Boston (June
10, 2014) – The National Federation
of Independent Business (NFIB), representing thousands of small business
owners in Massachusetts, today urged
its congressional delegation to support a tax-relief bill that garnered strong
bipartisan support in the past and which would be a shot in the arm for small
businesses in a rough economy.
“This is an extremely high priority for Massachusetts small businesses and farmers
and we think that our congressional representatives should make it their
priority to pass,” said NFIB State
Director Bill Vernon.
The bill, HR
4457, also known as the Small Business Tax Relief Act, would allow small
business owners to deduct the full cost of up to $500,000 in new machinery,
vehicles and other capital assets in the same year they make the
investments. That’s a major change from
the current system, under which businesses can deduct only $25,000 in new
equipment. For investments above that
level, small businesses can only deduct a portion of the depreciated value each
year.
“Until this year small businesses could deduct up
to $500,000 for machinery and equipment.
When it reverted to $25,000 a big incentive to invest in growing or
expanding small businesses vanished,” said Vernon. “Restoring it to the previous level would
allow small business owners to recoup more of their investments and to do so
much sooner than the current system allows.
It would create an immediate incentive for small businesses to invest in
themselves, grow and create jobs.”
It would also simplify the tax filing requirements
for small business owners who would no longer have to repeat the same exercise
every year possibly for a decade or more.
“Most Massachusetts
small businesses don’t have in-house tax experts and consultants to help them
navigate the system and the paperwork,” said Vernon. “So there’s an
immediate tax benefit that also reduces for small business owners the cost and
time required for tax preparation, filing and compliance.”
NFIB has listed the bill among its key votes for
this session. It will be part of the
scorecard, in other words, and according to Vernon the state’s congressional delegation should give it
bipartisan support.
“There’s a real chance for permanent, bipartisan tax
relief in this Congress, and it’s this bill,” said Vernon. “Our members are
very strongly urging their congressional representatives to vote for this
measure on Thursday.”
Click here to read about NFIB’s position on the bill. To learn more about NFIB, please visit www.nfib.com.
#####
