Small Businesses Get Whacked With Tax Increases in Pelosi Health Bill

Entrepreneurs need their capital to create jobs and help the economy rebound, says small business advocate

WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) is reporting what the small business community has been saying all along -- proposed tax increases on the "wealthy" amount to big tax increases on small business owners. In a November 3, 2009 memo, the JCT estimates that one-third of the $460.5 billion estimated to be raised from H.R. 3962, the "Affordable Health Care for America Act," through a proposed 5.4 percent surtax is business income. According to the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council (SBE Council), America's economic recovery is highly dependent on small-business job creation and investment. Seizing more of their hard-earned capital flies in the face of White House efforts, for example, to provide small businesses with access to credit and capital, according to the advocacy group.

"No wonder small business owners are gripped by uncertainty. With mixed messages coming from Washington, they don't know whether to add to their payrolls, hoard cash, cut jobs or stay-the-course," said SBE Council President & CEO Karen Kerrigan.

Kerrigan added: "More than $150 billion of the proposed surtax alone falls on the backs of small business owners, according to the JCT. When will those who support these tax hikes wake up to the fact that they are sucking oxygen out of the very businesses that need this capital for survival and growth. Businesses can't save or create jobs without money. All of the tax increases proposed in the House health bill will deprive the private sector of the capital it needs to hold onto their workers, create more job opportunities, invest, innovate and grow."

SBE Council is a nonpartisan, nonprofit small business advocacy group that works to protect small business and promote entrepreneurship. For additional information, please visit: www.sbecouncil.org.

CONTACT:
Karen Kerrigan,
703-242-5840
kkerrigan@sbecouncil.org

Mabel Vaught
703-242-5840
mvaught@sbecouncil.org