Stop nickel-and-diming small businesses for clerical errors, says Dancer

Fines incurred by small business owners for inconsequential errors on official filings would be eliminated under a measure introduced in the state Legislature by shore Assemblyman Ron Dancer (R-12).

His bill would suspend assessments against small businesses for first-time violations with no lasting impacts.

It is not an across-the-board proposal. A violation would still be subject to a fine if it "harms the general public, interferes with the detection of a criminal activity, impacts the collection of a tax, or if the infraction is not corrected within six months after it is discovered."

Dancer, who is up for re-election November 3, says that costly fines for meaningless errors run counter to encouraging small business development.

"Small business employs more than 1.7 million people in New Jersey," Dancer said in a prepared release. "It is more important for the state to be concerned with economic growth than punishing job-creators for honest mistakes."