For Immediate Release
Jack Mozloom, 202-406-4450 or 609-462-5610 (cell)
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Small Business Owner says Tax Reform should focus on Lower Rates, Simplification and Parity between Local Firms and Big Corporations
Ohio businessman and NFIB member warns Congress not to leave small business behind
Washington, DC (April 15, 2015) – Ohio businessman Scott Lipps told the House Small Business Committee today that the federal tax code is a liability for his small firm and that Congress should fix the system with an eye toward lower rates, fewer rules and equal treatment for small business owners who worry that reform will leave them behind.
“Should Congress enact comprehensive tax reform that achieves these goals, small business owners would no longer face one of their most consistent complaints, which include arbitrary and inconsistent tax preferences, constant change and complexity in the current federal code,” he said.
Mr. Lipps, who owns Sleep Tite Mattress Factory and Showroom in Franklin, Ohio, was one of several witnesses whom the Committee invited on the day that Americans must file their federal taxes. Congress, he said, should seek to reform the IRS Code with several goals in mind: permanently low rates; minimal disparity between the corporate rate and individual rates; much less complexity; pass-through treatment for business income.
“NFIB members are willing to cap or eliminate tax preferences like the mortgage interested deduction, employer provided health insurance exclusion, total deductions, tax exempt municipal bonds, and the production tax credit in order to lower the individual income tax rates,” he said. “But keep in mind that our income is our capital, so every dollar that we have to send to Washington is a dollar that we’re not investing in our businesses or in our communities.”
The President’s budget calls for a reduction on corporate tax rates in exchange for closing certain loopholes. So far, however, he’s been unwilling to discuss changes on the individual side of the code where most small businesses file their taxes. To exclude small business from the reform would be unfair, said Mr. Lipps, and it would also be unwise.
“Small business owners create more jobs than the corporations and they generate a larger share of the national wealth,” he said. “If the goal of tax reform is to grow the economy, spread prosperity and make the United States more competitive, then you should be focused on the small business side of the code as well.”
For more information about NFIB, please visit www.nfib.com.
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#smallbiz owner / @nfib_oh member tells @HouseSmallBiz: Include ALL small firms in #taxreform! http://t.co/y5Arxcwy5Y pic.twitter.com/KmHwvtEmmV
— NFIB (@NFIB) April 15, 2015
Ohio #smallbiz owner/@NFIB member to Congress: Give #taxreform Lower rates Fewer rules Local firms not just big corps http://t.co/y5Arxcwy5Y
— NFIB (@NFIB) April 15, 2015
Scott Lipps on behalf of @NFIB “Taxes are a bigger problem than poor sales, the cost and quality of labor, & government regulation.” #TaxDay
— House Small Business (@HouseSmallBiz) April 15, 2015
Lipps @NFIB “Feb 2015 Small Biz & Economic Trends report ranks taxes as the number 1 problem small business owners currently face.” #TaxDay
— House Small Business (@HouseSmallBiz) April 15, 2015
Lipps @NFIB “Over 85 percent of NFIB members agree that Congress should fundamentally reform the tax code” #TaxDay
— House Small Business (@HouseSmallBiz) April 15, 2015
Lipps @NFIB “Small biz owners most consistent tax code complaints: arbitrary & inconsistent tax preferences, constant change & complexity.”
— House Small Business (@HouseSmallBiz) April 15, 2015
Lipps @NFIB “We’ve created a situation where entrepreneurs take less risks.” #TaxDay #TaxReform
— House Small Business (@HouseSmallBiz) April 15, 2015
