Commitments to common sense tax policy must prevail in Congress to support small business.
On Wednesday, after an evening huddle of Senate Finance Committee Republicans, Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Id.) indicated that a majority of the Senate Republican Conference was not currently supportive of the tax deal, and does not want to move forward without that majority, despite support from the Democratic Caucus and overwhelming bipartisan House support.
Sen. Crapo himself had previously outlined objections he still had to the tax deal, including provisions relating to the Child Tax Credit (CTC). Beyond his own objections, Sen. Crapo also shared that other senators had changes they would like to make to the bill, and that making significant tax changes during the IRS filing season was worrisome.
This poses a significant hurdle for final passage of any tax deal, especially one which includes key NSBA-led provisions, like the Section 174 R&D expensing fix.
If the Senate holds a markup of the House-passed bill, it becomes vastly more difficult for the bill to become law, both because the CTC/R&D compromise underpinning the bill may be in danger of unraveling, and because the House is unlikely to reconsider the bill.
If the Senate does reopen consideration, the margin for passage will be much slimmer. Sen. Crapo has said he is, “…working on trying to identify a pathway to see if we can get a majority of our caucus supportive,” but, given his stance on the bill, it is likely that pathway would involve significant changes.
NSBA is closely monitoring the progress of the tax deal, and will continue to provide updates as they are received. To continue driving our efforts, make your voice heard by filling out our Action Alert for your Senators, to highlight just how critical this bill is to small-business owners across the country.
