| Weekly Update from Sam |
| Dear Friends,
This coming Tuesday is known as “Tax Day,” because it’s the federal tax filing deadline, but the real impact of taxes on small businesses is not contained to a day or a season. Small businesses make tax-related decisions throughout the year that affect nearly everything they do, from budgets to hiring.
Tax rates are steep, but there’s also a major cost in time. Most small businesses spend at least 40 hours around this time of year preparing their taxes, and 40 percent of them spend 80 hours – two full work weeks – on compliance. The large and complicated federal tax code is increasingly difficult for small companies to navigate. For small businesses, a week or two is time they cannot afford to lose. According to testimony before the Committee this week, the complexity of the process causes 86 percent of small businesses to pay tax preparers.
Small businesses overwhelmingly support reforming the tax code for simpler preparation, clearer guidelines and lower rates. Then small businesses can call their time their own again, and the economy would benefit from growth and new jobs.
Sincerely,
Sam Graves
Chairman
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Latest Committee Action
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On Wednesday, the Committee examined the challenges small businesses face complying with the tax code, and the National Small Business Association released their new tax survey in conjunction with the testimony of one of their members. One in three small businesses surveyed spend $10,000 yearly on tax compliance. Tax complexity is a big problem for small businesses: according to the Internal Revenue Service’s own National Taxpayer Advocate, there were over 500 changes to the tax code in 2010 alone, an average of more than one per day. And high tax rates mean small firms have less capital to invest back into hiring or expanding. Read the Washington Post report here.
Also on Wednesday, Chairman Graves and Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce Chairman Richard Hanna (R-NY) testified before a House Armed Services Committee hearing about bipartisan legislation that encourages small firms’ involvement in federal procurement. Graves and Hanna requested this legislation be included in the Fiscal Year 2015 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) because small companies can often do the work more efficiently thereby saving precious taxpayer dollars all while preserving the industrial base. Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO), who serves on both the Small Business Committee and the Armed Services Committee, also expressed support for the legislation during the hearing. Six bills were approved by the Small Business Committee on March 5th. Watch here.
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News from Washington
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On Tuesday, by a bipartisan vote of 230-185, the House passed the Baseline Reform Act (H.R. 1871), which revises the baseline budget process to more accurately reflect the nation’s fiscal state that year and the projection over the ensuing 10 years. The bill requires the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office to report yearly on the projected outlook of the nation’s finances for the next 40 years.
On Thursday, by a vote of 219-205, the House passed the Path to Prosperity Budget for Fiscal Year 2015 that lowers the deficit and provides a responsible ten-year blueprint for a balanced budget to promote the nation’s fiscal health, economic growth and jobs. The budget provides for defense priorities, reduces wasteful spending, strengthens Medicare, preserves the safety net for Americans, repeals and replaces Obamacare, and reforms taxes.
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Notable Op-Eds
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The Tax Burden for Small Business Is Getting Worse
By Sam Graves
St. Joseph News-Press
Obamacare Is No Harmless Prank
By Sam Graves |
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