WASHINGTON, DC – The National Retail Federation urged the Senate to support legislation extending Bush era tax cuts that is scheduled for a procedural vote today, saying the measure would help preserve and create jobs.
“If current tax rates are allowed to expire at the end of this month, millions of Americans will see a massive tax hike on New Year’s Day that will force billions of dollars to be withheld from their very next paycheck,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “That would drastically and immediately dampen consumer spending across the nation, and cause the economy to decline further at a time when it is still struggling to recover. Retailers and the one out of five U.S. jobs they provide would be on the front line of this economic blow. But the impact would quickly spiral throughout the entire economy, including manufacturers, service providers and virtually every sector. We cannot afford to allow this to happen.”
Shay’s comments came in a letter to members of the Senate, which is scheduled to vote this afternoon on whether to take up the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010. Shay said votes on the bill and related procedural motions would be counted as key votes in NRF’s annual ranking of lawmakers on issues important to the retail industry.
Sponsored by Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., the measure is based largely on a “framework” agreement reached last week between President Obama and congressional Republicans. The bill would extend Bush-era tax cuts for all taxpayers regardless of income level for two years, avoiding a tax increase that would come in January if the cuts are allowed to expire at the end of this year.
In addition to preserving current income tax rates, Shay said the bill includes “many provisions that will help to create additional jobs and promote continued economic recovery.”
A provision extending the 15-year depreciation life for retail, restaurant and leasehold improvements and new restaurant construction for two years will create jobs in retailing by helping merchants revitalize older stores and keep them open while also creating jobs in construction, Shay said. Another provision offering an immediate 100 percent write-off of certain business expenses for one year will allow retailers to make important investments in their stores, also leading to more job creation in the economy.
As the world’s largest retail trade association and the voice of retail worldwide, NRF’s global membership includes retailers of all sizes, formats and channels of distribution as well as chain restaurants and industry partners from the United States and more than 45 countries abroad. In the United States, NRF represents the breadth and diversity of an industry with more than 1.6 million American companies that employ nearly 25 million workers and generated 2009 sales of $2.3 trillion.