Health care tax equity legislation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Rich Carter or Mike ArlinskyMarch 16, 2006 (202) 225-5821Manzullo, Hart Introduce Legislation to LowerHealth Insurance Costs for Self-Employed(WASHINGTON) House Small Business Committee Chairman Don Manzullo (R-IL) joined Congresswoman Melissa Hart (R-PA) today in introducing legislation to help America's 25 million small business owners better afford health insurance for their families and their employees.The Equity for Our Nation's Self-Employed Act (H.R. 4961) would allow small business owners to deduct health care costs from their payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare). The average self-employed individual pays $10,880 annually for health care coverage and would save $1,664 through this tax deduction.Current law allows small business owners to deduct health insurance costs from their individual federal income taxes. Self-employed workers pay a 15.3 percent payroll tax on top of their individual income tax. Allowing them to deduct their health insurance costs from their payroll taxes would effectively reduce those costs by more than 15 percent."Surging health care costs are drowning our small business owners, especially the self-employed who have to pay extra tax on their premiums," Manzullo said. "This is a wonderful bill that would provide our small employers - the job creators of our economy -- tremendous relief at a small cost."The Hart-Manzullo bill also makes tax policy more fair for the self-employed. Corporations are already able to deduct their health care expenses from all their taxes. The legislation is strongly supported by a coalition of small business groups, including the National Association for the Self-Employed and the National Small Business Association.(END)