The Washington Post Published: April 22
The latest deficit-reduction plan offered by Erskine Bowles and Alan Simpson supports the interests of big business at the expense of the United States’ small businesses by calling for adoption of a territorial tax system. In two recent polls, small-business owners have soundly rejected making abuse of offshore tax havens by multinational organizations legal and permanent.
A March poll sponsored by the American Sustainable Business Council and Main Street Alliance found that 85 percent of those surveyed, including 67 percent of Republican small-business owners, opposed a territorial tax system that would exempt foreign profits from U.S. taxes. The National Small Business Association reported that only 16 percent of small business owners they polled supported a shift to the territorial tax system.
Elected leaders should not support any proposal for taxing multinational corporations that small business owners view as wrong and unfair.
Frank Knapp Jr., Washington
The writer is vice chairman of the American Sustainable Business Council.