Small Business To Supercommittee: We Need More Certainty In Tax Policy

Owner: “There are a lot of things we’re not doing because we are not sure what the tax codes are going to be.”

WASHINGTON, DC— During today’s Small Business Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Tax and Capital Access hearing entitled, “Pro-Growth Tax Policy: Why Small Businesses Need Individual Tax Reform,” Chairman Joe Walsh (R-IL) asked the small business witnesses what they would tell the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction if they had the opportunity to do so. The consensus response was that small businesses need more certainty in the tax code and consistency in lower tax rates in order to create jobs.

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Mr. Stephen Capp, President and CEO of Laserage Technology Corporation in Waukegan, IL, said, “I would say lower taxes and also certainty. There are a lot of things we’re not doing because we are not sure what the tax codes are going to be. I mean, just lower taxes and put some certainty in it so we know what we have to do and know where we have to go.”

Mr. William R. Smith, President and CEO of Termax Corporation in Lake Zurich, IL, said, “…the problem we have is uncertainty. We would like for years and years of consistency. We can compete with anyone in the world if we know where things are going to be, but because of the state of flux that our tax code has been in for years, it creates very big disincentives for companies like ours.”

Mr. Gary Marowske, President of Flame Furnace in Warren, MI, said, “It’s the same thing. It’s the uncertainty and not being able to plan. It’s not knowing what’s going to happen when you’re doing one thing one year and one thing the next year. Frankly, I’m for a national sales tax in my personal opinion. It’s fair and it’s even, and it allows the capital to stay within the companies.”

Rep. Walsh: Mr. Carroll, what is the type of tax reform that you would advocate for with these pass-through entities?

Robert J. Carroll, Principal at Ernst and Young LLP in Washington D.C., and author of the comprehensive tax study, “The Flow-Through Business Sector and Tax Reform” said, “I would think one would want to take a very broad view and in addition to the certainty, also a stable tax system that won’t change, that’s going to provide some certainty over a period of time.

“The other thing that I would think they should carefully consider is trying to avoid unintended consequences. There are a lot of interrelationships in the tax system as well as in the economy and trying to avoid unintended consequences, I think, would be a very useful objective.”