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Small businesses to Congress: Tax reforms, not tax hikes

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Betsi Fores The Daily Caller News Foundation
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A coalition of the nation’s leading small businesses wrote a letter to Congress Tuesday asking that they enact tax reform over raising tax rates.

“[W]e strongly urge Congress to pursue comprehensive tax reform that lowers rates on all forms of business income while enacting significant entitlement reforms that put the federal budget on a sustainable fiscal path,” the letter pleas.

The letter, addressed to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, House Speaker John Boehner and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, discusses the issues of both the immediate fiscal cliff problem, as well as the debt ceiling, which will once again be reached in early 2013.

“Congress should seek to enact comprehensive tax reform that simplifies the tax code and encourages economic growth for both pass-through businesses and corporations,” the letter advises.

President Obama has called for a balanced approach to handle the automatic tax increases and budget cuts scheduling commence at the start of 2013, asking the Republicans to give on revenues.

“The reality is closing loopholes and ending deductions as an alternative to raising rates on the top earners, the top 2 percent … sounds good, but you have to look at the context of the actual proposals,” White House Spokesman Jay Carney told reporters at a briefing Tuesday.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said Tuesday that he supports the president’s proposal to address the debt ceiling at the same time as the fiscal cliff.

“We would be somewhat foolish to work out something on stopping us from going over the cliff and then a month or six weeks later, Republicans pull the same game they did before and say, ‘We’re not going to do anything unless this happens, or we’re not going to agree to increase the debt ceiling,'” he said at a news conference.

The letter addresses the negative impacts the fiscal uncertainty is already having on the economy.

“[T]wo-thirds of business owners cite the uncertainty over future fiscal policy as making it more difficult for them to grow their businesses and increase employment. At the same time, the rate of business creation is at its lowest level in two decades.”

The coalition calls on Congress to enact comprehensive tax reform as opposed to simply raising marginal tax rates on employers. They emphasize the importance of tax simplification that will encourage economic growth.

The letter is signed by 42 business groups that claim to represent “millions of pass-through businesses employing tens of millions of workers.”

“[W]e are eager to see Congress enact permanent, comprehensive tax reform, but this alone will not solve the long-term fiscal imbalance,” the letter concludes.

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Betsi Fores