WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 10, 2024) – The Washington Times published an op-ed from NFIB President Brad Close this weekend, emphasizing the need for Congress to address two critical issues affecting small businesses ahead of NFIB’s 2024 Fly-In. Close highlighted the significance of the 20% Small Business Deduction and discussed the implications of new beneficial ownership reporting requirements.
Close stated: “Every member of Congress pledges to help small businesses. But now is the time for our nation’s leaders – on both sides of the aisle – to really deliver. This is the message that hundreds of small business owners nationwide will deliver to Congress this week. My organization is bringing them to our nation’s capital because Main Street’s message is too important to ignore."
He continued by urging Congress to make permanent cuts to small business taxes: “The first and most important thing Congress should do is cut small businesses’ taxes permanently. The Small Business Deduction – the small business centerpiece of the 2017 tax cuts – expires next year. If lawmakers allow that to happen, Main Street will face an unprecedented tax hike…If the Small Business Deduction were made permanent, 90% of local businesses would find it easier to invest in their workers and communities. All Congress needs to do is pass the bipartisan Main Street Tax Certainty Act. The small business economic response would be immediate.”
Close also called for an end to what he described as a burdensome mandate on small businesses: “The second thing Congress should do is end a particularly burdensome mandate – the ‘beneficial ownership’ reporting requirement. Created in 2021 and enforced since January, it’s 100% targeted at the smallest of small businesses, wrapping them in red tape while giving big business a pass.Under this mandate, more than 32 million small businesses must regularly send private personal information about their owners to a federal database. If they don’t, they face up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine. Would any member of Congress like to tell a small business owner that they deserve to go to prison over this?”
The full op-ed can be read here: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/jun/8/two-ways-congress-can-give-small-businesses-relief/
