SUMMER 2013

30 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S

30 THE DISTRIBUTOR’S LINK Jim Truesdell James Truesdell is president of Brauer Supply Company, a distributor of specialty fasteners, insulation, air filtration, and air conditioning with headquarters in St. Louis. Mr. Truesdell is adjunct professor at Saint Louis University and Webster University. An attorney and frequently published writer, he is the author of “Total Quality Management: Reports From the Front Lines”. TAX REFORM AND SIMPLIFICATION REMAINS SMALL BUSINESS GOAL Individual Americans and the small businesses which proliferate as the bulk of this country’s economic engine have just completed another tax year. For many, complying with their obligations as taxpayers has become so complicated that they must “farm out” this once simple activity to professional tax preparers who are schooled in the intricacies of the Tax Code and the myriad of forms, schedules, and remittance deadlines used to make sure everyone is able to pay what they owe and, hopefully, avoid paying beyond what they are legally required to do. All of this is the result of decade after decade of social engineering in our tax system which has been the product of lobbying and horse trading in our Congress at the behest of interest groups and those with overriding political philosophies. Narrow business interests have sought special exemptions or deductions to promote their success. Charitable enterprises have worked for incentives to encourage their donor bases. Politicians have promoted wealth transfer programs to assist large voting blocks which form the core of their ballot support. Proponents of various forms of research and development have sought tax breaks which they feel will help the country move forward in areas like pharmaceuticals, energy conservation, education and community improvement programs, and many others. All of this has contributed to a tax system which is hard to comprehend, stacked in favor of those with political clout, sometimes confiscatory in nature, and requiring special expertise for compliance. The National Federation of Independent Business surveyed its membership on taxes during November and December 2012 and found, among other things, that ninety-one percent of small businesses hire a professional tax preparer to do their returns. Eighty-five percent think Congress should revise the tax code, and seventy-eight percent want a tax system with fewer preferences. This last is not so surprising, because few of the special break provisions enacted into law are for the benefit of small business enterprises. It is the megacorporations and capital intensive industries that have had the political leverage and influence to insert narrowly written perks into the Code. Most fastener distribution businesses are family founded enterprises that fit the small business model. This survey was taken just as the fiscal cliff negotiations were heating up and before compromise legislation was enacted in January. That legislation, not surprisingly, consisted of a lot of temporary patchwork and transitional solutions and not the permanent simplification that the public, and particularly the business constituency, seem to be calling for. please turn to page 62

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