Family Business Coalition Supports Tax Reform Framework

Plan helps family businesses by repealing estate tax and lowering tax rates

Earlier today, Republicans released a pro-growth tax reform framework that aims to simplify the tax system, reduce tax burdens on small businesses, and boost income for workers. The tax plan also brings long-awaited relief for small, family owned and operated businesses by permanently repealing the estate tax, or death tax. The current tax code puts family businesses, America’s main job creating engines, at a competitive disadvantage to publicly owned corporations. Comprehensive tax reform, as outlined in the framework, will correct this incongruence in the tax code.
“Family owned and operated businesses are going ‘all in’ for comprehensive tax reform,” said Family Business Coalition Chairman, Palmer Schoening. “The framework released today kills the death tax, which hurts inventory and land heavy businesses, lowers tax rates for all businesses, and provides middle-income small business workers historic tax relief.”
Last year, the non-partisan Tax Foundation found estate tax repeal would create nearly 160,000 jobs over the next ten years and raise the income of a family of four making $80,000 by $640 and an individual making $35,000 by $280. Last month, a group of 150 business associations, small businesses, and advocacy organizations joined the Family Business Coalition in sending a letter to congress urging the repeal of the estate tax, and we are pleased to see that Congress has addressed our concerns in their tax reform framework.
The new plan doesn’t stop with the repeal of the death tax. The Republican plan lowers tax rates, broadens the tax base, reduces the number of itemized deductions, repeals the alternative minimum tax, reduces the individual top tax rate to 35%, and cuts the top small business tax rate to 25%. We are confident that these changes will offer family businesses across the country the economic environment they need to thrive and grow. By lowering business tax rates and eliminating the estate tax, and simplifying our tax code, we will be able to reinvigorate main street businesses across the country. The Republican Framework offers us the best opportunity in more thirty years to transform our antiquated tax code for the benefit of everyone.