New Studies Debunk Idea that Ending Tax Cuts on Wealthy Hurts Small Businesses

A New York Times report tonight sheds some light on the debate on whether ending tax cuts for the top 2%, which is how Obama proposes to deal with the pending expiration of Bush tax cuts, will, as low tax stalwarts contend, hurt small businesses.

Although my sample is anecdotal, it strongly says not, and more systematic analyses supports that view. Most small businesses are not profitable enough to provide enough income to put owners in high enough brackets for the tax increases to make a difference; per the Joint Committee on Taxation, 97% of business owners would not be touched by the proposed tax increases. And I would bet a pretty high proportion of those who would be are high end professionals (think doctors, attorneys, larger accounting firms) who might not like a tax increase, but are not going to make changes in how they operate their firm based on it.