ARLINGTON, Va. — National Grocers Association on Monday said it was opposed to President Obama’s plan to allow the so-called Bush tax cuts to expire at year-end for those making more than $250,000 a year.
"Today the president again called for increasing taxes on thousands of individual entrepreneurs who operate their businesses as pass-through entities, such as Subchapter-S Corporations and LLCs,” said Peter Larkin, president and chief executive officer, NGA. “By allowing tax rates to increase for joint filers with income above $250,000, thousands of pass-through entities will be forced to divert capital to pay Uncle Sam's tax bill instead of growing their businesses and creating jobs.”
More than 50% of NGA's members operate as pass-through entities, the association said, “so the impact of a tax hike on these entrepreneurs will be significant.” NGA said its members continue to call on Congress to extend the current individual tax rates for all income levels for one year, so Congress can address comprehensive tax reform. If the tax cuts are allowed to expire, rates for some businesses could increase by about 3 percentage points, NGA told SN earlier this year.
More NGA News: Video Interviews From the NGA Show
In addition, NGA said Congress should make permanent the current estate tax top rate and exemption “so businesses can have some certainty for the future.” The estate tax, levied when a family passes its business from one generation to the next, is currently 35%, with an exemption of up to $5 million, but is scheduled to return to its previous rate of 55% with a $1 million exemption at the end of the year.
