On April 11, 2024, Raymond Huff, president of HJB Convenience Corp. dba Russell’s Express, which has seven c-stores throughout Colorado, California and Michigan, testified before the House Small Business Committee to encourage Congress to extend the TCJA to continue helping small businesses.
Small business owners have a lot on their plates, including ensuring they have enough resources to keep their businesses running smoothly.
One resource helping small businesses is the tax code 199A deduction, a part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) implemented during the Trump administration in 2018.
The TCJA changed deductions and other tax items that affected businesses. One of those deductions was the 199A. The 199A provides owners of sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, some trusts and estates a deduction of income from a qualified trade or business, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) website.
With the TCJA is set to expire next year, Huff wanted to share the small business perspective for keeping it going.
The Testimony
During his testimony, Huff focused on how Congress needs to extend the 199A deduction and how this tax code, in particular, has helped his business.
“This is the first time there was a section of the IRS tax code that was a positive for small businesses,” said Huff.
In 2018, Huff had to purchase new fixtures for inside his c-stores, and the 199A allowed him to do that.
“We had to purchase new sandwich coolers for our stores. These normally would have been depreciated over five years,” he said. “199A allowed bonus depreciation, which I could write off that year, reducing my tax burden and allowing funds to stay in the company.”
The funds that stayed in the company allowed Huff to improve corporate networks and improve the rewards program, which provides access to self-serve locations.
All in all, Huff, like most small business owners, depends on that prevision to keep their businesses going. If Congress does not extend the TCJA, these small businesses could potentially have significant setbacks.
As of now, the House has passed a bipartisan bill extending the TCJA, but it has been put on hold in the Senate, as reported by KIRO 7 news.
Preparing to Testify
Before testifying, Huff had to make sure his testimony was precise and five minutes long. He quoted the experience and process as very “eye-opening.”
“Before I got to the five-minute testimony, a larger testimony document was submitted, which was then read by the committee staff,” he said. “Then the staff summarized it and had the representative give them questions or references.”
The National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) played a significant role in helping Huff prepare his testimony.
“NACS did a fabulous job in schooling me because I would have stumbled through it otherwise,” Huff said. “Them giving me an outline made it a lot easier for me to stay on point.”
NACS also arranged for Huff to meet with the Democratic and Republican sides before giving his testimony to answer their questions.
“Those meetings were really instrumental because people got to see me and know me and ask questions,” said Huff.
Some of the questions that were being asked were: Did the Paycheck Protection Program loan and the Earned Income Credit help Huff’s business?
Huff noted that those things helped him and are why he is still in business today.
