NRF welcomes Congressional Tax Committees' visit

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-Mich., and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., visited Mrs. G TV, Appliances and Sleep Center in Lawrenceville, N.J., as part of their “Simpler Taxes for America Tour.” The stop was the second on the tour, which began earlier this month in St. Paul, Minn., and the store is the first retail facility to be visited.

“Retailers welcome this opportunity for lawmakers to see how the tax code is affecting small business store owners,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Retailers support a simpler and fairer tax code that encourages job creation instead of putting roadblocks in the path of small businesses trying to put Americans back to work. With studies showing that consumer spending is down because high tax rates are pushing investment out of the United States, we need tax reform not just for simplicity but for the economic boost it would provide.”

“Local stores like mine don’t have the resources to have an accountant  on staff or pay for one every time we have a business decision to make,” Mrs. G owner Debbie Schaeffer said. “We want a simpler tax code that’s easy to understand, treats everyone the same, lowers rates and lets us focus on running our businesses.” 

“Small businesses have had to fight their way through the tax code for far too long,” New Jersey Retail Merchants Association President John Holub said. “It’s time for Congress to write a tax code that maps out a path to prosperity, not a minefield to be survived.”

A study released in March by consultants Ernst and Young found that consumer spending this year is expected to be 1.7 to 2.3 percent lower than it would be otherwise because of high corporate income tax rates.

As the world’s largest retail trade association and the voice of retail worldwide, NRF represents retailers of all types and sizes, including chain restaurants and industry partners, from the United States and more than 45 countries abroad. Retailers operate more than 3.6 million U.S. establishments that support one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans.

National Retail Federation