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December 1, 2014

Tax Extenders Legislation In Trouble: MSCI Members Asked To Call Policymakers To Express Support For Quick Passage

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are still working on a deal that would extend some or all of the more than 50 tax provisions that expired at the end of 2013. 

According to The Hill, a deal currently under consideration on Capitol Hill would extend the research and development tax credit, section 179 expensing, built-in gains for S-corporations and other business tax provisions in exchange for permanent extension of college affordability tax provisions. Unfortunately, after word of a potential agreement broke, the Obama administration stated its opposition to it. According to The Hill, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said, “[R]eports suggest that there may be some in Congress who want to provide tax relief to businesses and to corporate insiders but not ensuring that those benefits are shared by middle-class families … So certainly the administration would not be supportive of a package that provided relief to corporations without providing relief to middle-class families.” (Bloomberg has an extensive report on the back-and-forth between Republican and Democratic negotiators to arrive at the deal the White House opposes.) 

Late last week, our partners at the S-Corp Association reported the White House may have taken this stance hoping it would spur lawmakers to take up corporate tax reform early in the 114th Congress. 

While MSCI strongly supports tax reform, we agree with our partners at the S-Corp Association who also argued last week that any tax reform package Washington considers must tackle the corporate tax structure and the individual tax system through which most small businesses pay their taxes, and that any effort to hold a tax extenders package hostage to corporate-only reform is misguided. As such, MSCI members are encouraged to call their senators and representatives in the U.S. House, and to call the White House, to express their support for quick passage in December of a bill that would extend any or all of the more than 50 tax provisions that expired last year. Some things to consider telling policymakers:

  • That you support comprehensive tax reform, but extension of these credits is vital before the end of the year. You hope your senator or representative will work for quick passage of the tax extenders bill in December and turn to the question of tax reform early in the New Year.
  • How general uncertainty about tax policy affects your business and your ability to plan for the future.
  • How an increase in taxes would affect your bottom line. Would you have to cut personnel or benefits? Raise prices?
  • How corporate-only reform would put S-corporations, including many manufacturers, at a competitive disadvantage.

 

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