As the election nears, American's are evaluating the candidates and their stances on a myriad of issues. One issue that we see a lot of focus on is taxes. Putting Donald Trump’s taxes aside for this discussion, the tax rates & code is certainly a legitimate issue that affects almost every business. But is that issue that affects small businesses the most?
I had a great conversation the other day with one of the finest business owners I know, Karen Vasconi of Career Connections. She brought up a great point about some laws and regulations that are very hard for small businesses to comply. That led me to think that it may be better to dive deeper on the candidates position concerning rules, regulations, the cost of compliance as opposed to the tax code.
Taxation
Let’s face it, federal and local government(s) do need to tax in order to provide basic services. And a small business can thrive nicely if the tax rates are simple and reasonable. The problem lies in that the tax code is too complex and can favor certain industries over others. A complex tax code also tends to favor big businesses. For example, a locality can create tax incentives to encourage a large business to stay or relocate to their area. Or there may be deductions or tax shelters somewhat hidden in the tax code that smaller companies do not have the resources to take advantage of or the tax savings are insignificant to even bother applying for them. The best solution may be to reform the tax code and make it flatter and fairer for all business, especially smaller ones.
Regulation
Personally, I think taxes are not the biggest problem facing the staffing industry or small business in general. The biggest hurdles can be found nationally and locally in the form of rules and regulations. Over regulation are job killers period. They can put small businesses and independent staffing companies at such a disadvantage that it hurts their ability to survive and put people to work. And contrary to some beliefs, those end-users of temporary help that rely on a flexible workforce will not hire the same employees internally – they just won’t hire them at all.
Think about it. When regulations, compliance etc. becomes over bearing, which businesses does it really benefit? Large ones - even when the stated intent is to protect small business. They have the money and resources to understand and comply with the changes, while smaller business struggle because they have limited means to comply with stricter, complex rules. The Affordable Care Act is just one law that comes to mind that initially put small staffing companies at an incredible disadvantage.
So when deciding which candidates to support, I think it’s best to consider who will make actually make it easier for small businesses to grow. After all, they are the biggest creators of new jobs.
Nick Andriacchi
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