I was amazed by the misleading nature of the Maine Voices column “Creating a ‘small business’ tax loophole would only serve millionaires” (Dec. 7).

The author claims to speak for small businesses, but in truth his organization is aligned with the Maine People’s Alliance, a very liberal group well known for its support for higher taxes and bigger government.

The fact is, the tax hike President Obama is demanding on the “rich” will hurt small businesses dearly. The reason is that most small businesses pay their income taxes on the individual tax forms filed by their owners.

In other words, the personal income tax forms filed by small-business owners include the “profit” belonging to their business. This profit can make small-business owners look “rich,” even when they’re not.

That’s why I like Sen. Susan Collins’ proposal.

She believes that the very rich can pay more in taxes, but she doesn’t ignore the fact that higher taxes would hurt small businesses.

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She has proposed a surtax on people who make more than $1 million a year, coupled with a “carve-out” to protect business owners who are actively engaged in running their businesses.

This proposal would help us find the additional revenue we need to shrink our deficit without punishing the small businesses we need to create new jobs.

Small businesses need money to grow, but President Obama wants to take their profits through higher taxes to grow Washington. Small businesses do not need higher taxes.

John F. Ridge is a resident of South Portland.

 


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