SMALL BUSINESS SUCKER PUNCH: DEMS’ SMALL BUSINESS TAX KILLS JOBS

BOEHNER: “SMALL BUSINESS TAX WILL DESTROY MORE AMERICAN JOBS”

Democrats are singing their same old tune, “tax the rich” to pay for their government takeover of health care. But small business owners pay their businesses’ taxes on their individual tax returns (as opposed to the corporate income tax). So the Democrats’ bill places a new and stifling tax – up to an additional 5.4 percent – on the engine of economic growth in our economy: small businesses. In a deep recession and nearing double-digit unemployment, that’s the last thing our country needs. As reported in the Detroit Free Press, among others, House Republicans made clear that a small business tax will cost jobs and hurt our economy: “‘During a deep economic recession, it is criminal malpractice for Democrats to push a government takeover of health care and a new small-business tax that will destroy more American jobs,’ House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a statement.” The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) commissioned a survey of small business owners with total household income likely in excess of $250,000 and found that the more employees a firm had the more likely it was to be affected. In other words, the Democratic small business tax doesn’t hit every small business, it targets those with the most employees. That is bad news for the 33.5 million workers – 28 percent of the private-sector workforce - employed by small businesses with 20 – 299 employees. These employers added more than 2 million jobs between 2001 to 2006; jobs directly threatened by this tax hike. The Democrats’ Talking Points Miss the Point – It’s About Jobs Proponents of the small business tax will argue that relatively few small businesses will be impacted by this tax increase. But the point isn’t the number of small businesses – it’s the number of jobs. According to data compiled by the Tax Policy Center from IRS data, 50.3 percent of all filers in the top bracket (with income over $372,950) earn at least 25 percent of their income from business activities. Proponents of this tax increase deliberately use estimates of a relatively small number of firms impacted to hide the negative impact of this tax hike on jobs. Both NFIB and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) have proven that these low estimates are misleading. NFIB tax counsel Bill Rys said, “The businesses that are most likely to be hit by this tax increase employ about a quarter of the U.S. workforce.” And, according to NAM’s data, 196,000 manufacturers – a full 68 percent of all American manufacturers – file taxes as individuals; these taxpayers had an average taxable of income well above $250,000, suggesting a large negative impact on manufacturers as well. Small business owners strive to make investments to grow their businesses and hire new workers. The Democrats’ newly proposed small business tax, however, will prove to be a small business sucker punch that stifles economic growth and kills jobs.

The Democrats’ Talking Points Miss the Point – It’s About Jobs Proponents of the small business tax will argue that relatively few small businesses will be impacted by this tax increase. But the point isn’t the number of small businesses – it’s the number of jobs. According to data compiled by the Tax Policy Center from IRS data, 50.3 percent of all filers in the top bracket (with income over $372,950) earn at least 25 percent of their income from business activities. Proponents of this tax increase deliberately use estimates of a relatively small number of firms impacted to hide the negative impact of this tax hike on jobs. Both NFIB and the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) have proven that these low estimates are misleading. NFIB tax counsel Bill Rys said, “The businesses that are most likely to be hit by this tax increase employ about a quarter of the U.S. workforce.” And, according to NAM’s data, 196,000 manufacturers – a full 68 percent of all American manufacturers – file taxes as individuals; these taxpayers had an average taxable of income well above $250,000, suggesting a large negative impact on manufacturers as well. Small business owners strive to make investments to grow their businesses and hire new workers. The Democrats’ newly proposed small business tax, however, will prove to be a small business sucker punch that stifles economic growth and kills jobs.