By Daniel P. Mehan, President and CEO, Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry
With little time remaining, I am urging Missouri’s business community to take a closer look at the Inflation Reduction Act currently being rushed through Congress.
Congressional leaders and the Biden Administration are making bold promises about the benefits of the bill. But when you look a little closer, the details are likely to make business owners leery about what’s to come if this legislation becomes law.
For starters, the Inflation Reduction Act comes with new taxes on businesses. The nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation said the national price tag for businesses is $313.1 billion. This would be raised via a new book tax that the federal government would charge based on income reported on financial statements.
Supporters of the bill say the book tax is designed to hit large businesses. But when the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation looked at the bill, they discovered that nearly half of the taxes would fall on the shoulders of manufacturers.
The National Association of Manufacturers analyzed the bill and found that by next year the bill would result in 218,108 fewer jobs, cut wages by $17.11 billion and reduce our GDP by $68.45 billion.
To put it simply, when the federal government decides to siphon billions of dollars out of job creators it’s going to create significant pain across our economy.
Businesses of all sizes should also be concerned about how the proposal would bring a massive expansion to the Internal Revenue Service. Under the Inflation Reduction Act, it’s estimated the IRS could hire 87,000 additional employees. This move signals loud and clear that the federal government is going to be more aggressive on tax collection.
Whether you file your taxes as an individual taxpayer or on behalf of a business, your chances of being targeted by a time-consuming, distracting IRS audit would go way up if the Inflation Reduction Act becomes law.
Looking at the full picture of what the Inflation Reduction Act means for Missouri and the businesses in our state, the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry has decided to come out strongly against the bill.
We see this as another attempt by the federal government to wring more tax dollars out of America’s job creators. We believe that Missouri businesses of all sizes will be affected by the Inflation Reduction Act, whether they are directly impacted by higher taxes or the aggressive proposed changes to the tax collection system.
With the legislation moving quickly, we are working hard to educate businesses about this proposal.
We are also encouraging our Congressional delegation to do what they can to stop these dangerous provisions from becoming law.
If you own a business or pay taxes, there is a lot to be concerned about in the Inflation Reduction Act.
If you share my concern, please join me in speaking up before it’s too late.
The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the largest business association in Missouri. Together with the Missouri Chamber Federation, the Missouri Chamber represents more than 75,000 employers. To learn more, go to www.mochamber.com, or follow us @MissouriChamber on Twitter.