Tax

Through the NAM’s recently launched 2025 tax campaign, Manufacturing Wins, manufacturers are calling on Congress to prevent several devastating tax increases from taking effect at the end of next year.

One of those scheduled increases is the expiration of the Section 199A pass-through deduction—a critical incentive, created by tax reform in 2017, designed to help thousands of small and medium-sized manufacturers invest in their businesses.

The NAM recently released a tax explainer on the pass-through deduction, breaking down what it is, what it does and why its preservation is vital to manufacturing in the U.S.  Here are the highlights.

Pass-through defined: The defining characteristic of a pass-through entity is that its business profits get “passed through” to the company owners, who then pay taxes on the business’s income on their personal tax returns.

• The vast majority of businesses in America—96%—are organized as pass-throughs, including S-corporations, partnerships, LLCs and sole proprietorships.
• In manufacturing, pass-throughs are typically small, family-owned firms.

What it’s done for manufacturers: The Section 199A pass-through deduction allows pass-through manufacturers to deduct up to 20% of their qualified business income, decreasing their effective tax rate.

• Combined with a lower individual income tax rate included in the 2017 reform (which reduced the top individual rate from 39.6% to 37%), the pass-through deduction has freed up significant capital for smaller manufacturers to reinvest in their businesses.
• For example, 2018 was the best year for manufacturing job creation in 21 years and the best year for wage growth in 15 years.

What’s in jeopardy: Both the pass-through deduction and the lower individual income tax rates are set to expire at the end of 2025—and they’re certain to hit small and medium-sized manufacturers hard.

•  In a recent NAM survey, 93% of pass-through manufacturers said their ability to grow, create jobs and invest in their companies will be stymied if the expirations are allowed to happen.

What should be done: Congress must make the pass-through deduction permanent and keep individual tax rates as low as possible.

The last word: “Small and medium-sized pass-throughs are the backbone of the manufacturing supply chain,” said NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Charles Crain. “Congress must act before the end of 2025 to preserve the pass-through deduction and prevent devastating tax increases on small businesses throughout the manufacturing sector.”

The NAM recently launched “Manufacturing Wins,” the manufacturing industry’s campaign to preserve the benefits of the 2017 tax reforms that are currently scheduled to disappear in 2025—particularly those tax incentives that make it easier for small manufacturers to hire employees and raise wages, invest in equipment, grow their businesses and contribute more to their communities.

NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Charles Crain explains what’s at stake in 2025 and how manufacturers can get involved in the effort to prevent tax increases.

Q: Manufacturers are facing “tax Armageddon” at the end of 2025. Can you explain what’s happening?

Crain: Tax reform in 2017 was rocket fuel for manufacturers, leading to record job creation, capital investment and economic growth. For example, manufacturing production grew 2.7% in 2018, with December 2018 being the best month for manufacturing output since May 2008. Manufacturing capital spending grew 4.5% and 5.7% in 2018 and 2019, respectively—this shows the direct impact of pro-growth tax incentives on manufacturers investing in new equipment and facilities. But many of tax reform’s pro-manufacturing provisions will expire at the end of 2025. If these provisions are allowed to expire, virtually every manufacturer will face devastating tax increases.

Q: What policies will sunset in 2025, and how will their expiration impact SMMs?

Crain: For small manufacturers organized as pass-throughs—meaning the business’s owners pay tax on the business’s income on their personal returns—two key changes are coming down the pike. First, their tax rate will increase, from 37% to 39.6%. Second, they will lose the pass-through deduction, which provides a tax deduction equal to 20% of the business’s income. In combination, these tax hikes will increase pass-throughs’ effective tax rate by at least 10 percentage points (from 29.6% to 39.6%), resulting in significantly less capital available for equipment purchases, job creation and community investment.

For small manufacturers organized as corporations, the NAM is fighting to prevent any increases in the corporate tax rate. The corporate rate decreased from 35% to 21% in 2017 and is not scheduled to expire—but President Joe Biden has proposed increasing the rate to 28%. The NAM remains staunchly opposed to corporate tax rate increases that punish manufacturers for investing and creating jobs here in America.

