“Entrepreneurs and their small enterprises are responsible for almost all the economic growth in the United States” – President Ronald Reagan

President Reagan’s words reflect my own long-held belief as a former small businessman that small businesses are the backbone of our nation. Small businesses are where ideas and innovations are not only brought to life but are nurtured into American success stories that create jobs and economic opportunities. And as Vice Chairman of the House Small Business Committee, I remain concerned that in order to preserve the economic building blocks produced by small businesses we must ensure that burdensome regulations and job-killing taxes do not become walls to prosperity.

As taxpayers, we all know the tax code is confusing. In fact, it’s so confusing that individuals and small businesses combined spend more than six billion hours and more than $100 billion every year trying to understand and comply with the tax code. With that in mind, the House Ways and Means Committee earlier this year announced they were going to take on the task of overhauling the tax code to make it simpler and fairer for hard-working Americans.

While I fully support a reformed tax code, it was critical for me to bring to the committee’s attention how reform could affect small businesses in a very specific way.  Last month, U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley and I sent a bipartisan letter to the committee urging committee members to consider the negative effects of proposed reforms that would limit accounting flexibility for small businesses and farmers across America.

The proposed Tax Reform Act of 2013 would expand the use of cash accounting from businesses with gross receipts that do not exceed $5 million to those with gross receipts that do not exceed $10 million, it would also limit the use of cash accounting for certain pass-through entities, farmers, and personal service corporations that have historically paid their taxes using the simple and appropriate manner of cash accounting. This is important because pass-through entities account for more than 90 percent of all business entities in the United States.

The fact is America is long overdue for a simpler and fairer tax code. However, cash accounting is critical for small businesses and it’s important to make sure the committee will consider the negative effects that would limit accounting flexibility.

With my history in small business and my current responsibilities on the Small Business Committee, I am deeply committed to preserving the health of America’s small businesses. It is a proven fact that small businesses provide a majority of the jobs in this country, generally about 60 to 80 percent, to be more precise.

In this economic climate, it is crucial that we support these businesses rather than place obstacles before them.