Revenue committee after House concurrence.