For family-owned small manufacturers, their estate tax obligations are scheduled to increase. Tax reform doubled the value of assets that can be passed on without incurring the estate tax; at the end of 2025, the estate tax exemption threshold is scheduled to be reduced by half. The NAM is calling on Congress to maintain the increased exemption—or to repeal the estate tax entirely, preventing family-owned businesses from being sold for parts to pay a tax bill when a loved one passes away.

Q: What else is at stake in 2025?

Crain: Manufacturers of all sizes continue to face uncertainty about the tax code’s treatment of R&D expenses, capital equipment purchases and interest on business loans. Immediate R&D expensing—which allows manufacturers to write off the entire cost of R&D spending in the year incurred—expired in 2022. So did a tax reform provision that allowed businesses to deduct more of the interest they pay on loans when they debt finance a project. And in 2023, 100% accelerated depreciation—which reduces the cost of capital equipment purchases—began to phase down. These expired provisions are vital to manufacturing growth, and the NAM is working to restore and extend them as Congress prepares for the 2025 tax fight.

Q: How can SMMs learn more?

Crain: The NAM recently published “What’s At Stake: Manufacturers Face Devastating Tax Increases in 2025,” which highlights the tax reform provisions that will expire at the end of 2025. The NAM calls on Congress to act to prevent these expirations from stunting manufacturing job creation, growth and innovation.

Q: How can SMMs get involved?

Crain: Manufacturing voices are crucial to the 2025 tax fight. NAM members with a story to tell about the impact of 2017 tax reform on their business—or the damage that the 2025 expirations could inflict—are encouraged to reach out to their NAM membership advisor or to the NAM tax team.

You can also take a few minutes to record a video testimonial calling on Congress to prevent devastating tax hikes on manufacturers. Instructions for submitting a video testimonial are available here—it’s as easy as having a coworker use a smartphone to film a video of you on your shop floor! Completed testimonials can be emailed to the Manufacturing Wins team to be posted to our campaign site: NAM.org/MfgWins

Washington, D.C. – Today, the United States Supreme Court overruled the Chevron doctrine—a requirement that federal courts defer to an administrative agency’s interpretation of an ambiguous statute—that had proven unworkable and incoherent.

“The legal and regulatory landscape has transformed in the blink of an eye. Manufacturers will not waste a moment in seizing this opportunity—an opportunity that we have never seen before—to leverage this decision to rein in the regulations that are holding back manufacturers from improving lives,” said National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons. “The NAM Legal Center and our best-in-class advocacy team will be on the field, leveraging this decision and the new tools it gives us, to fight back new regulations we are facing today as well as whatever may come our way in the next administration. For anyone who wants to see manufacturing grow and succeed in America, today heralds the possibility for a much brighter future.”

“Today’s ruling is a game changer for manufacturers as Chevron was at least partly to blame for the unpredictability and overreach that have become synonymous with the modern regulatory state,” said NAM Chief Legal Officer Linda Kelly. “We are hopeful that this marks the end of an overbearing regulatory system that had become complex, and compliance in many cases that was contradictory from agency to agency. For the past 40 years, Chevron has tipped the scales in favor of unelected officials and against the regulated public. Now the onus is on Congress to provide clear guardrails and guidelines in its intent to ensure that laws are implemented in a manner that achieves their goal. Manufacturers are eager to work with lawmakers to develop policies that promote innovation, job creation, economic growth and improved quality of life for all Americans.”

“Manufacturers have been the subject of a regulatory onslaught, with agencies’ far-reaching decisions affecting companies of all sizes,” said NAM Managing Vice President of Policy Chris Netram. “The EPA, SEC and DOL—the aggressive nature of rulemaking and enforcement actions that exceed authority come from the alphabet soup of regulators. The NAM has been successful in fighting key rules in court, and today’s decision gives us the ability to challenge even more actions while ensuring future agency actions do not exceed the authority mandated by Congress.”

