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The message from Pennsylvania to Washington: Get tax reform done

For me, being a small-business owner isn’t just about business — it’s about family.

As the President of Robert M. Sides Family Music Centers — a third-generation, family-owned business that has been in operation for over 80 years and employs 100 people across two states in five locations — I have my family’s business in my blood.

But when I scan the economic and political landscape today, I’m concerned.

It seems like the federal government is trying to stack the deck against small businesses, and nowhere is this more apparent than the tax code. It is critical that Congress move swiftly to comprehensive tax reform to help get the U.S. small-business community back to full fighting strength again.

Today, U.S. businesses pay some of the highest corporate tax rates in the world.

In a marketplace where a business often has to compete with rivals not just across town, but also across the world, this is truly unacceptable.

If our taxes are higher than in other countries — and they are especially higher than many of our main competitors in Europe, for example — we go into any potential sale with a built-in price disadvantage.

And every sale lost is a chunk of money that isn’t being brought back to the United States to pay wages, grow local economies, or support local economies.

Congress must significantly cut the corporate tax rate to make sure we can compete and win business, customers, and sales.

Additionally, it is the very tax code itself that is a problem, which is twofold — it is far too complex, and it is much too friendly to big business.

As any small-business owner can tell you, the complexity of the tax code is a major problem.

We basically have a choice between hiring expensive CPAs or risk making a mistake that could cost us dearly.

After 30 years of special favors, carve outs, and loopholes being added, Congress must also simplify the tax code so that it isn’t such a financial and administrative burden on U.S. small businesses.

And speaking of loopholes, these are also the problem when it comes to the tax code’s unfair preferential treatment for large businesses versus small- and mid-sized firms. Corporations and big businesses already have many advantages, the federal government shouldn’t be in the business of giving them even more.

These loopholes need to be closed so we can restore fairness to the U.S. marketplace and give small businesses a real shot in competition with larger rivals.

Meaningful tax reform is critically important, and can’t happen fast enough.

If fully realized, it would add much-needed certainty to our business life and help guarantee we can continue the unique heritage of bringing music and joy to so many lives for generations to come. I hope our state’s representatives and senators can be counted on to support the current effort in Congress to reform the tax code.

It is one of — if not the — most important things they can do to improve the lives of their constituents.

Sides is President of Robert M. Sides Family Music Centers.

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