Tax breaks for corporations and the ultra-rich hurt working people, Michael Chameides of the Rural Democracy Initiative argues.
By Michael Chameides
Rural Democracy Initiative
Editor’s Note: The original version of this column ran in the publication Barn Raiser, your independent source for rural and small town news.
The Trump Administration’s top priority in 2025 is to give more lavish tax breaks to the wealthy and corporations while paying for them with cuts to everything from health care to public safety.
The giveaways to the wealthy further concentrates power for the most dominant corporations and make it even harder for small businesses to compete. This is a big problem for rural communities and small towns that rely on small businesses to build a stronger economy and a better democracy.
I work with rural leaders across the country through the Rural Democracy Initiative, which supports the work of more than 130 grassroots rural organizations. Repeatedly, I have observed thriving rural communities have one thing in common: successful small businesses.
Take Viroqua, Wisconsin. In 2009, when NCR, a major ATM manufacturer, found they could make a larger profit in Tennessee, where manufacturing workers earn less. NCR executives closed their plant in Viroqua, laid off 81 employees in the town of 4,400, and moved operations, citing a “global strategy” to reduce costs. In response to this loss, it was local leaders and small businesses who stepped in to bolster the rural economy. They created a hub for over 15 food-manufacturing and wellness businesses, replacing the lost jobs, providing new markets to area farmers and new suppliers to other small businesses.
Compared to the big corporation that hung Viroqua out to dry, Shawn Phetteplace, the national campaign director for Main Street Alliance, a network of 30,000 entrepreneurs and small businesses, tells me Viroqua business owners, “have much more skin in the game in this community. It really helps to build democracy.”
Small businesses knit together the social and economic fabric of many rural areas by offering employment opportunities, generating wealth that stays within the community and fosters local leadership.
“We know that small businesses are essential to the sustainability of rural communities nationwide,” says Alexis D’Amato from Small Business Majority, a nationwide network of more than 85,000 small businesses and community organizations.
Small businesses represent over 85 percent of all rural businesses and employ more than half of all rural workers, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
Through their small business members, the Main Street Alliance and Small Business Majority identified three key tax policy priorities:
1. The ultra-rich must pay their fair share
Reform the “199A” deduction, which unfairly privileges big business by giving the most significant tax breaks to the companies with the most resources. Under this policy, the wealthiest corporations get a deduction of over $1 million per year, but the average business deducts less than $1,000. Moreover, data from the Small Business Majority shows the wealthiest 4.5 percent of businesses receive 70 percent of the total 199A deductions.
We should level the playing field. Limit those $1 million deductions and use the revenue to support small businesses.
2. Affordable health care is essential
Small business owners rely on the Affordable Care Act marketplace to provide coverage for themselves and their employees. This coverage should remain available and, if anything, strengthened to provide even better coverage. It’s essential that premium tax credits are not slashed. With health care funding under threat, 2.2 million Americans could lose their coverage, endangering the workforce.
3. Don’t let the ultra-rich evade our tax rules
To ensure the wealthy pay their fair share, we also need the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to take on the giant corporations and their army of lawyers. That’s why small businesses and their champions also support fully funding the IRS. In contrast, the Trump Administration reportedly fired 6,700 IRS employees, including 3,500 that work in the division which provides critical assistance to small businesses..
At Rural Democracy, we know fair taxes are good for more than just small businesses. They’re good for everyone, especially people in rural communities. Our 2024 polling found that rural voters want rich people and corporations to pay their fair share of taxes so that our nation can invest in tools and opportunities for working people.
Rural communities are ready for solutions that center working people. Rather than give the wealthiest Americans tax breaks, Congress should make the rich and corporations pay their share to support an economy that works for everyone. We can grow our economy by ensuring hardworking people have the opportunities and tools to build a good life.
Disclosure: Barn Raiser and Beacon Media receive funding from the Rural Democracy Initiative.
Michael Chameides is Rural Democracy Initiative’s Communications and Policy Director and supports a rural network to engage communities and advocate for meaningful policy.