Small Businesses Say These Tax Provisions are Top of Mind: R&D Expensing, Section 179 Expensing, Pass-Through Deduction (199A), Retirement Plan Startup Credit, Paid Leave Credit (45S), Employer-Provided Child Care Credit (45F), Dependent Care Assistance Program (DCAP)
NEW YORK, NY — As Congress debates extending the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 and other tax policy priorities of the new Administration, small business owners across the country want to ensure their voices are represented as they seek to grow and compete. Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices (10KSBV) and the Bipartisan Policy Center today released a briefing memo, Spotlighting Small Businesses in Tax Reform. The new policy brief highlights the key tax policies small business owners believe Congress and the Administration should prioritize based on research and survey data.
The new brief underscores the need for tax policies that will help level the playing field for small businesses, empowering them to grow and create jobs. According to the brief, tax deductions, credits, and exclusions can support small business growth by encouraging investment and reducing costs. The brief encourages policymakers to consider small business perspectives on issues including updating the R&D tax credits, which allow small businesses to innovate, along with childcare and retirement policies that are key to workforce competitiveness.
The brief will be shared with key Administration officials and congressional offices as part of an ongoing effort to elevate the perspectives and priorities of small business owners. Goldman Sachs has not endorsed specific tax policy provisions.
According to a February 2025 survey by Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices, small business respondents listed reforming tax policy as one of the top three priorities for the new Administration. In the survey, small business owners expressed their tax policy preferences as Congress debates extending the 2017 tax law, among other tax policies:
“Main Street businesses in America are looking to Congress for decisive action on essential provisions of the tax code that support not only business growth but the communities they’re in,” said Bipartisan Policy Center President and CEO Margaret Spellings. “There is longstanding bipartisan support for many of the provisions being debated in Washington, and we hope that both parties will come together to make it easier to expand, invest, and hire across the country.”
The brief features firsthand accounts from Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses alumni who have felt the impact of tax policy changes.
“We’ve relied on R&D expensing for years to essentially fund our R&D budget. The change to amortization has reduced our cash flow, creating an untenable situation. We have laid off staff and scaled back our R&D efforts as a result,” said the founder of an engineering company in Oakland, CA, in the report.
“I’ve had clients convert to C corporations just because there’s more certainty about what the tax environment will be for businesses organized that way. All of the unknowns and potential changes coming for sole proprietorships, S corporations, and other pass-throughs make long- term planning very difficult for businesses. As a CPA who provides accounting services to small businesses, the uncertainty makes it very challenging to give them clear guidance,” the owner of an accounting firm in Michigan said in the report.
In January, Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices and the Bipartisan Policy Center released a report providing a policy strategy to level the playing field for small businesses. The playbook gives lawmakers a roadmap to empower entrepreneurs to compete for workers, cut red tape, remove barriers that stall their success, and foster an environment to drive technology investment and innovation. Read more about the Small Business Policy Playbook: Winning Strategies to Drive Economic Growth here.
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About 10,000 Small Businesses Voices
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Voices, which in April will mark its five-year anniversary, builds on Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses and organizes program participants to advocate for policies that matter to them. Learn more at www.gs.com/10ksb-voices
About Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses
Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses is an investment to help entrepreneurs create jobs and economic opportunity by providing a comprehensive business education program and access to capital and business support services. To date, 10,000 Small Businesses has served over 16,000 small businesses across the United States. The program has reached businesses from all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. Learn more at www.gs.com/10ksb.
About Goldman Sachs
The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is a leading global financial institution that delivers a broad range of financial services to a large and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in all major financial centers around the world.
About Bipartisan Policy Center
The Bipartisan Policy Center is a mission-focused organization helping policymakers work across party lines to craft bipartisan solutions. By connecting Republicans and Democrats, delivering data and context, negotiating public policy, and creating space for bipartisan collaboration, BPC helps turn legislators’ best ideas into durable laws that improve lives. Since 2007, the Bipartisan Policy Center has helped shepherd countless bills across the finish line.
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