FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS

77% of the tax relief associated with cutting the top rate would go to small business owners and entrepreneurs

Today, Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill kicked-off Small Business Week by releasing new information about how small business owners and entrepreneurs will benefit from the President's tax relief proposal.

According to the Office of Tax Analysis, when the President's tax relief plan is fully phased in, owners of flow-through entities, including small business owners and entrepreneurs receive 77% of the tax relief associated with reducing the top income tax rate to 33%. Such business owners make up 63% (about .8 million) of the 1.3 million tax returns that will benefit from the new 33% rate.

Business owners and entrepreneurs include any taxpayer that reports income from a sole proprietorship, farm proprietorship, partnership, S-corporation, or rental activities.

"Do you know who benefits from cutting the top tax rate? It's not who you think," said O'Neill. "Small business owners and entrepreneurs - the engines of growth in our economy - are the biggest beneficiaries of a cut in the top income tax rate. These are the people who will plow their tax relief right back into their businesses - increasing wages and hiring more workers."