Tax policy

Small business owners make hard decisions every day. They compromise on things they sometimes wish they didn’t have to, but they do it for the good of their business, their employees and their families. They do it because they have to if they want to continue running a successful business.

John Arensmeyer

Original statement issued Jan. 1, 2013:

The small business community and the nation breathed a sigh of relief today as lawmakers reached a bi-partisan 11th hour deal to avert the “fiscal cliff,” while taking significant steps to reduce our budget deficit. However, more work must be done to put our country on a responsible path toward long-term economic growth and fiscal sustainability.

As Fairfax, Va., small business owner Mike Brey prepares to close the books on 2012, he’s also starting to make expansion plans. But he hasn’t sealed the deal on his two new Hobby Works stores yet — largely because of growing economic uncertainty as we race toward the edge of the “fiscal cliff.”

The politically charged debate over high-income tax cuts is reaching a fever pitch, and the question on everyone’s lips is whether small businesses’ hiring ability will suffer if these cuts expire. Scientific opinion polling released last week shows what real small business owners think, and it might surprise you. The majority of small employers in the poll — more of whom identify as Republican than Democrat, an important distinction given the partisan nature of this debate — believe allowing tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 percent to expire at the end of the year is the right thing to do in light of our budget crisis.

Our nation’s smallest businesses—those with 1-49 employees—continue to outpace large businesses in the race to put America back to work. Businesses with fewer than 50 employees created more than half of all new jobs last month, and, from April to May, they boosted the actual number of jobs they generated by 16 percent, according to data released Thursday by Automatic Data Processing, Inc (ADP). Small businesses overall accounted for more than 93 percent of all new jobs last month, while large businesses created just 6.8 percent of new jobs.

As 2012 progresses, the political heat in Washington is climbing faster than summertime temperatures, and small business is becoming increasingly central to policy debates in Congress. Entrepreneurs make up a core constituency in the United States. With National Small Business Week having recently ended, now is a better time than ever for legislators to reflect on these individuals’ needs and work to address them — one of which is tax relief. Luckily, Congress will have a chance to do just that when the Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act of 2012 comes up for a vote in June.

It was disappointing to see the Paying a Fair Share Act, or the “Buffett Rule,” fail to pass the Senate today. According to national opinion polling, small business owners believe they’re at a disadvantage when it comes to taxes and agree individuals earning more than $1 million should be taxed at a higher rate. The Buffett Rule was in line with their views and could have been an important first step in much-needed comprehensive tax reform.