U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) spent part of Wednesday plugging a Democrat-sponsored small business tax relief bill that he says would save Montgomery County businesses more than $6,200 for each new worker they hired during the year that followed that bill's passage into law. The bill would give businesses in the county a tax credit equivalent to 10 percent of any payroll they added over their 2011 payroll figures.
The bill in question is the Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act of 2012 (S. 2237). The bill's co-sponsor, Sen. Charles Schumer, last week called the bill "one of the most bang-for-the-buck tax breaks we can give."
A competing bill introduced by House Republicans would instead allow small businesses, defined by that bill as those with 500 or fewer employees, to take a one-year deduction of 20 percent of net income, not to exceed 50 percent of wages paid to non-owner employees of the business.
The Republican bill was approved by the GOP-controlled House last week and sent to the Senate, where the Democratic majority is unlikely to vote on it.
