Small Business Week: Ways and Means Committee Listens to Small Businesses And Delivers Critical Tax Relief

May 3, 2024 - Blog - Press Releases - Tax

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Under the Republican majority, the Ways and Means Committee has been laser-focused on helping small businesses survive in the bad Biden economy. The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act restores critical tax policy from the Trump tax cuts on which small businesses rely to stay open, create jobs, and become more productive. By contrast, Democrats spent billions in taxpayer dollars to give "green" corporate welfare to billion-dollar corporations and big banks.

"No two ways about it: Small businesses are struggling under President Biden. You only need to look at the fact that the smallest of small businesses, Mom-and-Pop stores, have had to lay off 58,000 employees this year alone. Main Street has been resilient and determined despite everything thrown at them - Bidenflation and high interest rates to combat high prices, the supply chain crisis, labor shortages. The Ways and Means Committee has traveled to different communities to listen to the concerns, challenges, and ideas of small business owners and brought them back to Washington.

"The feedback of small businesses directly led to the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, which would restore key Trump tax policies that helped small businesses keep more of their hard earned dollars, become more productive, and compete and win against China. But Ways and Means Republicans are not done. We have also stood up tax teams to look at how we can continue to build on the success of the 2017 Trump tax cuts going into 2025 to ensure small businesses and working families see tax relief, not tax hikes," said Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (MO-08).

Small Business Owners Speak Out

The Ways and Means Committee has traveled the country to listen to small businesses, starting with the Committee's first hearing under the Republican majority. At these hearings outside of Washington and away from special interests, small business owners have shared their stories of struggle and resiliency in the face of "Bidenomics" and their ideas to improve life for themselves, their employees, and their communities.

West Virginia

The first Ways and Means Committee hearing of the 118th Congress was held in Petersburg, West Virginia. Members heard from a mother of three, local business owners, and a coal miner about how the labor shortage, inflation, and the supply chain crisis have made life difficult and harder to remain open.

Oklahoma

Held inside of a barn in Yukon, Oklahoma, Committee members heard from meat processors, ranchers, small business owners, and energy producers about the dismal state of the American economy under President Biden. These small business owners also shared the importance of lower taxes for their employees struggling with a nearly 20 percent spike in prices since Biden became President.

Georgia

Held at an airplane parts manufacturer in Peachtree City, Georgia, each witness, representing a variety of small businesses from manufacturers and accounting services to restaurants, all spoke about the positive impact the 2017 Trump tax cuts had on their businesses and workers.

New York

Held outdoors at a port in New York City, the hearing touched on the importance of fair trade to small businesses while also accessing new markets. Several witnesses shared how China's unfair trade practices have hurt their businesses and the need to enforce our trade agreements for the protection of American businesses and workers.

Ways and Means Win: Tax Relief for Small Businesses

Based on feedback gathered at Committee hearings outside Washington, the Ways and Means Committee and the full House of Representatives passed the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act with overwhelming bipartisan support. The legislation restores three key tax provisions from the 2017 Trump tax cuts: research and development expensing, interest deductibility, and immediate full expensing.

The legislation locks in $600 billion of tax incentives from the 2017 Trump tax relief that have a a record of creating jobs, raising wages, and investing in America:

• Research and Development (R&D) investment incentives will…
  • Create over $70 billion in new R&D investment in the United States.
  • Support 2 million direct R&D jobs and over 21 million total jobs - particularly in U.S. manufacturing.
• Interest Deductibility will…
  • Create 867,000 new jobs.
  • Generate $58 billion in additional take-home pay for American workers.
• 100% Immediate Expensing will…
  • Increase investment by $400 billion.
  • Create 73,000 new jobs.
• Permanent Increase in Threshold for Immediate Small Business Expensing & Relief from IRS Paperwork Burden will…
  • Support $10 billion in new investment by American farmers and small business manufacturers by increasing the amount of expenses that can be deducted under Section 179.
• • Reduce headaches for small businesses that use subcontract labor by cutting their paperwork burden.

READ:In Their Own Words: Small Business Owners Support Pro-Growth Policies in Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act