On Tax Cuts, Leave No Small Business Behind

By Brian Cassidy

After months of anticipation, the Senate is finally prepared to vote on its plan to address our outmoded and burdensome tax code. For Nevadans, an important part of the proposed legislation is the substantial small business tax cut. As Congress moves toward a bill and a vote, lawmakers ought to ensure the final law does right by all small businesses hit with unfair rates.

Most small businesses are socked with individual rates that can reach as high as 40 percent. Add in state and local levies, and they can be looking at almost half their revenues going to Washington instead of contributing to new reinvestment.

All small businesses want to grow. And most, polling shows, are ready and willing to put tax savings into bigger paychecks, larger payrolls, and expanded facilities. But the structure of the current tax code takes so much income that small businesses are dissuaded from reinvesting in their local communities.

Nevada’s own recent history tells the tale. Despite unique features of our economy, when it comes to small business, we’re typical of states across the country. Small firms make up more than 40 percent of private-sector employment, and more than 99 percent of all businesses in-state.

But also like many states, our economic outlook is mixed. Last year, economic growth exceeded the national rate, but so did unemployment. Coming back from the 2008 crisis took time. And as millions of Americans know, the recovery was unevenly spread.

As the owner of Junk King, I have dedicated my life to servicing my community. I’ve seen how small business underpins economic stability and growth in urban, rural, and suburban areas alike. That’s as true in the Sun Belt as it is in the Rust Belt.

And right now, small businesses are getting anxious. In its new mid-year report, the National Small Business Association says expansion and planned expansion have both dropped, while four in five of small business respondents counted reduced rates among their very top priorities on taxes this year.

That’s sobering news for Nevadans and Americans nationwide, who realize we’ll struggle to succeed if small businesses aren’t making gains. Majorities say individual rates are too high and small businesses are getting ripped off. Fully 80 percent want a federal tax bill this year that grows and sustains American jobs.

Any reduction in the tax burden on small business helps meet those goals. But all small businesses hit with unfair individual rates should be given the same relief. After all, they’re in the same boat—and their benefits to Main Street work the same way from Reno to Rochester.

That’s why voters in both parties share a firm expectation that Congress should deliver the right kind of results as the year’s last legislative session heads toward a close. The vast majority of Republicans know that supporting small business is a matter of common sense, not ideology, and most Democrats polled agree that tax relief boosting jobs and strengthening finances is something both parties ought to support.

Earlier this year, President Trump got the tax debate off on the right foot. He led Congress to target small businesses for an across-the-board cut from almost 40 percent tax to 25 percent. Americans are counting on their representatives to honor that objective—and the small firms we all rely on to keep America humming.

Brian Cassidy is the founder and CEO of Junk King in Reno, Nevada.

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Tax plan is dangerous for Nevada’s educators and children

By Sujith Cherukumilli

I am a proud first-year educator in the Clark County School District, and I work each day to elevate and empower our students. I work at a Title I middle school in northeast Las Vegas, where almost all students are on free or reduced lunch, and many face challenges at home that prevent them from devoting the majority of their attention to schoolwork while in the classroom. However, the rich diversity of our school, coupled with the incomparable closeness of our community, makes working there one of the most rewarding, joyful experiences imaginable.   

As a first-year educator, one of the biggest challenges I face is providing adequate resources to students while simultaneously trying to make a living to build my own life. From pencils and paper to books and whiteboards, our schools lacks basic resources our students need to learn and grow. But, I firmly believe that as an educator, it is my duty to ensure my students have everything they need to be successful in my classroom; which, is why I never think twice about providing them with supplies when I see the need. While I work hard to prepare the next generation to succeed in the world, the tax plan that is being pushed by Washington Republicans would take me, and my fellow Nevada teachers, out by the knees and decimate our children’s future.

Each year, teachers like myself spend, on average, more than $500 to purchase various supplies for their students. Studies have shown time and again that virtually all teachers spend out of their own pocket for school supplies. To ease our potential financial strain, educators have been eligible for a tax deduction to help ease the burden of using our money to provide supplies to students. Now, the proposed Republican tax plan guts this break for working teachers -- as well as several other breaks for working families -- all to finance a tax cut for the mega-donors who finance their campaigns.

