Small Businesses Respond To The Increased Pass-Through Deduction In Senate Tax Bill

In response to Senate Republicans increasing the deduction for pass-through businesses from 17.4% to 23% in the negotiations over the Senate tax bill, Amanda Ballantyne, National Director of the Main Street Alliance, a national network of small business owners, released the following statement:

"This isn't a solution for real Main Street small businesses, this is a bargaining chip used to buy Senator Daines' and Senator Johnson's support for a massively flawed tax bill. The vast majority of true small business owners have neither the resources to employ the army of accountants it takes to deduct their way to a very low tax rate, nor are they seeking a tax cut in order to grow their business.

On the contrary, Main Street Alliance recently delivered a letter to Congress with 1,500 small business signers saying the opposite. Small business owners don't need a tax cut, they need more customers, and increased local demand relies on strong government investment in their communities - their healthcare, education, and their roads.

This new provision in the Senate bill doesn't even start to fix the huge problems it causes for small businesses by gutting funding for Medicaid, Medicare, education and other essential community services. If Senate Republicans are serious about creating an economy that works for small business, they would focus on making sure corporations pay their fair share of tax and that middle- and low-income taxpayers have the government investment it takes to help Main Street thrive."