September 07,2010

Grassley: White House Business Tax Proposals Leave Out Small Business So Far

M E M O R A N D U M

To:    Reporters and Editors
Fr:     Jill Gerber for Sen. Grassley, 202/224-6522
Re:    Tax proposals from the White House
Da:    Tuesday, Sept. 7, 2010

Sen. Chuck Grassley today made the following comment on tax proposals from the White House that are meant to encourage business investment.

“It’s the old saying, the devil is in the details. Business investment incentives sound fine, but will they be paid for in a way that hurts job creation? The White House and congressional Democrats enacted a big state aid package in August that was paid for with a permanent tax increase on companies with overseas operations. Some of the biggest employers in Iowa -- John Deere, Rockwell Collins, and IBM – opposed the August bill.  The National Association of Manufacturers said the tax increases in that bill ‘will jeopardize the jobs of American manufacturing employees and stifle our fragile economy.’ So if the offsets for this new package are other tax increases, then it’s a non-starter.  And it’s disturbing that small businesses continue to get short shrift.  According to a November 2009 study from the Government Accountability Office, most of the benefits of the research and development tax credit go to large corporations. According to the non-partisan Joint Committee on Taxation, 50 percent of all small business flow-through income will be subject to a tax increase in January under the White House and congressional majority’s plans. Small businesses create 70 percent of new jobs.  Raising taxes on job creators is the worst thing we could do right now.”