Seventy-three percent of small-business owners agree that the current tax code benefits the welfare of large corporations over small businesses. Georgia small-business owner Markela Taylor is tired of seeing small businesses getting the short end of the stick.
Markela Taylor pictured is in February 2021. (Photo credit: Atlanta Creative Photography)
As a Black woman entrepreneur, Markela faced her share of obstacles in building her business. She leased a building for her company from big-time businessmen who knew the law better than she did and used that to trap her in an unfair lease. Markela could feel the divide—the feeling of inferiority as a Black woman—in all of their interactions. Now, as the co-chair of the young entrepreneur group of the Atlanta Black Chamber of Commerce, she helps others in her community overcome the same challenges she faced. The tax code’s complexity leaves many small-business owners vulnerable while large corporations pay accountants to find loopholes and evade paying taxes. Markela is hopeful that the Inflation Reduction Act will level the playing field so that young Black entrepreneurs such as herself can get a fair shot at success.
What are we, as a country, doing wrong, where I am a target as a small-business owner and the large corporations evading paying their taxes aren’t? I have many expenses and can't afford to pay myself a salary, and it just didn't add up. I think it's good that the IRA taxes are in place, large corporations should definitely pay their fair share.
Markela Taylor
The Inflation Reduction Act creates a fairer tax code for small-business owners by ensuring that billion-dollar companies cannot evade taxes and must pay a 15 percent minimum tax. Furthermore, small-business owners and their customers stand to benefit from savings on health care and energy costs, as well as expansions in economic opportunities.
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