Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) President and CEO Michael D. Bellaman released the following statement after Congress passed The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: “This is a historic day for the construction industry. For too long, ABC’s 21,000-plus members have paid the highest effective tax rate of any sector of the economy. We are a capital-intensive, cash-flow challenged, domestically oriented industry comprised mostly of small, family owned and closely held merit shop construction companies employing hardworking Americans. Our members have waited for Washington to let them keep more money in their paychecks, which would enable them to invest

Any additional dollar that can stay in a construction company's cash flow can be invested in hiring and retaining talented workers. That was one of the messages ABC President and CEO Mike Bellaman conveyed this week during two live Fox Business Network appearances, as the House Ways and Means Committee unveiled a bill that reforms the tax code. 

New analysis from the U.S. Department of the Treasury shows that the construction industry pays the highest effective tax rate—the percent of income businesses actually pay in taxes—of any sector of the economy. According to the report, the typical construction company faces an average effective federal tax burden of 30.3 percent, well above the 23.3 percent average for all US businesses.

On Nov. 17, the ABC National Tax Advisory Group (TAG) gathered in Washington, D.C., to advocate for the tax priorities of merit shop contractors and the broader construction industry. TAG members from the Eastern Pennsylvania, Florida East Coast, Central Florida, and Georgia chapters were in attendance as the group met with senior staff representing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the Senate Finance Committee, and key members of the House Committee on Ways and Means.

The United States Senate passed a one-year “extenders” bill Dec. 16, retroactively renewing 55 previously expired tax credits and other key policies for the 2014 tax year. The 76-16 Senate vote echoes the overwhelming 378-46 House approval earlier in the month and sends the bill to the President’s desk where the White House signaled he will sign it into law. ABC recently joinedmore than 500 industry groups in urging the swift passage of such legislation.

This week ABC joined more than 500 industry groups in sending letters to the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives urging action during the Lame Duck session of Congress on the extension of important tax provisions that have already expired or will expire by the end of the year. 

Many ABC members were greeted with a significant tax increase this tax day, April 15. Construction contractors who survived the recession already paid the highest effective tax rate of any sector, and now they face even higher taxes thanks to rising marginal rates, reinstated limits on deductions, and new surtaxes on wages and income stemming from the health care law.

U.S. House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) Feb. 26 released a draft of legislation designed to reform the tax code that proposes lowering the top tax rate for construction businesses from 35 percent and 39.6 percent to 25 percent, regardless of entity-level structure. The proposal confirms that the 25 percent Qualified Domestic Manufacturing Income (QDMI) rate would apply to “construction of real property in the United States as part of the active conduct of a construction trade or business.”

A study completed by the Small Business Administration (SBA) found that corporate-only tax reform might cause many small businesses that file as pass-through entities to suffer the consequences of this one-sided solution. 

The Coalition for Fair Effective Tax Rates and the Reforming America’s Taxes Equitably (RATE) Coalition held a joint press conferenceSept. 19 to support the passing of comprehensive tax reform that would lower both individual and corporate rates and eliminate distorting tax preferences.