Changes for Small Business Owners with Trump
A Trump administration will mean suspending or reversing many of the Biden administration’s labor regulations. Already, business groups are filing lawsuits contesting the Department of Labor’s worker classification rules.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will be updating new guidelines making employers responsible for their employees’ behavior both in and out of the office, and that’s likely to face lawsuits as well. Another rule finalized by the Department of Labor would increase overtime pay for millions of workers. Rather than appeal these lawsuits, the Trump administration will probably choose not to contest them, which means the regulations will die in the courts.
Changes for small business owners with Trump will also rein in the Federal Trade Commission, Occupancy Safety and Health Administration, and the National Labor Relations Board by replacing key people with his choices as terms end. That will relieve many businesses, as these agencies have been busy making it easier to unionize, eliminating non-compete clauses, increasing fines and definitions of safety violations, and making it harder for companies to get financing. This means — at least for those regulators — the regulatory party will be over for the next four years.
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will also be in focus. Many of its provisions expire in the next two years, including the very popular Qualified Business Income Tax Deduction, which allows most pass-through organizations like S-Corporations and Partnerships more significant tax deductions. This was a signature piece of legislation during Trump’s first term, meaning a second term is likely to champion extensions or make most of those provisions permanent.
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