In a recent episode of the “Small Business Rundown” podcast, NFIB members Derrick Roberts and James Tyson discuss what the 20% Small Business Tax Deduction has enabled their business to do, and what would happen if Congress allowed it to expire this year, resulting in a massive tax hike.

Roberts and Tyson own a residential and commercial electrical contracting company in Choctaw, OK.

“We’ve had the pleasure of using this 20% tax deduction to grow our business two-fold, year after year after year,” Tyson said. “It’s been a big asset to us.”

He continued, noting that the tax savings have allowed them to keep their doors open.

“For 2023’s taxes, with the 20% deduction, it saved us just over $24,000. And because of our reinvestment in the business, we didn’t have that money in the bank at the time. So without this tax deduction, we would have had to close our doors.”

To meet the electrical needs of the community, Roberts and Tyson offer opportunities to further their employees’ training. These opportunities would have to be significantly reduced if the deduction were to expire.

“Training would unfortunately be one of the first things to go,” Roberts said. “I can do the job for my customers based off of installation. I don’t have to have trained electricians to please most of my customers. But to offer the community the ability to have usable electricity, I, as a privately-owned electrical contractor, have an internal training program where I’m spending $5,000 to $15,000 a year on a curriculum …. Most of the time, [my employees] would have to go to a vocational or tech school to get this asset. It’s career advancement for them as well as a cultural development within the company itself.”

Customers would also see their prices increase, warned Tyson.

“If we get a 20% tax hike if this deduction doesn’t get renewed or made permanent, ultimately that cost gets passed on to our consumer base,” Tyson said. “For us, in the electrical market, that’s other small business owners and homeowners. We do a lot of new construction homes and if we’ve got to increase our prices to keep up with the demands of the market because we lost this 20% tax deduction, that goes directly toward the cost of a home sale. We’re already dealing with a housing crisis in this country. So I think it’s a no-brainer for Congress to act and make this permanent.”

James and Tyson appeared on the podcast while attending NFIB’s Small Business Deduction Summit, where attendees met with members of Congress, shared how they used the deduction, and urged lawmakers to make it permanent.

CLICK HERE to listen to the full episode.