Families struggling to provide school supplies for their children and to put food on the table at the same time do not want to be used as financial pawns in the Republican game of how to pay back their top donors. This plan is nothing more than an assault on working families, educators and the students we serve. As an educator, I can guarantee I have the best interests of the students and families I serve at heart of what I do every day. Can the lawmakers who support this plan say the same about the families and communities they serve?

I implore Republicans to think twice about financing a tax cut for the uber-wealthy by raising taxes on the backs of Nevada’s working teachers and the families we serve. By continuing to prioritize the interests of top donors and major corporations at the expense of educators and students, they are demonstrating the most cynical aspects of our modern politics: that elected officials only represent the people that finance their run for office, not the actual citizens that elect them.  

Nevada’s congressional delegation needs to put Nevada families’ interest first and stop this foolhardy tax bill that will eviscerate our future.  

Sujith Cherukumilli is a teacher in Clark County.

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Tax Reform Discussions Should Not Include Schemes to Tax America’s Charities

By Drew Johnson

The Boys & Girls Club is under attack. So is the American Heart Association, the United Way, the Nature Conservancy, Feed the Children and the Wounded Warrior Project.

As Congress debates tax reform proposals, a troubling scheme that would harm many of America’s most important and beloved charities has made its way into the conversation.

A plan by some Senate Republicans would broaden the unrelated business income tax – known to accountants as “UBIT” – to begin taxing charities on the income they earn by selling products featuring their names and logos.

Selling things like shirts, hats, t-shirts, stickers, mugs and other paraphernalia has become an important way for many nonprofits to earn money they can use to advance their mission.

The U.S. Olympic Committee helps send athletes to the Olympics by hawking USOC-branded t-shirts and workout gear. Ducks Unlimited peddles items including duck calls, duffel bags and jackets to fund its wetlands and waterfowl conservation efforts. Money generated from the sale of hoodies and patches allows Team Rubicon to prepare military veterans to assist first responders in providing relief during disasters and humanitarian crises.

Much of that money would go away if the tax reform legislation expands UBIT to slap a new tax on enterprising charities.

The levy would cost the American Cancer Society, the National Rifle Association and Sesame Workshop, the charity that produces Sesame Street, millions of dollars a year. Disabled American Veterans, the Humane Society and the Girl Scouts of America each stand to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

A number of nonprofits that are particularly important here in Nevada would be hit hard if the tax passes, including the United Way, Opportunity Village, the Boys & Girls Club, Boys Scouts of America and the Sierra Club.

In addition to pilfering money nonprofits earn by selling swag, some lawmakers also want pocket a portion of the revenues charities earn through officially licensed credit cards.

A number of charities have partnered with credit cards companies to brand cards with their names and logos. In exchange, a percentage of all purchases made with the card is donated to the nonprofit. These credit cards have become an important fundraising tool for many charities.

For example, the Wounded Warrior Project, AARP and Ducks Unlimited all raise money by lending their names and logos to Visa cards. An American Red Cross MasterCard helps raise money for disaster victims. There’s even a Boy Scouts of America Discover card that has proven popular with parents of Scouts.

Revenues from merchandise and credit cards branded with a charity’s name and logo have never been taxed – and they shouldn’t be. The money these nonprofits generate by selling licensed merchandise goes directly back into their charitable efforts, the same as a donation from a supporter.

Tax reform should focus on closing outrageous tax loopholes, encouraging job growth by reducing onerous tax burdens and trimming wasteful federal spending, not trying to snatch every last cent from charities that work hard to do a little good in the world.

Nevada’s U.S. senators, Dean Heller and Catherine Cortez Masto, will play a vital role in determining whether or not this ridiculous tax is allowed to pass and harm America’s nonprofits. Sen. Heller, in particular, has been a leading voice during the Senate’s tax reform discussions. He could likely stop this terrible scheme dead in its tracks by simply speaking out in opposition to the tax on charities. Let’s hope he does.

Drew Johnson is a senior scholar at the Taxpayers Protection Alliance and a Las Vegas resident.