Harris To Seek Huge Expansion Of Startup Tax Deduction To Help Small Businesses

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Huff Post

Sep 3, 2024, 05:00 PM EDT


Vice President Kamala Harris will propose a massive expansion of a key tax break Wednesday as part of a plan to see 25 million new small businesses created by the end of her term if she wins the White House, according to a campaign official.

The plan is to be publicly proposed at a speech in New Hampshire on Wednesday, the official said. The official declined to be identified in order to freely share details of the plan before its formal debut.

The centerpiece of the plan would be a 10-fold increase in the value of the tax deduction small business owners can take for their startup expenses. Under the plan, the deduction would rise from $5,000 currently to $50,000. The average cost to start a new business is about $40,000, according to Shopify.

The proposal would be a further detailing of Harris’ signature pledge to build an “opportunity economy” that would make it easier for people to own a home, start a business and build wealth. That message is meant to blunt criticism that her policies would hurt the economy, as her opponent, former president Donald Trump, claims.

Read more: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/harris-to-propose-expansion-of-tax-deduction-to-boost-small-business_n_66d76755e4b09a3ee66cb4af

[zipplewrath]

1. It's not that I object

I just realize how quickly these tax breaks expire and that these small businesses get structured around them. When they expire, suddenly you have small businesses that are crying that their taxes are too high. Quite honestly, they should structure them so that "fade out" over a few years so the businesses get used to paying taxes.

[DJ Synikus Makisimus]

2. I hope this has "living wage" language in it.

See, small businesspeople can be just like corporations in exploiting workers with bad wages and working conditions, they just do it on a smaller scale. Sometimes they can be even worse than their oligarchic exploitative ideological kinsfolk. I'd be all for this if it has language that states the tax breaks are for either A) owner-operator businesses, where the proprietor is the only employee (or if it''s, say, a married couple or married polyamorous group in a partnership), or B) where the owner is paying workers a living wage (i.e., not merely a minimum wage). That would require determining what a living wage is in pretty much every census-designated place. A living wage in New York City isn't the same as that in Tucumcari, Tehachapee, or Tonopah. It would be a worthy project which also could be applied to things like Social Security, which should also ensure folks have living wage.

Honestly, I would really like to see legislation enabling cooperatives, where ownership of a business entity is held equally among ALL the workers therein. In most U.S. jurisdictions, that isn't feasible with the laws and tax codes on the books.

[in2herbs]

3. What is the definition of a small business? A quick search about what constitutes

a “small business” reveals the following: According to Government Code Section 12100 – “Small business” means a business with less than 100 employees and with a gross revenue of less than five million dollars ($5,000,000). According to the SBA, a small business is defined according to firm revenue (ranging from $1 million to over $40 million) and by employment (from 100 to over 1,500 employees). Most manufacturing companies with 500 employees or fewer, and most non-manufacturing businesses with average annual receipts under $7.5 million, qualify as a small business. According to the federal government small businesses are for profit concerns, with fewer than 500 employees, including affiliates, is independently owned and operated, is not dominant in the field of operation, and meets size standards as prescribed by SBA (13 CFR Part 121).