FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: John Kabateck, California State Director, john@kabstrat.com
or Tony Malandra, Senior Media Manager, anthony.malandra@nfib.org

SACRAMENTO, Calif., April 8, 2025—A new poll released yesterday by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the nation’s leading small business advocacy organization, shows broad, bipartisan support for America’s small businesses along with overwhelming support for keeping the 20% Small Business Tax Deduction in the tax code.

“California is not a low-tax state, which is why allowing the Small Business Deduction to expire at the end of the year would hit our small business owners much harder here than it would elsewhere in the nation,” said John Kabateck, state director of NFIB in California. “Small businesses make up 99.9% of all businesses in California, employing seven million people, so it’s vital for the health of the nation’s economy that the Small Business Deduction be made a permanent part of the tax code. Small business owners have used the deduction to create new jobs, create new benefits, buy new machinery, and expand their business.”

According to the survey, more than 8 in 10 Americans feel it is important for the federal government to support small businesses, including strong majorities of Republicans, Democrats, and Independents. That support translates to strong agreement (93%) that making the 20% Small Business Tax Deduction permanent should be a top priority for Congress, with nearly all Americans (95%) expressing some concern about the impact an expiration of the deduction would have.

View the slide deck for the new poll HERE. Key findings from the nationwide poll include:

Americans overwhelmingly support small businesses.

• 83% of respondents said that it was important for the federal government to support small businesses. 45% believed that supporting small businesses was extremely important.
• More than two-thirds of Republicans (83%), Democrats (86%) and Independents (79%) said that federal support for small businesses was important.
• Nearly eight-in-ten (79%) want to see more support for small businesses.

Americans support the expiring 20% Small Business Tax Deduction that was included in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA).

• 62% of respondents want to keep the Small Business Tax Deduction in the tax code while only one in five supports letting it expire.
• 77% agree that the Small Business Tax Deduction helps level the playing field for small businesses by keeping their tax rates closer to those of larger corporations.

Americans believe that the 20% Small Business Tax Deduction has helped small businesses and the American economy.

• 91% of Americans agree that small businesses rely on the Small Business Tax Deduction.
• 79% of Americans believe the Small Business Tax Deduction has a positive impact on the economy overall.
• 75% of Americans believe the Small Business Tax Deduction has a positive impact on the local economy where they live.
• 51% of Americans are extremely or very concerned about the impact on the economy if the Small Business Tax Deduction expires. Nearly all Americans (95%) express some concern about the impact an expiration of the deduction would have.

The 20% Small Business Deduction was established under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) to level the playing field between small businesses and their large, corporate competitors. However, this vital deduction is set to expire at the end of 2025. Without Congressional action 9 out of 10 small businesses will be hit with a massive tax hike, decimating their ability to expand business operations and raise wages for employees.

Keep up with the latest California small-business news at www.nfib.com. Follow us on X @NFIB_CA and on Facebook @NFIB.CA.

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For more than 80 years, NFIB has been advocating on behalf of America’s small and independent business owners, both in Washington, D.C., and in all 50 state capitals. NFIB is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and member-driven association. Since our founding in 1943, NFIB has been exclusively dedicated to small and independent businesses and remains so today. For more information, please visit nfib.com.

NFIB California
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