Friends of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

Current Events
The debate over fiscal 2011 spending, which nearly forced a government shutdown, was just a preview of brawls to come over the 2012 Budget.

The president vowed to reduce Medicare costs to shore up the entitlement program for seniors and end the Bush tax cuts -- which the Chamber opposed last year.

Obama’s remarks countered the GOP plan laid out by Congressman Paul Ryan, who chairs the House Budget Committee, which seeks to reduce the deficit by transforming Medicare into a voucher program; making Medicaid for low-income citizens into a block-grant program; and cutting taxes for businesses and individuals to a top rate of 25%.

Unfortunately, the President’s tax proposals rely predominantly on increasing taxes on those individuals that save and invest and on successful small businesses. It fails to recognize the high degree of progressivity in the current code or that real tax reform must address both the corporate and individual parts of the code.

See our Budget 2012 page for everything you need to know about the opposing plans.

• Small business owners—including taxpayers earning more than $250,000 (married) and $200,000 (single)—would see their taxes increase by more than $1 trillion over 10 years under President Obama’s FY12 budget proposal. The administration’s plan would:
  • Reinstate the 36% and 39.6% individual income tax rates.
  • Reinstate the personal exemption phaseout and limitations on itemized deductions.
  • Impose a 20% rate on capital gains and dividends.
  • Limit the tax rate at which itemized deductions reduce tax liability.
    Extend the estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer taxes at their 2009 levels  (i.e., $3.5 million exemption and top rate of 45%).
• In addition to tax increases on small business, the Obama budget proposes almost another half trillion over 10 years of new taxes on American businesses.
  • This includes $129 billion over 10 years on American companies operating globally by changing the deferral regime and the foreign tax credit rules, both of which currently keep American companies competitive in the face of double taxation.
  • Businesses would face tax increases from, for example, the repeal of the last-in, first-out (LIFO) accounting method and punitive taxes on the oil and gas and coal industries.

What We’re Doing
The Chamber urges Congress and the administration to enact a pro-growth tax agenda that brings rates in line with global competitors and makes compliance simpler.

• Permanently extend all of the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, also know as the Bush Tax Cuts.
• Eliminate—or substantially reform—the alternative minimum tax (AMT) to protect a growing number of individuals and businesses, including many middle class Americans.
• Enact comprehensive tax reform that fosters job growth, competitiveness, and innovation.
• Reduce the budget deficit through higher economic growth, spending restraint, and entitlement reform—not higher taxes.

Additional Resources:

Tax Reform
Chamber’s Support of Current Provisions in H.R. 1
Capital Gains Tax
Alternative Minimum Tax
Estate and Gift Tax (Death Tax)
Tax Extenders

ANOTHER SMALL BUSINESS BURDEN - 3% WITHHOLDING TAX

The 3% Withholding Tax will mandate that federal, state, and local governments withhold 3% from payments for goods and services, not only causing an unprecedented paperwork burden for the government and companies who provide goods or services to them, but forcing firms to increase costs to offset the impact of delayed payments and disrupting business's cash flows. Through our site, you can take action by encouraging Congress to repeal this burdensome withholding tax and job-killing mandate, and instead focus on measures that will create jobs.

U.S. Chamber of Commerce is partnering with the Government Withholding Relief Coalition as part of our collective efforts to repeal the 3% Withholding Tax.  Click here to urge your Members of Congress to vote against this small business road block and visit www.repealwithholdingnow.com to learn more.