-NAM-

The National Association of Manufacturers is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs nearly 13 million men and women, contributes $2.89 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and accounts for 53% of private-sector research and development. The NAM is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the NAM or to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org.

Raising taxes on manufacturers would damage the industry and the U.S. economy as a whole, the NAM told the House Ways and Means Committee this week. That’s why it’s crucial that Congress preserve set-to-expire tax reform provisions.

What’s going on: In a continuation of its Manufacturing Wins campaign, the NAM conveyed a clear message to six of the committee’s specialized “Tax Teams”: act now to protect manufacturers from tax increases.

Why it’s important: Failure to act before the end of next year, when key provisions from 2017 tax reform are set to expire, would result in higher taxes on virtually all manufacturers—which “will cost millions of jobs and put the American manufacturing sector at a severe disadvantage globally,” the NAM wrote.

What’s at stake: The NAM highlighted manufacturers’ top tax priorities for the Tax Teams, discussing why preserving pro-growth tax policy is vital for manufacturers in the United States:

• In communication with the Main Street Tax Team, the NAM called on Congress to preserve tax reform’s reduced individual income tax rates and maintain the 20% pass-through deduction. It emphasized for the Supply Chain Tax Team the importance of tax reform’s reduction in the corporate tax rate, which brought the U.S. from one of the highest rates in the world to a globally competitive 21%. The Global Competitiveness Tax Team received a similar message.
• The NAM detailed for the Rural America Tax Team the damage the estate tax imposes on family-owned manufacturers, and why Congress should not allow more family-owned businesses’ assets to be subject to the estate tax at the end of 2025.
• The NAM continued to push for pro-growth, pro-innovation R&D tax incentives with the U.S. Innovation Tax Team, and it enumerated for the Manufacturing Tax Team the full range of policies that will impact manufacturers at the end of 2025—and called for urgent congressional action to protect manufacturers from tax hikes.

The final word: “Manufacturers of all sizes, throughout the supply chain, are calling on Congress to preserve tax reform in its entirety,” said NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Charles Crain. “Manufacturers and manufacturing families simply cannot afford the devastating tax increases scheduled for the end of 2025 if Congress fails to act.”

Washington, D.C. – The National Association of Manufacturers released its Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey for the second quarter of 2024, which highlights the immediate need for Congress to take action to prevent tax increases that will limit the industry’s ability to create jobs, support their communities and compete in the global economy.

“When Congress passed tax reform, manufacturers in the U.S. invested in their workers and businesses at a level that had never before been seen. In 2018, we experienced the best year for job creation in 21 years and the best year for wage growth in 15,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. “Tax reform was rocket fuel for our industry, but our latest Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey illustrates our industry’s deep concerns about the reversal of these pro-growth incentives. If Congress does not take action, job creation, wage growth and investments in communities—in short, America’s manufacturing edge—will be at risk, as well as our country’s ability to attract meaningful investments into our economy. The House, the Senate and the White House need to come together to reinstate the critical provisions that have already expired or begun phasing out, and to stand strong to protect those set to expire at the end of 2025.”

Background:

• The NAM released “What’s At Stake: Manufacturers Face Damaging Tax Increases in 2025,” a policy explainer which illustrates the consequences of allowing the pro-growth policies and rates from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act to expire.
• The “Manufacturing Wins” issue page on NAM.org provides a hub for 2025 tax content, as well as opportunities for manufacturers to share their stories directly with Congress and the administration.

Key Survey Findings:

• If Congress does not act to prevent tax increases, survey respondents say that increased taxes will limit capital investment opportunities (73.0%), decrease job creation (65.4%), increase difficulty competing globally (52.6%) and reduce R&D spending (51.7%).
• Nearly 94% of respondents agree that Congress should act before the end of 2025 to prevent scheduled tax increases on manufacturers.
• In Q2, 71.9% of respondents felt either somewhat or very positive about their company’s outlook, the seventh straight reading below the moving average (74.8%).
• More than 67% of manufacturers cited the inability to attract and retain employees as their top primary challenge, followed by rising health care costs (66.7%), an unfavorable business climate (59.6%) and a weaker domestic economy (56.8%).

