NYC billboard rips Biden's proposed tax hike for small businesses: 'Not on our watch!'

A president of a small business warns the move 'would be a really bad call'

A billboard erected in New York City slams President Joe Biden’s reported consideration to increase taxes on small businesses, saying “HELL NO!”

Speaking on “Fox & Friends” on Wednesday, HM Manufacturing president Nicole Wolter warned tax hikes “would be a really bad call.”

“We’re just getting out of COVID lockdowns and it's hurting small businesses more than ever,” Wolter said. “So raising taxes would be the worst possible situation.”

On Monday, the Job Creators Network (JCN), a small business advocacy organization, erected the billboard in Times Square calling out President Biden for the potential tax increases.

The billboard reads, “Biden wants to raise taxes on small businesses?” and continues, “HELL NO! NOT ON OUR WATCH!” It also directs readers to a website dedicated to tracking the number of jobs Biden’s policies “have put at risk,” according to JCN.

Biden is reportedly considering getting rid of the 20% small business standard deduction and raising the tax rate paid by pass-through entities, many of which are small businesses, according to JCN.

Wolter, who had been rewarding her employees and growing her business thanks to the deduction, said the potential move by the Biden administration “would be super detrimental.”

“The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was so large for this company of mine,” Wolter said, explaining that she runs a family business, which employs 20 people and is growing.

“I bought $750,000 worth of capital equipment, which created jobs. Because of those jobs I sent for training, which increased the employees’ wages. I was able to give incentives and bonuses. Things that I wasn't able to do in years past,” she continued, stressing that increasing taxes would be a “bad” move for small businesses especially during the pandemic.

Speaking on “Fox & Friends” on Thursday, Job Creators Network President and CEO Alfredo Ortiz explained what prompted him to erect the billboard slamming the reported consideration to increase taxes.

“This is all part of our Bring Small Businesses Back campaign that just kicked off,” Ortiz said. “We thought this would be a great way to actually kick it off.”

The campaign is “a multi-million dollar effort to educate the public and lawmakers about the consequences Biden administration policies will have on Main Street,” according to JCN.

“We say ‘hell no’ to Joe Biden's plan here to raise taxes on small businesses,” he added, stressing that “2020 was a horrific year for our small business owners” with “tens of thousands of small businesses being closed” and “millions of people losing their jobs.”

“Thank goodness for the Paycheck Protection Program, which was put in place that saved millions of people millions of jobs, 51 million jobs in fact,” Ortiz went on to say.

The Biden administration is reportedly exploring tax increases on businesses, investors and wealthy Americans to fund the president's next multitrillion-dollar spending bill.

White House officials are currently drafting a multipart proposal that will serve as the basis of Biden's “Build Back Better” plan, a wide-ranging infrastructure and jobs measure that would include policies to combat climate change, as well as ways to revitalize the manufacturing industry and revamp housing, education and health care.

The measure could cost upward of $3 trillion, according to The Wall Street Journal. The proposals largely mirror what Biden proposed as a candidate during the 2020 presidential campaign.

The tax proposals are almost certain to spur criticism from Republicans, as well as some moderate Democrats who are wary of raising tax rates while the economy is still recovering from the coronavirus pandemic.

An analysis of Biden's tax plan conducted by the Tax Policy Center estimated it would raise $2.1 trillion in new revenue over a decade.

In the span of one year, Congress approved about $6 trillion in relief measures, pushing the deficit to a record $3.1 trillion in fiscal year 2020 — which doesn't include the $900 billion relief package lawmakers approved in December or the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan passed in March. The national debt is poised to hit $30 trillion by the end of the year.

“From a small business perspective, we have got to remember two-thirds of job creation is in the hands of small businesses and these small businesses, not only are they the backbone of our country, they are the backbone of our communities,” Ortiz said on Thursday.

“That's the very group of people that the Biden administration, quite frankly, has declared war on,” he added. “This is Biden's war on small business.”

A Biden spokesperson did not immediately respond to Fox News’ request for comment.

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