Paul Ryan's reputation as a numbers guy is so misplaced, especially when it comes to taxing "small businesses." He's flat out lying.
But, again the facts say something else:
IRS statistics indicate that only 3 percent of small businesses would be subject to the higher tax, and many studies of previous tax increases suggest that it would have minimal impact on hiring.
And it gets even worse for Ryan’s argument:
According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, 97 percent of all businesses owners do not earn enough to be subject to the higher rates. Even among the 750,000 businesses that would be subjected to the higher rates in 2011, many are sole proprietors — a classification so amorphous it can include everyone from corporate executives who earn income on rental property to entertainers, hedge fund managers and investment bankers. THE FACTS: The U.S. has roughly 6 million businesses that employ people, and 20 million businesses without employees. The latter group includes solo operators, professionals in partnerships and those who organize themselves as a business for tax purposes but earn little if any income from the enterprise.
So when it comes to the government making money, like a business, Ryan's brain stalls.
Critics reason that owners of many small companies report business income on their personal tax returns instead of filing corporate taxes. But most small businesses don't create jobs. They tend to be lawyers, accountants and other professionals who earn some of their money from partnerships or otherwise organize themselves as a business entity. As well, many small businesses with employees don't earn enough to put their owners over the threshold for the higher tax rates.
Small businesses are defined as having fewer than 500 workers each. Sizable companies within that group wouldn't be snagged by Obama's personal tax rates simply because they are too large to report income on the individual return of the owner. Many truly small operations simply don't make enough to qualify for the tax hit.
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