The general sentiment among small-business owners is one of optimism about their business' future, according to a recent nationwide survey.
"Most of the participants were optimistic about the economy's future and about their own future," said Anne Zimmerman, co-chair of Small Business for America's Future, which conducted the survey in the first half of August. Zimmerman is the founder and owner of Zimmerman & Co. CPAs, with offices in Cincinnati and Cleveland.
"Most feel government spending and investment have contributed heavily to the momentum of growth in the economy," she said. "And I was happy to see that 63% support investment to help modernize the IRS and make it a more efficient agency. Most small-business owners want to be compliant. One of the things we would like to see is the ability of small-business owners to call in with questions and receive guidance to help them comply on their own. In the old days they would call the IRS and discuss their situation, but that can't be done now."
The survey gauged the reaction of small-business owners across the country to the economy and the Inflation Reduction Act on its one-year anniversary. Among the results, the survey found:
- Most Main Street entrepreneurs are optimistic about their business future and believe government initiatives and investments have contributed to recent positive economic developments.
- Over half believe the IRA has had a positive impact on small businesses.
- Most believe measures in the act to control inflation benefit small businesses.
- Most believe the IRS needs to improve, and support providing funds to do so.
- Awareness of the act's details remains somewhat limited.
Among the other findings:
- Over half (57%) of respondents are optimistic about their business's future, while just 23% are pessimistic — and most of those are only moderately pessimistic..
- A strong 63% believe that government spending and investment, including the IRA, have contributed to positive economic momentum.
- Almost two-thirds (62%) of small-business owner respondents believe the IRS should enhance its service and responsiveness to small businesses.
- A similar number (63%) support the act's decade-long investments to improve and modernize the IRS.
Among the benefits of the act, Zimmerman sees an increase in consumer spending, the encouragement of investment and innovation, and government support for clean energy and technology.
"All of these overall will help small business. I believe that more than half of small businesses are likely to invest in or adopt clean energy technology for their businesses in the near future, and that's a pretty decent number for small business as a whole," she said.
In delivering its own "report card" on implementation of the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS gave itself a better-than-passing grade, touting that it delivered dramatically improved 2023 filing season service, modernized technology and pursued high-income individuals evading taxes. It promised that taxpayers will have the option to go paperless for IRS correspondence by the 2024 filing season.
"The IRS paperless processing initiative will eliminate up to 200 million pieces of paper annually, cut processing times in half, and expedite refunds by several weeks," the IRS said.
"Thanks to Inflation Reduction Act resources, taxpayers are now able to respond to more notices online, and the IRS has made significant progress adopting new technology that automates the scanning of millions of paper returns," it continued. "As the next phase of its modernization, the IRS is launching an ambitious plan to ensure that by filing season 2024, taxpayers will be able to go paperless if they choose to do so, and by filing season 2025, the IRS will achieve paperless processing digitizing all paper-filed returns when received. In effect, this means all paper will be converted into digital form as soon as it arrives at the IRS."
