ICBA, other groups oppose efforts to increase income tax rates

ICBA and other groups said recent proposals to raise the top individual income tax rate to 40% would disproportionately harm hundreds of thousands of pass-through businesses organized as S corporations, partnerships, and sole proprietorships.

Details: In a joint letter to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-Mo.) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-Iowa), ICBA and other groups encouraged them to stand strong against any effort to increase income tax rates. ICBA and the other groups noted:

• Pass-throughs comprise over 95% of all businesses and employ 62% of the nation’s workforce.

• Most pass-through business income is taxed at the top rates, so raising these rates would harm Main Street businesses engaged in nearly every aspect of the economy.

• They are responsible for employing millions of Americans, driving investment, and supporting local economies nationwide.

• The so-called “millionaire tax” in question–which actually kicks in at income around $620,000–would saddle them with a tax hike that offsets about half the tax benefit of extending the Section 199A deduction.