Small businesses tell Congress to stop tax hike

By Casey Harper
The Center Square

A coalition of small businesses are calling on Congress to make the 20-percent small business tax deduction permanent.

Small business leaders visited Washington, D.C. this week to call on lawmakers to pass the Main Street Tax Certainty Act, a bill that would prevent the expiration of a small business tax credit enacted by the 2017 Trump-era tax cuts.

“One of the problems in Washington, D.C., is introducing uncertainty based on expiring tax provisions, and that creates a lot of problems for businesses across America," Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said at the press conference Thursday. "They don’t know what D.C. is going to do. This is why it’s important that we make these tax provisions permanent so these small business owners behind me aren’t having to worry more about what’s going on in D.C.

"They have enough to worry about as it is," he added. "Let’s not add Congress to their worry list."

Daines called for making the tax cut permanent. But currently that tax cut is set to expire next year.

National Federation of Independent Businesses President Brad Close echoed Daines’ comments at the press conference.

“They know that if Congress doesn’t act, it’s going to mean higher taxes and a much more difficult environment for them,” he said.

Small business owners have faced major economic challenges in recent years, from government-mandated pandemic closures that often did not apply to larger corporations in the same way, to the more than 20% increase in prices since President Joe Biden took office.

Whether the tax cut bill can pass this year remains to be seen, though who holds majorities next January could make all the difference.

Small businesses connected to NFIB also spoke at the press conference, asking lawmakers to cut them a break.

“If this deduction goes away, and prices continue to climb, it can literally be the difference between a small business staying open or closing its doors forever,” Candice Price, co-owner of Home Team Auto Sales, said at the press conference.

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