Tax relief is the most pressing issue for small-business owners, according to a recent American Express survey.
In a ranking of public policy concerns, 26 percent of small-business owners said tax relief was No. 1. It was followed by health-care benefits (20 percent), keeping interest rates low (14 percent), reducing government paperwork and regulation (14 percent) and improving access to small-business financing (7 percent).
Owners of businesses with more employees were more concerned about offering or expanding health-care benefits. At firms with 50 to 99 employees, 32 percent of the business owners ranked health care as their most pressing issue. That figure dropped to 27 percent at firms with 20 to 49 employees.
Owners of firms that have existed for three years or less were three times more likely to list small-business financing as the most pressing issue–24 percent versus 7 percent overall.
