WASHINGTON, March
9, 2000 -- The small business group NFIB
today announced that an upcoming vote in the
U.S. House of Representatives on small business
tax relief is considered an official NFIB key
vote. The small business group is strongly
urging members of Congress to support the
legislation.
"Small business frequently
gets kicked in the shins by Washington, so this
small dose of aspirin doesn't seem like too much
to ask," said NFIB Senior Vice President Dan
Danner. "Members of Congress who refuse to
provide even modest pain relief for small
business could find that the small business
owners in their home districts may decide to
kick back in November. Small business is
definitely watching this vote closely."
The House is expected to vote Thursday
on HR 3832, the Small Business Tax Fairness Act.
The bill would help ease the crippling tax
burden on small business in a number of
important and significant ways:
- Installment-sales tax correction. The
Small Business Tax Fairness Act includes a full
repeal of a new law enacted last year that makes
it much harder for small business owners to sell
their businesses. Under the new installment
sales tax law, many small business owners who
sell their businesses now have to immediately
pay in one lump sum all capital gains taxes
resulting from the sale, even if the sale's
payments are spread out in installments over a
period of several years. Under previous
treatment, which this bill would restore, the
capital gains tax payment could be spread over
the life of the installment note.
- Death tax relief. Eliminating the
dreaded death tax is a top priority for small
business owners - 90% support its repeal. The
Small Business Tax Fairness Act would reduce the
tax rates imposed upon smaller estates. Combined
with the scheduled increase in the exemption, a
small business worth $1.5 million would see its
death-tax bill reduced by more than 50% by 2006
- a major step toward complete repeal.
- 100% deduction for health insurance costs
of self-insured.Currently, self-employed
workers can only deduct 60% of their
health-insurance costs from their taxable
income. The Small Business Tax Fairness Act
would raise that threshold to 100%, cutting
health care costs for the typical small business
owner by hundreds of dollars a year.
- Small business expensing. A majority
of NFIB members exceed the current small
business expensing limits in only three months.
The Small Business Tax Fairness Act would raise
the threshold, allowing additional investments
in the business to be expensed and helping small
businesses expand and create new jobs.
- Pension incentives. For small
business owners, the obstacles to offering
employee pensions are high fixed costs,
excessive paperwork burdens, and the inability
to save for their own retirements. The Small
Business Tax Fairness Act would address all
three of these problems by 1)increasing SIMPLE
contribution limits, 2) easing special
"top-heavy" regulations and restrictions, and 3)
increasing IRS contribution limits.
- Small business meal deductions. Many
self-employed and small business owners are not
able to host business lunches or dinners. Others
whose business requires them to travel often
find that offering to buy lunch is the only way
to get an appointment with potential clients.
For these small businesses, the business lunch
is an absolute necessity, and the Small Business
Tax Fairness Act would increase the deduction
for small business meal expenses from 50% to
60%.
NFIB identifies
approximately 8-12 votes in the U.S. House of
Representatives annually as key votes for small
business. Members of Congress who vote to
support the small business position on NFIB's
key votes at least 70 percent of the time during
a two-year congressional session receive the
coveted Guardian of Small Business
Award.
Contact: Mary Mead
Crawford or Ed Frank
202.554.9000
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