Budget Agreement a Mixed Bag, but Small Business Capital Deduction Promising for Small Firms
Statement by John Arensmeyer, Founder & CEO of Small Business Majority, on the House of Representatives reaching a bipartisan budget agreement that includes an important tax deduction for small businesses
The U.S. House of Representatives reached a bipartisan budget agreement last night that includes a provision to permanently raise a key capital deduction for small businesses. While this is encouraging news for entrepreneurs looking for long-term certainty to invest in their businesses, we're disappointed this package includes many tax breaks that solely benefit large firms.
The measure permanently raises the small business expensing level (sometimes called Section 179 expensing) to $500,000, and allows small businesses to deduct up-front the cost of purchasing new equipment, software and property. This gives business owners the ability to maximize investment in their companies, fueling expansion and driving growth and job creation. Additionally, making the higher small business expensing limits permanent will reduce uncertainty and the incidence of tax policy driving business decisions.
While we're glad small business owners can now have more financial confidence to invest in their businesses, we're disappointed by other provisions in the budget agreement, particularly the decision to do away with key provisions of the Affordable Care Act that can help lower healthcare costs. It's important that lawmakers come together to strengthen the healthcare law, rather than chipping away at it and removing key provisions that can benefit the healthcare system overall.
As our nation's biggest job creators, small businesses are vital to our economic strength. They are looking to lawmakers for long-term solutions that provide economic certainty and help them thrive. We're glad lawmakers agreed on the Section 179 provision, but urge them to work together to enact policies that directly help small businesses grow.
About Small Business Majority
Small Business Majority is a national small business advocacy organization, founded and run by small business owners to focus on solving the biggest problems facing America's 28 million small businesses today. Since 2005, we have actively engaged small business owners and policymakers in support of public policy solutions, and have delivered information and resources to entrepreneurs that promote small business growth and drive a strong, sustainable economy. We are a team of more than 30 working from our 11 offices in Washington, D.C. and 9 states, with a network of more than 45,000 small business owners and more than 2,000 business organizations, along with a formal strategic partnership program of more than 125 business organizations, enabling us to reach more than 500,000 entrepreneurs. Our extensive scientific polling, focus groups and economic research help us educate and inform policymakers, the media and other stakeholders about issues including taxes, healthcare, access to capital, entrepreneurship, workforce development, clean energy and immigration. Learn more about us on our website and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.