Tax cuts vital for business

By Assemblyman Jim Marchant, R-Las Vegas

Monday, Nov. 6, 2017 | 2 a.m.

Congress successfully passed a 2018 budget resolution, which means it’s time to tackle tax cuts.

Evidence suggests that employee wages are reduced with every percentage increase in business taxes. It makes sense: Every dollar a small-business owner must send to D.C. is a dollar unavailable to support wage increases, new hiring or expansion. High taxes are a bad tradeoff for our economy, and for the 450,000 Nevadans who rely on small businesses for their paycheck.

I should know. As a small-business owner for more than three decades, I learned firsthand the challenges of meeting payroll and complying with a labyrinth of state and local tax regulations. It doesn’t matter whether you operate a software company or a mom-and-pop grocer: a top federal small-business tax rate near 40 percent hurts everyone. And following Nevada’s largest-ever tax hike in 2015, now is as good a time as ever to make sure the dollars spent in Nevada stay here and support the local economy.

Small businesses are America’s greatest asset. Congress should move quickly to bring them the tax cuts they need.