Viking Mergers & Acquisitions has represented American Small Business Owners for more than 25 years. It is reasonable to say that we are uniquely in tune with the life and experience of the American Small Business Owner. It is from that perspective that we stand unequivocally with the American Small Business Owner in vehement objection to the proposed capital gains tax increase.
Perspective is always important; for this issue, perspective is critical.
For those unfamiliar with the perspective of the American Small Business Owner, allow me to introduce you and share what I know.
By and large, the American Small Business Owner is a high school or college educated blue-collar type who began their career as an hourly employee. They married young, had children young, and started out life living paycheck to paycheck. They were likely never offered benefits or a 401(k), and they almost never missed a day of work or showed up late.
At some point, they recognized something about their job that they could do better, and they started doing side jobs at night and on weekends. Eventually, it became clear that the side job was more promising than the day job, so they took the leap and started a business from their garage.
Over the next 30 years, they worked 80 hours a week. They saw very few of their children’s soccer games or piano recitals, but they never missed a Sunday dinner. They gave it their all.
Every year, they paid their vendors, paid their employees, paid their property taxes, paid their local and state taxes, and paid their federal income taxes before they ever considered paying themselves. For 30 years, the American Small Business Owner put themselves last.
They put themselves last because they knew they would eventually be able to sell the business that they had sacrificed so much to build. They knew that one day they would be able to linger over a cup of coffee with their spouse at 10 AM on a Wednesday.
They knew this because their government told them their business was their 401(k). Their business was their retirement plan. All their retirement savings were tied up in the value of the business, and that was okay because one day they could sell it.
The American Small Business Owner spent 30 years following the rules, planning, and making sacrifices so that one day they could sell their business and feel secure as they iced the knees that hurt every morning from 30 years of hard work and dedication.
We at Viking Mergers & Acquisitions do not believe that taking more than half of the value built by the American Small Business Owner over a lifetime is in keeping with the American spirit.
We at Viking Mergers & Acquisitions do not believe it is okay to penalize the American Small Business Owner just because they did not sell their business one year earlier.
We at Viking Mergers & Acquisitions ask you to join us in defense of the American Small Business Owner. Together, we must publicly and loudly object to the sudden and arbitrary penalizing of the backbone of the American economy – the American Small Business Owner.
TAKE ACTION NOW: Contact your Congressman and let them know that you are opposed to the the Biden Tax Proposal, which is an enormous tax hike on American small business owners and detrimental to the backbone our economy.
About the Author: Merrell Stout leads Viking Mergers and Acquisitions efforts in the Greenville / Spartanburg, South Carolina market. Merrell comes to Viking with previous experience as a senior operating executive, entrepreneur, and private equity investor.