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Opinion: Inflation Reduction Act a win for American people, small business

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The Inflation Reduction Act will lower prescription drug costs, health care costs and energy costs. It’ll lower the deficit, and no one making under $400,000 per year will pay a penny more in taxes. It’s also the most aggressive action the Biden/Harris administration has taken to confront the climate crisis.

The Inflation Reduction Act will lower costs for families and small businesses by lowering health care costs. If you are a sole proprietor getting your health insurance from the Affordable Care Act marketplace or have employees who use it, your health care costs will go down. The IRA is estimated to save about 13 million Americans about $800 per year in health care costs.

The IRA also will lower prescription drug costs by capping out-of-pocket expenses on prescription drugs for people on Medicare at $2,000 per year and capping insulin for Medicare patients at $35 per month, and finally letting Medicare negotiate prices. If you are an older business owner on Medicare, these direct cost savings are for you.

And this week, the federal Food and Drug Administration announced that millions of Americans will be able to buy hearing aids without a prescription later this fall, under a long-awaited rule finalized Tuesday.

By tackling the climate crisis, the IRA will advance environmental justice, reduce pollution and improve American energy security. It is estimated energy bills will be reduced, saving families and small businesses about $500 per year. IRA creates new avenues for small businesses to advance in environmental businesses – making and servicing solar panels and wind turbines, retrofiting buildings with energy-efficient windows, doors and HVAC units, or entering the supply chain for new electric vehicles, whose components will need to be made in America.

Small businesses can receive a tax credit that covers 30% of the cost of switching over to low-cost solar power – lowering operating costs and protecting against the volatile energy prices that are currently squeezing small businesses. 

Additionally, small businesses can deduct up to $1 per square foot of their business for making high energy-efficiency upgrades. The per-square-foot deduction is boosted if the efficiency upgrades are completed by workers who are paid a prevailing wage – helping businesses save money and provide good-paying jobs.

Together with his Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act, and American Rescue Plan, President [Joe] Biden’s economic plan is showing that we have the courage to build a future where every American has a fair shot!

Vercie Lark is regional administrator for the U.S. Small Business Administration Region 7, covering the Great Plains states of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa. His biography is at SBA.gov/person/vercie-lark.

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nixdannix

What you expect from a government official that the Inflation Adjustment Act is going to help everyone. Solar credit ? Does he not know that Missouri credits aren't going to be there & high gas prices are coming down because Biden is draining our oil reserves ! Oil companies aren't going to drilling new wells when Biden wants to put them out of business. Really, you don't believe that increasing the IRS is only to be after big business & not small to medium size businesses. The 15% tax on big business (LOL). They will raise prices to off set this tax which will only fuel higher inflation.

The Inflation Adjustment Act is bad for business.

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