I’ve been in office about a year now, and I have been encouraged with the number of small business owners who tell me how easy it is to work with the city of Sparks. But dealing with the federal government is another issue. I am surprised at the high number of business owners who express frustration at federal regulations and taxes, and how they are impacting their bottom line as well as prevented growth.
Many business owners continue to express concern about the actions that the state Legislature took in enacting the commerce tax, but their biggest complaints remain with the IRS.
Many politicians at the federal level have gotten elected saying the IRS is too big, or the tax code is complicated, yet once in office they fail to take action to simplify the tax code or reduce the power of the IRS. Right now there are many bills in Congress that will do both, and we need to be speaking up and encouraging our elected representatives to support these efforts.
Small business is responsible for creating 60 percent of net new job growth, yet the cost to comply with taxes runs about 67 percent higher for small businesses than larger companies.
The Senate Finance Committee is reviewing recommendations from several bipartisan tax reform working groups who have looked at ways to make taxes simpler and fairer. One idea that seems to have broad support is lowering the corporate tax rate. The U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate of any developed country, which continues to hurt more and more small businesses.
Nevada has hundreds of businesses selling products in the global marketplace. These companies need to have tax rates comparable with not only their larger U.S. competitors but foreign companies as well.
The tax code is overly complex, particularly for small businesses owners who can’t afford to hire an employee to help “hide” their income from the IRS, yet large corporations have whole divisions doing just that. The tax code is grossly unfair and burdensome to the one segment of the economy that is creating the most jobs. That needs to change.
It’s time to close the loopholes that inhibit the economic potential and success of American small businesses, while lowering the overall tax rate for all U.S. companies in order to help them stay competitive.
As election season picks up, I encourage you to ask our elected members of Congress along with the presidential candidates to support tax reform. Lowering taxes spurs domestic job growth, and I’ll be voting for candidates who support doing just that.
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