FEI: Tax Reform Must Deal Fairly with Privately-Held and Family-Owned Companies - Testimony before House Ways and Means

WASHINGTON, March 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Mark Smetana, CFO for family-owned and operated Eby-Brown Company and a member of Financial Executives International, today testified at a hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee on the topic of closely-held businesses and U.S. tax and accounting policy. This is the second of two hearings examining how accounting rules influence different types of businesses, and investigating how the tax code and tax reform might improve their ability to grow and create jobs.

"America's privately-held businesses are the backbone to our economic success story," Mr. Smetana said in prepared testimony. "Recognizing the importance of private companies is vital since any workable tax reform must address businesses regardless of their form of organization."

"The recent framework for business tax reform released jointly by the Obama Administration and the Department of Treasury strongly implies that those [small and family-owned businesses] organized as pass-through entities are advantaged in the current tax code over corporations.   This is simply not the case," added Mr. Smetana. 

America's pass-through businesses reported 36 percent of all business net income but paid 44 percent of all federal business income taxes, according to a report from Ernst and Young. Pass-through businesses include privately held firms organized as sole proprietorships, partnerships, C-corporations, S-corporations and limited liability companies.

In addition to his work at Eby-Brown Company, Mr. Smetana is an active member of Financial Executives International, a leading organization for senior-level financial executives from both public and private companies. 

The House Ways and Means Committee hearing is Wednesday, March 7, 2012 at 10 AM in Room 1100 of the Longworth House Office Building. The full testimony can be found on the Committee's website.

About Eby-Brown

For over 120 years, Eby-Brown has been a leading broad line supplier to the convenience store industry. Today, Eby-Brown is the largest privately owned convenience distributor in the U.S. with more than $5 billion in annual sales and 2,500 employees.

About FEI

Financial Executives International is the leading advocate for the views of corporate financial management. Its 15,000 members hold policy-making positions as chief financial officers, treasurers and controllers at companies from every major industry. FEI enhances member professional development through peer networking, career management services, conferences, teleconferences and publications. Members participate in the activities of 86 chapters, 74 in the U.S., 11 in Canada and 1 in Japan. FEI is headquartered in Morristown, NJ, with additional offices in Washington, D.C. and Toronto.  Visit www.financialexecutives.org for more information.

SOURCE Financial Executives International

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