Shop local on Small Business Saturday Nov. 25
Small Business Saturday is Nov. 25 and promotes shopping at local stores and mom-and-pop shops, not the big businesses that get the extra boost in sales on Black Friday. Small businesses continue to deal with inflation and labor shortages, among other economic challenges. Cost pressures are made worse by burdensome regulations and red tape from Washington D.C., which make running a small business more expensive than ever. NFIB President Brad Close wrote an op-ed for Fox Business urging consumers to shop local, and support crucial small business legislation.
“Small businesses need their community’s support to come through this crisis, which hurts Main Street a lot more than it does big corporations. That’s the biggest reason why Small Business Saturday matters so much,” explained NFIB President Brad Close. “Small businesses have accounted for two out of every three jobs over the past 25 years, and they want to create even more. For that to happen, they need their lawmakers to stand up for them.”
“Small businesses are the ones who sponsor the school baseball team, support the local bake sale, and fund every worthy charitable cause they can,” said Close. “Every dollar you spend at a small business on Saturday will find its way back into the community, whether through donations, wages and benefits for local employees, or new jobs.”
Right now, small businesses are facing economic challenges in an uneven playing field that benefits big corporations. There are three top-priority policies for small businesses that Congress needs to pass.
- Main Street Tax Certainty Act: Congress needs to stop a scheduled small business tax hike. In 2017, lawmakers gave permanent tax cuts to Wall Street, but the relief they gave Main Street was temporary, and it’s set to expire in 2025.
- Credit Card Competition Act: Congress needs to give small businesses relief from soaring credit card fees. When you shop at a small business on Small Business Saturday, it must pay a 3% processing fee every time you swipe your credit card.
- Congress should free small businesses from a burdensome mandate that goes into effect on January 1. At that point, every small business that has more than $600 dollars in transactions via platforms like PayPal and Venmo will start receiving tax forms from the IRS for additional tax liabilities.
“This Small Business Saturday on Nov. 25, please shop at every Main Street store you can. But please go a step further, too,” said Close. “Tell your Representatives and Senators that if Congress doesn’t act, countless small businesses will be at an even bigger disadvantage against big business. It’s time to level the playing field and let Main Street do even more to lift their communities and all of America.”
Take Action: Add your name to NFIB’s petition to prevent a massive tax increase and urge Congress to make permanent Main Street tax cuts a priority.
