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Brad Sherwood is the owner and operator of Professional Home Projects, which repairs homes, installs appliances, installs accessibility and mobility products, and performs home improvement projects. Three of his five children work full time for the company.
By now, you may have heard that the Trump-era tax cuts are expiring in 2025 and a battle is brewing in Congress over tax cuts for corporations and wealthy families. Big companies that benefited from lopsided tax cuts are already lobbying Congress to extend the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
I believe the Trump tax cuts have been a failure for all but the wealthiest Americans. The corporate tax rate was slashed from 35 percent to 21 percent, but the effective tax rate for the largest profitable corporations fell even further, from 22 percent to less than 13 percent. In just four years, the 296 largest profitable corporations in the U.S. paid $240 billion less in taxes. That’s money that could have been invested in housing, education and health care.
It should be obvious that corporations ought to pay their fair share in taxes. But that’s only one reason small-business owners like me recently traveled from all over the country to meet with their representatives in Washington, D.C.
As a small-business owner in the Kennebec Valley, I know the challenges our business community faces. I can’t — and wouldn’t — spend millions of dollars to track down every available tax loophole, and this uneven playing field stifles the growth and sustainability of small businesses across the country. There are nearly 30,000 businesses in Maine with fewer than 20 employees. Raising taxes on the wealthy doesn’t hold back our businesses growth; rather, it is a way for Americans to demand a more equitable economic landscape that benefits both big and small businesses and the workforce.
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’s personal income tax cuts also favored the wealthy. According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, making the tax cuts permanent would give the top 1 percent in Maine an average tax cut of $27,000 in 2026 while middle-income earners would receive modest cuts between $430 and $1,450. Meanwhile, Mainers in the bottom 20 percent would see an average tax cut of just $90.
It’s also incredibly expensive. The Congressional Budget Office has found that extending Trump’s tax cuts would be even more costly than initially anticipated, with an estimated cost of $400 billion per year. That’s $400 billion less for our communities’ needs, and $400 billion more for those who are already well off.
We’ve made progress in Maine to create an economy that works for everyone. In 2023, we improved Maine’s child tax credit, established statewide paid family and medical leave, won wage gains for child care workers, plus funding for affordable housing and free community college. These programs help my customers and my employees and will create a more prosperous community. Funding these programs requires the wealthy to pay what they owe in taxes instead of continuing to ask the rest of us to pick up their tab.
Our government cannot balance the budget when our largest companies pay little to no taxes. It is time to replace Donald Trump’s trickle-down tax cuts with a simplified tax plan, perhaps called the Give Back to Our Society Act. It would restore the corporate income tax rate to 35 percent for large corporations, allowing us to level the playing field between big multinational corporations and our main street businesses.
Mainers and all Americans want to see a tax code that rewards work, not wealth. Now is the time for all of us to stand up and demand big changes in Washington, D.C., and in Augusta, by raising taxes on wealthy people and corporations and building a tax code that works for working families and levels the playing field for small businesses. Most of us work hard and have taxes taken out of our paychecks. Those who make deals at the country club while enjoying tax-deductible meals at the finest restaurants need to step up and give back to this great nation that has enabled them to live a life of abundance.
