Home/Tax Policy

Another Reason Main Street Opposes the BBB

The House-passed Build Back Better Act represents an existential threat to many S corporations.  Not only would the bill raise their rates to the highest in the OECD, it would impose limitations to deducting their active business losses that are worse than those that apply to passive losses.  If your goal is to force all large pass-through businesses into the C corporation model, this is your bill.

On the rate front, the BBB makes no attempt to balance out the tax treatment of pass-through businesses with C corporations.  The bill’s new surtax and expanded NIIT, combined with the pending expiration

(Read More)

2021-12-06T19:43:07+00:00December 6, 2021|

Winston on Build Back Better

The Biden Administration has attempted to sell its $2 trillion Build Back Better plan, including $540 billion in tax hikes on family businesses, as popular with voters.  That’s simply not true.

An op-ed published yesterday by David Winston in Roll Call makes this clear.  The results of his firm’s latest survey reveal a glaring disconnect between the goals of Build Back Better and the priorities of everyday Americans. As Winston writes:

Political leaders have to address the priorities of the electorate. It’s becoming increasingly clear that Biden is not just off message with Build Back Better, he’s off policy priorities;

(Read More)

2021-12-02T18:07:47+00:00December 2, 2021|

BBB Still Harmful to Main Street

Ken Kies is out with an excellent piece today that breaks down how bad of a deal the House-passed Build Back Better Act is for pass-through businesses. As the former Joint Committee on Taxation head explains, even though this latest bill abandons efforts to repeal the 199A deduction, the tax hikes that remain create an “extreme disparate treatment” for pass-throughs compared to C corporations.

Kies focuses on the House bill’s new surtaxes (5 percent on pass-through income over $10 million, and 8 percent over $25 million) and the expansion of the 3.8 percent Net Investment Income Tax. Together, these

(Read More)

2021-11-22T18:49:13+00:00November 22, 2021|

Americans Oppose BBB: New Survey

The House is back and has its sights set on passing the multi-trillion-dollar tax and spending package known as the Build Back Better (BBB) Act. How do voters feel about a 2,400-page bill that targets Main Street businesses with $500 to $600 billion in higher taxes?  With lawmakers in a panic to advance the legislation, they evidently forgot to ask their constituents – so we did.

A new poll by the Winston Group asked 1,000 registered voters about the President’s agenda and its impact on their personal lives. The results reveal a serious disconnect between the goals of the Build

(Read More)

2021-11-18T14:32:52+00:00November 18, 2021|

Biden Framework Still Targets Family Businesses

Note: the first table shown below has been modified to correct a previous error. 

A key aspect of the Biden “framework” under consideration in the House is how it targets family businesses with modest incomes through the discriminatory treatment of taxable trusts.

That’s because the rate hikes on trusts in the bill have income thresholds well below the headline levels that would apply to individuals.  These lower levels are an apparent attempt to discourage gaming, but they hit existing trusts that predate the new rules, as well as modestly-sized family businesses that are not the advertised targets of the new policy.

These S

(Read More)

2021-11-29T17:32:09+00:00November 16, 2021|