FBC Chairman Opposes FCC nominee Sohn

FBC Shines Light on Rural Broadband Access for Family Businesses and Farms FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:  Washinton, DC -- Today, Family Business Coalition Chairman Palmer Schoening announced his opposition to embattled FCC nominee Gigi Sohn.  In a statement released to the media today, Schoening said: "Family owned and operated businesses depend on rural broadband to keep their businesses running and while significant strides have been made in closing the rural digital divide in recent years with broadband services, there is still important work to be done. Unfortunately nominee Sohn has made comments that show…continue reading →

New study shows anti-competitive practices affecting USPS

While Amazon ostensibly advocates for postal reform, it has engaged in two types of anticompetitive conduct that threaten the solvency of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) and evidence a desire to extend and perpetuate its dominance over e-commerce. First, Amazon has lobbied to combine mail and parcel delivery under one cost center, thus obscuring the latter’s contribution to institutional costs. Such a policy would allow Amazon to conceal the uneconomic pricing it receives under the Parcel Select program, the USPS ground bulk package “last-mile” delivery service that Amazon and other parcel shippers use.…continue reading →

Corporate Abuse of The U.S. Postal Service Threatens Family Businesses

All over the country, families are beginning preparations for the holiday season. Many who run their own shops or depend heavily on small businesses will make shipping arrangements for a variety goods, gifts, marketing items and other important materials and resources all throughout their communities. Unfortunately, for many American consumers and business owners, it will cost more than it ever has to use the United States Postal Service (USPS) because of unfair deals that the USPS strikes with large shipping partners like Amazon. These deals lock in below-market rates for certain companies, making…continue reading →

FBC breaks down PPP data on Small Businesses, Lenders Helping Small Businesses

As part of the Family Business Coalition’s (FBC) mission to protect family businesses, FBC began looking into the success of the Paycheck Protection Program. After passage of the CARES Act, our team helped a number of multi-generational family businesses, across a broad group of industries, understand the ins and outs of the newly created Paycheck Protection Program, including the accompanying Treasury guidance. FBC strongly supports the PPP loan program which has helped almost 5 small million businesses cover payroll and business expenses during the COVID-19 crisis.continue reading →

151 Organizations Sign Coalition Letter Supporting Death Tax Repeal Act

For Immediate Release:                                                         Contact: Alex Ayers February 20, 2019                                                                   Alex[@]familybusinesscoalition.org 151 Organizations Sign Coalition Letter Supporting Death Tax Repeal Act Diverse Business Coalition Supports Legislation to Repeal the Federal Estate Tax Washington, DC – Today, the Family Business Coalition (FBC) released a letter signed by over 150 small business associations and advocacy groups supporting the bipartisan Death Tax Repeal Act. Associations include the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, Associated Builders and Contractors, Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, International Franchise Association, and many more. Together these groups support millions of jobs across every…continue reading →

Family Business Coalition Supports House Tax Reform Bill

Legislation will help family business owners and farmers grow and create jobs WASHINGTON, DC: November 2, 2017:  Today, Republican leaders in Congress unveiled The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, which simplifies the tax system and reduces the tax burden on small businesses. These important changes will unleash small business growth, increase wages, and create jobs. “The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act combines historic middle-class tax relief with bold pro-growth tax cuts for small businesses,” said Family Business Coalition Chairman Palmer Schoening. “Permanent death tax repeal removes a crushing burden from the backs of…continue reading →

Family Business Coalition Supports Tax Reform Framework

Plan helps family businesses by repealing estate tax and lowering tax rates Earlier today, Republicans released a pro-growth tax reform framework that aims to simplify the tax system, reduce tax burdens on small businesses, and boost income for workers. The tax plan also brings long-awaited relief for small, family owned and operated businesses by permanently repealing the estate tax, or death tax. The current tax code puts family businesses, America’s main job creating engines, at a competitive disadvantage to publicly owned corporations. Comprehensive tax reform, as outlined in the framework, will correct this…continue reading →

150 organizations support repeal of the death tax as part of tax reform

Washington, DC: Today the Family Business Coalition sent a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Speaker Paul Ryan, Chairman Orrin Hatch, and Chairman Kevin Brady, encouraging Congress to repeal the death tax as a component of comprehensive tax reform. 150 trade associations and advocacy organizations representing a wide range of America’s family businesses joined the letter, which details the punitive nature of the tax. The coalition letter states in part: “The death tax is unfair. It makes no sense to require grieving families to pay a confiscatory tax on their loved one’s nest egg.…continue reading →

Over 700 Economists Call for Death Tax Repeal

727 economists including 4 Nobel Laureates cosign late Milton Friedman’s Open Letter Washington: Today, the late Milton Friedman’s open letter calling for full repeal of the federal estate tax was reissued with the signatures of over 727 economists from some of the world’s top institutions, including four Nobel Laureates (Milton Friedman, 1976; Edward Prescott, 2004; Vernon Smith, 2002; Oliver Williamson, 2009). Friedman’s open letter, first published 16 years ago with the support of 277 economists, makes a common-sense case for eliminating the federal estate tax (more commonly referred to as the death tax…continue reading →

FBC submits comments to protect family businesses and farms from IRS overreach

Last Friday, after reviewing all 105 final, temporary, and proposed Treasury regulations issued from January 2016 through April 2017, the Treasury Department identified eight burdensome regulations for which it will propose reforms as required by President Trump’s April 25th Executive Order 13789. One of the regulations addressed by the review were the proposed Section 2704 Estate, Gift, and Generation-skipping Transfer Taxes changes initiated by former Treasury Secretary Jack Lew. The move drew backlash from small business and advocates nationwide. This regulation would increase the number of family businesses and farms subject to the federal…continue reading →