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Small Business Tax Relief Act Of 2007

Floor Speech

Date: Feb. 16, 2007
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: Senior Citizens Entitlements and the Safety Net Health Insurance


SMALL BUSINESS TAX RELIEF ACT OF 2007 -- (House of Representatives - February 16, 2007)

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Mr. DOGGETT. Mr. Speaker, surely the smaller and less complex your business structure, the less complex your tax filings should be. But the tax code is so full of complexity that there is barely any room left for simplicity for even the truly Mom- and Pop-owned business or the couple who is trying to hold on to the family farm or ranch.

I am particularly pleased that this bill includes a provision to help husband and wife co-owned businesses that was taken from a bill that I co-introduced with the now Small Business Committee Chairwoman in the last Congress and reintroduced this Congress. My simplification provision has repeatedly been included in the Taxpayer Advocate's annual recommendations to Congress. Now it will hopefully become a reality. An additional benefit of this provision is to ensure equity for wives in these situations by giving both the husband and the wife credit for paying Medicare and Social Security taxes.

I also support the extension and increase of small business expensing, which allows small businesses to make significant capital investments--such as acquiring computer software or farm equipment--and deduct the total cost from income immediately, rather than depreciating them over extended periods of time. By reflecting the increasing costs of doing business, this provision will allow small business owners to build upon their all-American dreams.

As a result of this bill, many of the small Mom- and Pop-owned farms, ranches, and businesses that I represent in Texas will find tax season a little less taxing and a lot fairer. The Committee has shown restraint in drafting this bill. With the purchasing power of the minimum wage at its lowest level in 50 years, neither it nor these modest reforms to help small businesses should be held hostage to the endless appetite of some for another $8 billion plus in additional tax breaks.

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