The NAM releases these results to the public each quarter. Further information on the survey is available here.

-NAM-

The National Association of Manufacturers is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs nearly 13 million men and women, contributes $2.89 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and accounts for 53% of private-sector research and development. The NAM is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the NAM or to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org.

Rep. Tim Walberg (R-MI) recently visited Madsen Steel Wire Products in Bronson, Michigan, to discuss critical tax priorities with company leadership and members of the National Association of Manufacturers.

The visit, led by Madsen Steel Wire Products General Manager Steve Cochran, focused on the importance of maintaining a competitive tax code to support growth and innovation in the manufacturing sector in the face of scheduled expirations of key pro-manufacturing tax policies in 2025. The visit also underscored the essential role manufacturing plays in economic growth and stability.

The topline: During the tour, Rep. Walberg witnessed firsthand the impact of pro-growth tax policies on manufacturers.

• “Visiting Madsen Steel Wire Products reinforced the need for tax policy that supports manufacturing growth and job creation,” Walberg said. “We in Congress must act before the end of 2025 to preserve 2017 tax reform and avoid the devastating impacts to small manufacturers that will come to pass if these pro-growth policies are not preserved.”

A close-up view: Cochran shared the company’s experience with 2017 tax reform, highlighting how tax reform enabled significant investments in new equipment and workforce expansion.

• “Tax reform in 2017 was a game-changer for us; it allowed us to invest in our people and technology, driving our competitive edge,” said Cochran. “But the looming expiration of key tax reform provisions creates significant uncertainty for our future planning.”
• “In particular, we face a potential double-whammy as our tax rates are scheduled to increase next year at the same time the pass-through deduction expires—resulting in significant and damaging tax increases for us and other small manufacturers.”

An economic impact: The economic impact of manufacturing on local communities was a central theme of the discussion.

• “Manufacturers like Madsen Steel Wire Products are vital to communities like Bronson,” said Branch County Economic Growth Alliance Director Audrey Tappenden. “Their strength is critical to our local economy and broader industries.”

The big picture: Walberg and Cochran also discussed the broader economic impact of tax reform. The NAM’s recent survey found that 94% of manufacturers believe Congress should act before the end of 2025 to prevent tax increases. The survey also indicated that if tax increases take effect, 73% of manufacturers would limit capital investments and 65% would reduce job creation.

• “Manufacturing is the backbone of our local economy,” said Cochran. “Our ability to invest in new technologies and expand our workforce is dependent on preserving tax reform, which will directly translate to more jobs and better wages for our community.”

The bottom line: “The stakes are high,” said Walberg. “We need to ensure that the tax code continues to support the hardworking men and women in manufacturing. It’s about maintaining a level playing field and ensuring that manufacturers like Madsen Steel Wire Products can thrive—supporting small business growth and the economic health and prosperity of our communities.”

The takeaway: “The NAM launched ‘Manufacturing Wins ’ to preserve tax reform, and Rep. Walberg’s visit to Madsen Steel underscores the critical role of tax policy in driving the success of manufacturers in America,” said NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Charles Crain. “Congress must act before the end of 2025 to prevent devastating tax increases—bolstering manufacturing across the country and supporting the economic stability and growth of local communities like Bronson, Michigan.”

Washington, D.C. – The National Association of Manufacturers has launched an industry-wide effort to educate Congress and the administration on the need for urgent action to preserve the pro-growth 2017 tax reform provisions set to expire at the end of 2025.

NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons, Ketchie President and Owner and NAM Small and Medium Manufacturers Group Chair Courtney Silver and Husco President and CEO and NAM Executive Committee member Austin Ramirez released the following statements:

“The transformative impact of 2017 tax reform cannot be overstated. Tax reform was rocket fuel, igniting a resurgence in the manufacturing sector. It put into place competitive policies that fueled record job creation, wage growth, capital investment and innovation,” said Timmons. “However, if Congress does not act, next year’s expiration of these powerful force multipliers will undo much of the progress made by our industry and America. Manufacturers are putting a stake in the ground and warning policymakers to stand up against any tax increases on the people who make things in America.”

“If Congress does not act before the end of 2025, manufacturers will be competing with one hand tied behind our back. Manufacturers across the country promised to take tax reform’s pro-growth provisions and ensure they had a direct positive impact on American lives,” said Silver. “We kept our promises. We created jobs, we purchased equipment and we gave back to our communities. I urge Congress to build on the promise of tax reform to enable manufacturers to do even more.”

“The stakes are high—the economic damage will be severe if Congress decides that it’s time to end tax reform,” said Ramirez. “Allowing tax reform to sunset means tax hikes on manufacturers and manufacturing families, which will slow our sector’s growth and prevent us from investing in job-creating projects that support communities across the country and boost our economy.”

Background:

Critical tax reform provisions are set to expire at the end of 2025, resulting in significant tax increases for virtually all manufacturers.

• A recent NAM survey found that 94% of manufacturers believe Congress should act before the end of 2025 to prevent these tax increases.
  • If Congress fails to act, 73% of manufacturers would be forced to limit capital investments, 65% would have to reduce job creation and 52% would spend less on R&D, among other damaging impacts.
  • Additionally, 93% of pass-through manufacturers said that the loss of the pass-through deduction, which ensures a level-playing field for small businesses that pay tax at individual tax rates, would harm their ability to grow, create jobs and invest in their business.
• Released by the NAM today, What’s at Stake: Manufacturers Face Devastating Tax Increases in 2025, explores the pro-growth policies from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and explains why allowing them to expire would damage the manufacturing economy.
• The “Manufacturing Wins” issue page on NAM.org provides a hub for 2025 tax content as well as opportunities for manufacturers to share their stories directly with Congress and the administration.
• The NAM submitted a letter today to House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) and Ranking Member Richard Neal (D-MA) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-ID) outlining manufacturers’ tax priorities for 2025.

-NAM-

The National Association of Manufacturers is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs nearly 13 million men and women, contributes $2.89 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and accounts for 53% of private-sector research and development. The NAM is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the NAM or to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org.

The NAM today launched an industry-wide campaign to educate legislators, candidates and the Biden administration on the urgent need for action to preserve pro-growth tax policies scheduled to expire at the end of next year.

What’s going on: Critical reforms from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will expire at the end of 2025. The NAM’s Manufacturing Wins campaign is designed to ensure that Congress preserves 2017 tax reform in its entirety to avoid significant economic damage in the manufacturing sector and across the broader economy.

What’s at stake: If they do not, at the end of 2025, virtually all manufacturers will face devastating tax increases that will cost manufacturing jobs, stifle growth and stunt innovation. Small manufacturers, which are often organized as pass-through businesses that pay tax at the individual tax rates, face increases in their income taxes and a loss of tax reform’s 20% pass-through deduction.

• Family-owned manufacturers will experience changes to the estate tax that subject more of their assets to taxation upon the death of a loved one.
• Investments in manufacturing growth will continue to be delayed without action to restore immediate R&D expensing, accelerated depreciation for capital equipment purchases and a pro-growth interest deductibility standard.

Learn more: What’s at Stake: Manufacturers Face Devastating Tax Increases in 2025 explores the tax provisions up for debate next year—and highlights the NAM’s policy suggestions for Congress to prevent devastating tax hikes.

Manufacturers at risk: A recent NAM survey found that if Congress fails to prevent the 2025 expirations, 73% of manufacturers would be forced to limit their capital investments, 65% would have to reduce job creation and 52% would spend less on R&D. Further, 93% of pass-through manufacturers said that the loss of the pass-through deduction would harm their ability to grow, create jobs and invest in their business.

