ICYMI: Small Business Owner Applauds Ernst Leadership in Making Trump Tax Cuts Permanent

WASHINGTON – In case you missed it, Palo small business owner Jerry Akers authored an op-ed in The Gazette praising Senator Joni Ernst’s (R-Iowa) leadership in the fight to permanently extend the Trump tax cuts and avoid the largest tax hike in American history.

As chair of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Ernst invited Akers to testify before Congress in April to ensure the voices of Iowa small businesses are represented as Washington debates repealing the punitive death tax, making the pass-through tax deduction permanent, and other key provisions in the Trump tax cuts.

Read the full editorial below:

Don’t raise taxes on small businesses

By: Jerry Akers

With the headache of Tax Day behind us, small business owners are looking ahead with a new worry — will the Trump tax cuts be extended, or will they be hit with the largest tax hike in our nation’s history in 2026?

I know this firsthand as a franchise business owner of Great Clips and The Joint Chiropractic. With my wife and two daughters, I own and operate 33 Great Clips and four The Joint Chiropractic locations across Iowa, as well as Nebraska.

In April, Sen. Joni Ernst invited me to testify before the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, which she chairs, to detail why making the Trump tax cuts permanent is so critical for small businesses and franchises like mine.

Dating back to Benjamin Franklin’s printing press, franchising has been perhaps the most important business growth strategy in our history. It has served as a core American model over centuries for opportunity and entrepreneurism, contributing to robust job creation and providing foundational skills development for small businesses. Franchising allows entrepreneurs to go into business for themselves, but not by themselves.

Passed in 2017, the Trump tax cuts, or the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), significantly overhauled large portions of the tax code for individuals, families, and businesses. While some of these changes for big businesses were permanent, many of the individual and small business provisions are expiring at the end of this year. The looming expiration is creating uncertainty and giving business owners pause.

Among the key provisions at risk of expiring include several that provide important tax relief to small businesses.

For example, the Section 199A deduction provides pass-through businesses with a 20% deduction for qualified business income, which helps level the playing field with larger businesses. Notably, more than 95% of franchised businesses are organized as pass-throughs, meaning we pay individual tax rates, not corporate ones.

The 199A deduction has enabled me to increase investment in new equipment, technology, and facilities, driving growth and innovation, while the extra financial breathing room has allowed me to hire more employees and provide better benefits.

Investing in new equipment is just as important as investing in employees. The bonus depreciation provision of the Trump tax cuts provides critical relief but is in danger of expiring. Bonus depreciation allows businesses to deduct a large percentage of the cost of capital investments.

This immediate deduction significantly reduces taxable income, leading to lower tax liabilities and improved cash flow. For our businesses, this influx of cash is crucial for reinvestment, expansion, or managing operational costs.

These deductions help level the playing field, allowing businesses like mine to compete with larger corporations, and provide valuable financial stability, especially in achieving the dream of fully passing the businesses on to my two daughters.

But whether that transfer can happen — hopefully many years from now — may depend on whether Congress makes permanent key estate tax provisions. These provisions allow family businesses like mine to be passed down to the next generation without selling or paying even higher taxes.

Fortunately, Sen. Ernst has led the fight in Washington to permanently repeal the punitive death tax and ensure that grieving families do not lose their livelihood.

These are just a few provisions critical to the success of small businesses. I was also encouraged that early version of the legislation included provisions on “No Tax On Tips” and overtime, which will put more money back in the pockets of our staff.

I thank Sen. Ernst for being a voice for Iowans and small business in Washington, and I urge Congress to make the Trump tax cuts permanent.

Jerry Akers is a multiunit franchisee of Great Clips and The Joint Chiropractic, and serves on the board of the International Franchise Association (IFA). He lives in Palo.

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