NGA Rebukes Obama’s Tax Proposal

President Barack Obama’s call for let tax cuts expire for joint filers with incomes of more than $250,000 has earned the opposition of the National Grocers Association (N.G.A.), which says the proposal would affect “thousands of individual entrepreneurs who operate their businesses as pass-through entities, such as Subchapter-S corporations and LLCs,” forcing these company owners “to divert capital to pay Uncle Sam’s tax bill, instead of growing their businesses and creating jobs.”

“Independent retail grocers and wholesalers have continued to innovate and invest in their local communities by opening new stores, renovating existing stores and hiring workers,” noted Peter Larkin, president and CEO of the Arlington, Va.-based trade association. “Over 50 percent of NGA’s members operate as a pass-through entity, so the impact of a tax hike on these entrepreneurs will be significant.”

Larkin said that the group’s members would continue to urge Congress to extend the current individual tax rates for all income levels for one year, thereby enabling the lawmakers to address comprehensive tax reform. The legislative body should also move quickly to make permanent the current estate tax top rate and exemption, so that businesses can have some certainty for the future, he added.

“Calls to raise taxes at a time when the economy is faltering and unemployment continues to hover above 8 percent should be swiftly rejected by Congress,” according to Larkin.