• Some 94% of manufacturers believe Congress should act before the end of 2025 to prevent these tax increases.

The last word: “Manufacturers across the country promised to take tax reform’s pro-growth provisions and ensure they had a direct positive impact on American lives,” said NAM Small and Medium Manufacturers Group Chair Courtney Silver, president and owner of precision machining company Ketchie.

• Silver has made the case repeatedly that these tax priorities are critical for the success of small and medium-sized manufacturers in the United States.
• “We kept our promises. We created jobs, we purchased equipment and we gave back to our communities. I urge Congress to build on the promise of tax reform to enable manufacturers to do even more.”

The U.S. tax code is a keystone of our nation’s economic competitiveness, Erie Molded Packaging President Tom Tredway told the House Ways and Means Tax Subcommittee at a field hearing on Monday. But pro-growth tax provisions have begun expiring, with more tax increases on the way next year—so that keystone has started to crack, “weakening the entire structure” of the country.

What’s going on: Tredway gave testimony at a hearing in his hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania, the namesake of his 42-year-old, family-owned custom injection molded parts and packaging solutions company.

• Tredway told Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO), Tax Subcommittee Chairman Mike Kelly (R-PA) and others of the negative effects his business has seen since the expiration of three provisions from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: immediate expensing for domestic research and development, enhanced interest deductibility and full expensing.
• And Tredway put the committee on alert: additional TCJA expirations are scheduled for the end of 2025, and small manufacturers “will be disproportionately harmed” by congressional inaction to preserve these vital policies.

A winning formula: The expired provisions—as well as other, soon-to-expire measures—were like rocket fuel for manufacturers and the rest of the economy.

• “In the years following TCJA, Erie Molded was able to invest nearly $7 million in new capital equipment purchases thanks to full expensing,” Tredway said. “Along with this much-needed equipment, we were able to create new positions across our team, and we were able to deliver higher quality products faster to our customers.”

​​​​​​​But now… Tredway’s company has had to delay important equipment purchases, and last year, its taxable income “was almost six figures higher” than Tredway had anticipated.

• What’s more, when the 20% pass-through deduction—currently taken by companies in which profits pass through to the owner and are thus taxed at the individual rate—expires at the end of 2025, Erie Molded Packaging will see another tax hike it can ill afford, “severely hampering [the company’s] growth trajectory.”

​​​​​​​What should be done: Congress must pass the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act as soon as possible—and act to prevent tax hikes in 2025, Tredway told those at the hearing.

• “I urge every member of this committee to preserve these and the other pro-growth provisions, which allow manufacturers to function as the backbone of our economy and compete on a global scale.”

The Senate should immediately pass the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act, the NAM and its state partners told congressional leaders this week.

What’s going on: The NAM—along with 47 state manufacturing associations—on Monday continued its longtime, ongoing advocacy for the tax bill, which would restore three sector-crucial tax provisions: immediate expensing for domestic research and development expenses, enhanced interest deductibility on business loans and 100% accelerated depreciation for capital investments.

• “This critical legislation will support the ability of manufacturers in America to create jobs, invest in our businesses, give back to our communities and effectively compete in the global economy,” the groups said.

Why it’s important: If Congress fails to restore these key tax provisions, America’s competitiveness on the world stage will be under threat, they continued.

• “Without tax policies that encourage R&D and capital investment, countries with more favorable tax systems are capturing job-creating manufacturing investments.”
• China, for example, provides a 200% “super deduction” for companies’ R&D expenses, which is 10 times more than the U.S. gives. In 2022, the first full year following the expiration of immediate R&D expensing in the U.S., China’s R&D growth was three times that of the U.S.

What’s next: The Senate must not delay, the associations said. Congress must pass the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act—now.

The last word: “The breadth and depth of support for these critical, pro-growth tax provisions throughout the manufacturing industry shows the importance of immediate congressional action,” said NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Charles Crain. “With additional damaging tax increases scheduled for next year, manufacturers cannot afford further delays.”