Op-ed urges Congress to make the 20% Small Business Deduction permanent
The 20% Small Business Deduction is crucial for small business owners, but it is currently set to expire in 2025. NFIB President Brad Close wrote an op-ed in Fox Business and was a guest on the Small Business Rundown explaining the benefits of this deduction and why Congress should pass the Main Street Tax Certainty Act.
“As the deduction’s expiration comes closer, small businesses are pulling back,” Close wrote. “In 2021, nearly half of NFIB members said that uncertainty over the deduction was already affecting their business plans, meaning less investment in workers and local communities.”
Making the 20% Small Business Deduction permanent by passing the Main Street Tax Certainty Act is the number one advocacy priority of NFIB and small business owners. The 20% Small Business Deduction was created in the 2017 tax law to bring small businesses’ tax rates closer to that of their large, corporate competitors.
“It has empowered nine out of 10 small businesses to deduct up to 20% of their business income,” Close explained. “The Small Business Deduction has already given America’s mom-and-pop businesses billions of dollars in tax relief, allowing them to reinvest back in their businesses, employees, and communities, and most importantly, create jobs. Without this crucial provision, the 2017 law would have unfairly tilted the playing field toward big businesses and large corporations.”
“Yet while the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s relief for corporations is permanent, this relief for Main Street is temporary,” Close continued. “The Small Business Deduction is scheduled to expire in 2025. That could be considered an eternity in Washington D.C. time, but for small businesses, this massive tax hike is coming up fast. The closer it gets, the harder it will be for small businesses to do what they do best: create jobs, grow the economy, and invest in their communities.”
Close points out how small business owners over the past few years have put the tax savings back into their businesses. And while Close has spoken with NFIB members about this deduction’s importance, most recently at the NFIB Fly-In that occurred in June, he also points out the impact of small business owners sharing their own unique stories with lawmakers.
“Small business owners have consistently explained to members of Congress the difference the Small Business Deduction makes. In June, Stephanie Camarillo, who owns Molly Maid of Boise and Treasure Valley in Idaho, told the Senate that the tax cut let her invest in a promising employee: ‘Jasmine is a single mom who felt trapped and unable to advance in her life. Because of the tax savings through the 20% Small Business Deduction, we were able to give Jasmine the raise and promotion she had earned and now she is on our management team.’”
Small business owners know they pay their fair share of taxes, and a massive increase after 2025 would be devastating. Listen to the Small Business Rundown for an interview with U.S. Congressman Henry Cuellar and Brad Close discussing the Main Street Tax Certainty Act in more detail.
TAKE ACTION: Join fellow small businesses across the country by adding your name to NFIB’s petition to show members of Congress the importance of making the Main Street tax cuts permanent.
