| Hello John, Regular readers know that one issue we’ve harped on for most of the year is that getting the tax cuts passed in a timely manner helps remove economic uncertainty. This is especially true for small businesses, which are the lifeblood of the U.S. economy. Small businesses need certainty: They need predictable tax obligations for the coming year, otherwise they’re less likely to invest in expanding their business or hiring new workers. Uncertainty doesn’t just slow decision-making — it creates ripple effects that can drag down the entire economy. Acting quickly to renew these tax cuts would give businesses the clarity and confidence they need to move forward. Well, it looks like we were right. The third quarter CNBC/SurveyMonkey Small Business Confidence Index showed a significant uptick in small business confidence, moving from 51 in the previous quarter to 56 now. This is great news for the economy, since small businesses play such an outsized role in jobs and growth. Some 99% of all businesses in the U.S. are small businesses — about 33 million. Nearly half of all jobs are with small businesses (66 million), which account for 40% to 50% of America’s gross domestic product. So, when small businesses are feeling confident, that is good news for all of us. Here are some of the other findings of the survey as reported by CNBC: - Nearly half of small business owners rate the economy as “excellent” or “good” — up from 30% in the previous quarter.
- More than half of small business owners expect revenue to increase over the next year — up 10 points from last quarter — and more describe their business conditions as “good.”
- There has been a sharp decline in the number of small business owners who expect government regulations, tax policy, and trade policy to negatively impact their operations.
It’s not hard to understand small businesses’ optimism. The One Big Beautiful Bill makes permanent full expensing for most categories of business investment. This is a huge win. Full expensing is designed to encourage business investment, stimulate economic growth, and simplify tax compliance. The expensing provisions in the 2017 Trump tax cuts excluded investments in factories and buildings and began phasing out in 2023, so the One Big Beautiful Bill is a big improvement. And because it’s permanent, small businesses can plan with confidence. None of this would have happened if supporters in Congress didn’t take some tough votes. With the margins of passage as slim as they were, every member of Congress voting “Yes” on the One Big Beautiful Bill was practically the deciding vote, and they deserve our thanks. So, please, let your elected officials know you appreciate them. Send them a “thank you” message! | 
