As the House advances tax reform in the coming weeks, U.S. Rep. Martha Roby (R-AL) said small businesses and their employees in Alabama and throughout the country would benefit.
“I’ve said many times that small businesses are the economic engine of our country,” Roby wrote in an op-ed appearing in Alabama Today on Friday. “In Alabama, small businesses employ about half of our private sector workforce. Unfortunately, our tax code makes it difficult for them to operate, let alone succeed.
The last comprehensive tax reform came in 1986, and much of the original law has since been rolled back. The result, she added, has been piecemeal revisions that favor special interests and today’s tax code being a “complicated mess.”
House Republicans have advanced four basic pillars of comprehensive tax reform: lower individual tax rates for all taxpayers, lower corporate tax rates for the United States to be globally competitive, a simpler tax code, and IRS reforms.
Rolling back regulations and easing tax burdens for small businesses, Roby added, would enable them to hire more employees, give raises or expand their businesses.
“Many small businesses pay as much as 44 percent in taxes, which adds up to be more than almost anywhere in the world,” Roby wrote. “On top of that, many businesses are forced to pay high costs just to process their taxes and comply with the related regulations, amounting to $147 billion per year nationally.”
The congresswoman made the case that more simplicity and fairness in the tax code would offer families the certainty they need to plan for the future.
“Ultimately, our goal is to overhaul our tax code to make it simpler, fairer and flatter,” Roby wrote. “It won’t be an easy task, but I am committed to working toward a solution that helps grow our economy and improve the quality of life for those I represent.”