New Tax Bill Poses Threat to Manufacturers
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This week, the Senate’s top tax writer, Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR), introduced the Small Business Tax Fairness Act, which would significantly limit the existing 20% deduction for manufacturers organized as “pass-through” entities.
The background: The 2017 tax reform law created a 20% deduction for business income earned through pass-through entities such as S-corporations or partnerships. The lower tax burden provides manufacturers with additional capital to hire workers, increase wages and expand operations.
- The Small Business Tax Fairness Act, however, would essentially eliminate the pass-through deduction for all but the very smallest of companies by phasing out the deduction for taxpayers with income above $400,000 – completely eliminating it as income reaches $500,000.
- Moreover, the bill would negatively impact family-owned businesses by denying the deduction for business held in trusts and estates.
The NAM’s view: As the vast majority of manufacturers are small and organized as pass-through entities, phasing out the deduction as proposed under the bill would ultimately hurt the men and women who make things in America.
- The current-law provision links wages with the deduction: the more you pay your workers, the larger the benefit for the manufacturer. The proposal does away with this formula, which would break the important link between wages and the deduction.
- Earlier this year, the NAM released a major tax study on the effects of proposed tax increases, including a repeal of the pass-through deduction. That study found that one million jobs would be lost in just the first two years if those increases were to be implemented.
The last word: “This pass-through deduction is a critical pro-growth tool enabling manufacturers to hire more workers and grow their operations,” said NAM’s Senior Director of Tax Policy David Eiselsberg. “Make no mistake, this legislation would amount to a major tax increase and effectively punish manufacturers that are doing the right thing by hiring workers and paying good wages with a higher tax bill.”
Related
Manufacturers Unveil Competitiveness Agenda Ahead of Midterm Elections
“Competing to Win” offers a path for bringing the country together around policies, shared values and a unified purpose
Washington, D.C. – Ahead of the midterm elections, the National Association of Manufacturers released its policy roadmap, “Competing to Win,” a comprehensive blueprint featuring immediate solutions for bolstering manufacturers’ competitiveness. It is also a roadmap for policymakers on the laws and regulations needed to strengthen the manufacturing industry in the months and years ahead.
With the country facing rising prices, snarled supply chains and geopolitical turmoil, manufacturers are outlining an actionable competitiveness agenda that Americans across the political spectrum can support. “Competing to Win” includes the policies manufacturers in America will need in place to continue driving the country forward.
“‘Competing to Win’ offers a path for bringing our country together around policies, shared values and a unified purpose,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. “The NAM is putting forward a plan filled with ideas that policymakers could pursue immediately, including solutions to urgent problems, such as energy security, immigration reform, supply chain disruptions, the ongoing workforce shortage and more. Manufacturers have shown incredible resilience through difficult times, employing more workers now than before the pandemic, but continued resilience is not guaranteed without the policies that are critical to the state of manufacturing in America.”
The NAM and its members will leverage “Competing to Win” to shape policy debates ahead of the midterm elections, in the remainder of the 117th Congress and at the start of the 118th Congress—including in direct engagement with lawmakers, for grassroots activity, across traditional and digital media and through events in key states and districts as we did following the initial rollout of the roadmap in 2016.
The document focuses on 12 areas of action, and all policies are rooted in the values that have made America exceptional and keep manufacturing strong: free enterprise, competitiveness, individual liberty and equal opportunity.
Learn more about how manufacturers are leading and about the industry’s competitiveness agenda at nam.org/competing-to-win.
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The National Association of Manufacturers is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs more than 12.8 million men and women, contributes $2.77 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and accounts for 58% of private-sector research and development. The NAM is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the NAM or to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org
