Crapo Wants To Keep Taxes From Going Up

Washington, D.C. - Idaho Senator Mike Crapo warns that any tax hikes on Americans are bad news, but especially so during a recession like the one the nation is facing now. Worse yet, he says, the tax hikes set to take place at the end of this year will kill the creation of new jobs. That's why Crapo today signed on to legislation in the U.S. Senate that will stop tax increases on every American.

"A downturn in the economy is the absolute worst time to raise taxes," Crapo said. "Because half of all income earned by small businesses is earned by companies that pay their taxes at the individual, not corporate, level, if we don't stop the projected increases in individual income taxes, 50 percent of all small business income will be affected. These are the same small businesses that create 20 million jobs for Americans. A tax increase will kill the engine that is driving our economy and our potential economic recovery."

Crapo, a member of the Senate Finance and Budget Committees, is co-sponsoring legislation offered by Republican Leader Senator Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) and Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa).

Crapo pointed to Internal Revenue Service records that show half of the net income of small businesses filing as sole proprietorships, partnerships and S corporations went to households with incomes above $200,000 back in 2007. "These are small businesses that employ people and could employ more, but they won't if they know their taxes are going up. And they are not the rich millionaires that some in Congress want to make them out to be when they say they are only going to 'raise taxes on the rich."

The McConnell-Grassley legislation blocks a scheduled increase in the income tax rates of all Americans at the end of the year and increases in the marriage tax penalty. Crapo said that business owners should not have to bear the brunt because Congress cannot stop its spending binge. But, he noted that just today, a majority in the Senate turned back an attempt to stop business owners from being exposed to burdensome new paperwork filings with the IRS that come as part of the President's new health care reform plan. He hoped that business owners would fare better under the tax reform legislation.

"Unemployment in many parts of Idaho is in double-digits. The national unemployment rate is 9.6 percent. By many accounts, we are in the worst economic slump since the Great Depression. Is this really the time to be raising taxes on people?" Crapo concluded.