FEDERALhearing transcript

Congressional Hearing on the Impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on Small Businesses

Original title: IS THE TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT A HELP OR HINDERANCE TO MAIN STREET?

January 1, 2020

tax policy small business Tax Cuts and Jobs Act corporate tax economic growth

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The Frame

What this does

This hearing examines whether current federal tax law provides equitable support for small businesses, which employ nearly 56 million people, compared to the permanent tax advantages granted to larger corporations.

Who is mentioned in the record

Potentially affected actors named in the source documents. Mention is not a position.

Small business owners

They are subject to the tax code changes, including the Section 199A deduction and temporary expensing allowances.

Corporations

They received a permanent reduction in the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.

What changed

Last recorded activity January 1, 2020.

What's next

Next step not available in the current record.

Summary

The House Committee on Small Business held a hearing to evaluate how the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has affected small businesses compared to large corporations. Lawmakers and witnesses discussed the complexity of new tax deductions and the disparity between permanent corporate tax cuts and temporary provisions for small firms.

Key Facts

The U.S. has approximately 30 million small firms, representing 99% of all employers and 56 million jobs.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanently reduced the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%.
95% of U.S. small businesses are not organized as corporations and do not qualify for the corporate tax rate reduction.
Provisions intended to benefit small businesses, such as the Section 179 expensing allowance, are temporary and set to expire.
Section 199A was introduced to provide a new deduction for small business income.
The hearing took place on July 24, 2019, in the Rayburn House Office Building.

Why It Matters

Frequently Asked Questions

Did the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act lower taxes for all small businesses?

The Chairwoman stated that 95% of small businesses are not organized as corporations and therefore do not benefit from the permanent reduction.

What is Section 199A?

It is a provision in the tax law intended to create a new deduction for small business income to help level the playing field.

News Coverage

No news coverage found yet. Articles are indexed twice daily.

Discoveries

Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.

policy shift90% confidence

Tax Code Complexity

The hearing highlights a recurring legislative concern that tax provisions intended to help small businesses are often too complex to implement effectively.

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

Connected Entities

personGrafton H. Willey, IV“CPA and small business owner testifying for the National Small Business Associat”Map →

otherTax Cuts and Jobs Act“Federal tax legislation passed in 2017”Map →

personJane Gravelle“Senior Specialist in Economic Policy at the Congressional Research Service”Map →

personMuneer Baig“Founder & CEO of SYSUSA, Inc.”Map →

personNydia Velazquez“Chairwoman of the House Committee on Small Business”Map →

personJustin Conger“President of Conger Construction Group”Map →

personSteve Chabot“Ranking Member of the House Committee on Small Business”Map →

Sources

Open source document

www.govinfo.gov

Analysis Score

0–100

Significance65
How much this matters to a regular citizen
Controversy60
Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
Entertainment15
Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
Buzz20
Current news / social attention level

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