Posted by Molly Nelson - Just because tax season is over doesn't mean the NASE is done
thinking about taxes! The NASE's National Tax Advisor, Keith Hall,
testified at the House Small Business Committee's Subcommitee on
Finance and Tax hearing on how tax code complexity hinders small
business last week.
Keith
testified before the committee in support of simplification of the tax
code and the creation of a standard home office deduction. Money
quote:
“The home office deduction is a prime example of a provision of the
tax code that needs simplification. The forms and instructions are too
complicated. The paperwork requires too much recordkeeping and takes
too much time to complete. In addition, NASE Members expressed a
substantial fear that claiming the deduction will trigger an IRS audit.
All of these obstacles cause many home-based business owners, who
qualify, to avoid the deduction altogether. The creation of a $1,500
standard home office deduction option as proposed in the “Home Office
Deduction Simplification Act” (H.R. 1561) would address all of these
barriers to utilizing the home office deduction. In fact, we found in a
May 2008 online poll that over 60% of those home-based businesses who
were not currently employing the home office deduction would do so if
they were offered a standard deduction option.”
Watch Keith's testimony on YouTube here.
Read the full text of Keith's testimony here.
Find more information on the NASE's positions on home office deduction simplification and legislative priorities here.