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Federal Asset Tax could hurt small businesses

Like many other Ohio natives, much of my working life has been spent building a small business. I oppose the federal asset tax President Joe Biden proposed in his last State of the Union address because l can clearly see how it would make it harder for Ohio families to hold onto their businesses.

As every entrepreneur knows, some business owners might appear to be wealthy on paper, but most are cash poor. Their assets, even when they run into the millions of dollars, are rarely disposable but instead invested in property, equipment, and inventory. President Biden’s federal asset tax would change current policies to tax assets like a family-run business not just when it is sold and a profit is realized, but also on the change in value of the business, year-to-year. The proposal put forth by President Biden to redefine assets as taxable income is a radical shift in the government’s ability to tax hardworking businesses, and it is imperative for our elected leaders to reject this detrimental measure.

Imagine what that could do to longstanding family-owned businesses here in Ohio. Faced with a hefty tax bill-when inflation is on the rise and property values increase—they might be forced to sell off their holdings to pay the IRS. Children and grandchildren could find it much harder to stay in the family business as the new federal asset tax drains their operating capital and reduces the business their ancestors have built, sometimes for multiple generations.

Also think about who might end up owning that business when it is auctioned off. Chinese and other foreign investors would love to buy up a bigger share of Ohio’s economy – including manufacturing companies and family-owned farms – at bargain prices, putting more of our most valuable national assets under foreign control.

I hope that Ohio Senator Sherrod Brown is on top of this issue. I’m urging Senator Brown to take a leadership role against the administration’s federal asset tax proposal. It would be devastating to some of Ohio most productive family businesses.

Jim Buchy,

Greenville

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