Stop the HIT Coalition Urges House Leadership to Vote on HIT Repeal
WASHINGTON, D.C. (April 22, 2015) – The Stop The HIT Coalition, a broad-based group representing the nation’s small business owners, their employees and the self-employed, urged House leadership today to recognize the widespread bipartisan support in the House of Representatives for repealing the small business health insurance tax (HIT), evidenced by the milestone of 218 cosponsors signing onto H.R. 928.
In a letter sent today by Stop The HIT coalition members to Speaker of the House John Boehner and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, the groups urged them to bring this bill to the floor. The 36 organizations behind the letter represent millions of employers, employees and the self-employed across the country.
“Legislation to repeal the HIT has been introduced repeatedly and in each instance the bills were kept off the floor. It’s time to stop ignoring the issues that matter to small businesses, such as keeping health care costs down and repealing unnecessary taxes,” said Amanda Austin, vice president of public policy at the National Federation of Independent Business. “Now that this bill has gained serious bipartisan support, Congress has no excuse not to act in the best interest of Main Street.”
The HIT is an often overlooked small business tax in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), which will impose $159 billion in new taxes on the small business community, their employees and the self-employed over the next decade. The HIT does not sunset and is expected to cost each family approximately $5,000 in higher premiums over the decade according to an analysis by former Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Director Douglas Holtz-Eakin. This year alone the tax will collect $11 billion from Main Street.
“This tax is adding insult to injury, piling more taxes onto an already expensive market for small business. With a substantial number of House Members now looking to remedy the flawed tax, we hope to see it repealed once and for all,” said Ms. Austin.
The HIT would reduce private sector employment by between 152,000 and 286,000 by 2023, according to a study by the National Federation of Independent Business Research Foundation. Roughly 57 percent of these job losses will fall on small businesses. The survey also showed that the added tax would reduce U.S. real output (sales) in 2023 by between $20 billion to $33 billion.
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The Stop The HIT Coalition represents the nation’s small business owners, their employees and the self-employed who are actively working to repeal the Health Insurance Tax. Since the Coalition’s formation in 2011, it has grown to include more than 35 national organizations, representing millions of small business owners across the country. For more information, please visit www.StopTheHIT.com.