A majority of small business owners support the GOP tax reform bill, but few plan to boost wages or hiring with the proceeds according to the latest results from the CNBC|SurveyMonkey Small Business Confidence Index.
- 55% of small business owners support the tax reform bill currently under consideration in Congress
- Support increases with firm size, with larger firms far more supportive
- Support varies widely by industry, with owners in the finance, insurance, and retail trade industries the most in favor (63%)
- 31% of small business owners say they would use a tax windfall to pay down debt
Optimism among small business owners remains steady from Q3 to Q4, with no change in the overall index value (57) and few or small changes among subgroups. Meanwhile, the percentage of small business owners naming “taxes” as the most critical issue facing their business increased from 22 percent to 26 percent from Q3 to Q4.
Read more about our polling methodology here.
Click through all the results in the interactive toplines below:
Question Text:
Which one of the following issues matters MOST to you right now?
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president? What is the most critical issue currently facing your business? In addition to yourself, how many employees work at your small business? Is your business a:
Overall, would you describe current conditions for your business as good, middling or bad? In the next 12 months, do you expect your business’s revenue to increase, stay the same, or decrease? In the next 12 months, do you expect your business’s staff of full-time employees to increase, stay the same, or decrease?
In the next 12 months, do you expect changes in government regulations to have a negative effect, no effect, or a positive effect on your business? In the next 12 months, do you expect changes in tax policy to have a negative effect, no effect, or a positive effect on your business? In the next 12 months, do you expect changes in trade policy to have a negative effect, no effect, or a positive effect on your business? In the next 12 months, do you expect changes in technological innovation to have a negative effect, no effect, or a positive effect on your business?
In the next 12 months, do you expect changes in immigration policy to have a negative effect, no effect, or a positive effect on your business?
Overall, do you support or oppose passage of the tax reform bill currently working its way through Congress? Based on what you know about the tax reform bill, what do you expect to happen in 2018? competitor? If you get a tax cut next year, what are you most likely to do with the extra money?
*businesses
