Committee on Small Business Holds Hearing to Discuss How the Working Families Tax Cuts Act Benefit Main Street

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congressman Roger Williams (R-TX), Chairman of the House Committee on Small Business, held a hearing titled "Lower Taxes, Stronger Main Street: The Benefits of the Working Families Tax Cuts" to examine how the Working Families Tax Cuts Act-the largest tax relief effort in American history-is delivering for America's small businesses.

"This Tax Day, thanks to President Trump and Republican Congressional leadership, we secured real tax relief for Main Street," said Chairman Williams. "The Working Families Tax Cuts give our small businesses the certainty and flexibility they need to succeed, and today's hearing made clear just how impactful these policies are for hardworking Americans. By making this relief permanent, we are empowering small businesses to invest, hire, and grow while helping bring an end to the failed policies and inflation of the Biden era. That's how you strengthen Main Street and keep the American economy competitive."

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Watch the full hearing here.

Below are some key excerpts from today's hearing:

Chairman Williams: "Ms. Tapani, as you know, the Working Families Tax Cuts Act extended and made permanent the 100 percent bonus depreciation, which we've all been talking about this morning, while also adding in a new provision of no tax on overtime. Could you describe how these specific elements of the Working Families Tax Cuts have benefited your business and your employees?" Ms. Tapani: "Certainly, the only way that U.S. manufacturers can remain competitive in this global economy is to invest in equipment. We need people -we need equipment and raw materials to be successful. If you're not constantly investing in equipment, you cannot meet the needs of your customers. I deal with enormous manufacturers in the state of Minnesota and throughout the country that have ever-increasing demands and needs; to be able to invest in that equipment is really helpful. It's also helping us close the skills gap, which I think is important. If we can't deduct the cost of that equipment right away, I might as well get out a crystal ball and try to predict what's going to happen in the future. Manufacturing has been in contraction-in and out of contraction-for the past several years. My crystal ball doesn't show me when that's going to come to an end, so being able to make a decision today to buy something and expense it is everything to my business; it's serving my community and my customers. As far as my employees go, when they have to work overtime to help us get a project done, that's come in unexpectedly for a customer, they might have to leave their children in day care for longer. They might have additional expenses. Everybody knows, people are experiencing higher grocery costs and some other costs, the more of that hard earned money that they can keep, is important to them, their happiness, and their ability to pay for their everyday needs, their child care, their health care, whatever that might be, matters to me, so I'm thankful that they can keep more of their overtime pay."

Rep. Alford: "This bill is about more though than tax relief. It's about creating an environment where small businesses compete, plan, and succeed. Monday, the Small Business Administrator, Kelly Loeffler, came to our district and visited a good friend of mine, Franco Cupini, who owns a great Italian restaurant in Kansas City. He told the Administrator firsthand the benefits that it was having for his business and his employees, who were getting large refund checks. The immediate expensing that he was able to conduct for his small business. I'm telling you, Franco Cupini is not a millionaire and not a billionaire. I want to know, Mr. Watson, how many small businesses are classified as an S Corp pass-through corporation in America?" Mr. Watson: "The majority of small businesses are pass-through firms; the others are an S Corp, a sole proprietorship, or a partnership." Rep. Alford: "How many of those--I looked it up, there's about five million operating as an S Corp in America. This comes from your website. How many of those have an income of greater than half a million dollars?" Mr. Watson: "I'm not sure of the exact amount, but a large number of them do not have that level of income." Rep. Alford: "Right, I looked it up on your website. It's about 3.1 percent. We are talking about a large number, millions of companies, start-ups, mom and pops who have invested their time, their resources, their blood, sweat, and tears a lot of times into the small businesses, who now have a shot at success and competing with the big guys."

Rep. Van Duyne: "Ms. Borbolla, I want to ask you: how beneficial is it for a company like Renfro Foods to have a solid picture of what the tax environment will look like 5, 10, 15 years out?" Ms. Renfro Borbolla: "It allows us to pay our employees more, provide benefits, we have a matching 401k, we pay a hundred percent of their health care insurance premiums, and fifty percent of their dependents. That's huge. We cannot do that if we don't know what the taxes are going to be tomorrow or in five years." Rep. Van Duyne: "So, are you investing more in upgrading and scaling up and the future growth of your business?" Ms. Renfro Borbolla: "Yes, we are. One of the things we upgraded-that the bonus depreciation helped us-was we put in a line, a new production line, that ran and took us from running a hundred jars a minute to two hundred jars a minute."

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