Small Business Owners Speak Out Against Tax Hikes and Mandates
Updated June 13, 2022
Washington’s latest spending proposals may target the largest corporations to pay for their spending, but unfortunately, the plans would more heavily burden many of America’s small businesses and family-owned businesses. To combat the small business tax increases and mandates being considered in Congress, NFIB’s Small Business Survival federal advocacy campaign is highlighting why tax increases would be harmful to America’s small businesses while holding members of Congress accountable for votes.
Last year, the Biden Administration and Congress proposed a series of new tax increases and mandates, including the following:
- Limiting the Small Business Deduction (IRS Section 199A)
- Increasing the corporate tax rate to 28% without lower rates for small businesses
- Raising the top income tax rate on individually- and family-owned businesses from 37% to 39.6%
- Eliminating stepped-up basis
- Increasing the top capital gains tax rates
- Expanding the reach of 3.8% surtax on small business income over $400,000 for pass-through entities, known as the Small Business Surtax
- Taxing unrealized gains above $100 million with concern the threshold would quickly be lowered over time
- Enacting elements of the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act
- Mandating that employers provide paid sick leave and retirement accounts
- Establishing a complicated and inflexible new federal-government-run family and medical paid leave program
NFIB members have been fighting against these policies since a series of multi-trillion dollar spending proposals were announced in early 2021 and thanks to small business owners’ advocacy, several harmful proposals were eliminated from the House-passed version of the Build Back Better Act. However, these policies can still come back in the future legislation, and as the U.S. Senate considers the Build Back Better Act.
