WASHINGTON — Nearly every private employer in the U.S. will get a tax cut today.
It won’t affect workers’ paychecks. But the expiration of a 35-year-old “temporary” unemployment tax — about $14 a year per worker — will mean real money for some big companies at a time when President Barack Obama is pushing Congress to raise taxes on businesses by closing some loopholes.
Amid a fierce debate over whether higher taxes should be part of a deal to reduce annual deficits — in exchange for letting the government go further into debt — the small cut in federal unemployment taxes has received little attention on Capitol Hill. But business groups say every little bit helps, whether you are a small employer struggling to make a payroll or a huge company like Wal-Mart, with more than 1.4 million U.S. workers. That is nearly $20 million a year in savings for Wal-Mart. The tax cut will save businesses nationwide more than $14 billion over the next decade, according to congressional estimates.
