Small Business Group Releases Report, Delivers Letters Against Extending Tax Cuts For Wealthy

  • Posted on: 1 August 2012
  • By: admin

On Wednesday, local members of the Maine Small Business Coalition released a report prepared by Americans for Tax Fairness on how Maine could benefit from ending the Bush-era tax breaks for the wealthiest top two percent. They also delivered a letter signed by more than 120 small businesses across Maine urging Senators Snowe and Collins to vote in favor of ending the tax breaks when the issue again comes before Congress later this year.



"As small business owners, we know that tax breaks for the wealthiest two percent aren't what's going to grow the economy. Ending those giveaways and reinvesting in jobs, public programs and retirement security will help put money back into the cash registers of businesses in Maine" said Kevin Simowitz of the Maine Small Business Coalition. "Senators Snowe and Collins should do what is best for all Mainers, not just those who make over $250,000 a year."



The report released today breaks down how competing Republican and Democrat tax plans would affect Mainers.



Major findings of the report include:



- 98 out of 100 Maine residents would get about the same tax cut under the Obama plan as they have up until now.



- 2.1 percent of Maine taxpayers have an average income of about $583,000.



- The other 97.9 percent of the state's taxpayers make about $54,000 on average.



- The average tax cut for those making between $50,000 and $100,000 would be roughly the same under both the Obama and GOP plans: about $1,360 and $1,350, respectively.



- Maine taxpayers making less than $25,000 a year would get an average tax cut from the Obama plan roughly one third larger than from the Republican plan: $230 from Obama, compared to $170 from the GOP, because the GOP plan would end improvements in the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit for lower-income working families while the Obama plan would extend them.



The report is timely because this week the U.S. House of Representatives will vote on the Republican plan to extend all the Bush tax cuts, including for the richest 2 percent of U.S. households, while ending improvements in tax credits for working-class families. Last week the Senate passed an alternative plan similar to President Obama's, which Senators Snowe and Collins voted against.



The Senators previously have cited concerns about the impact both plans would have on small businesses, but for the small businesses participating in the event today, the difference in priorities is stark.



"My business would be helped by letting the Bush Tax Cuts expire for those making over $200,000 and putting the increased revenues back into the economy by putting it into the pockets of my customers through Earned Income Credit, childcare subsidies, Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security, Child Tax Credit" said Melanie Collins, owner of Melanie's Home Childcare in Falmouth. "We can't afford to keep giving tax cuts to the richest," said Simowitz. "We can't balance the budget on the backs of children, seniors, and families struggling to make ends meet, and we can't keep borrowing from China. Those who have done well in America should do well by America and pay their fair share."