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A federal millionaires' tax could hurt small business owners, congressman says

Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen gets a Mostly False for his claim about the impact of a federal millionaires' tax impact on small business owners. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen gets a Mostly False for his claim about the impact of a federal millionaires' tax impact on small business owners.

Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen gets a Mostly False for his claim about the impact of a federal millionaires' tax impact on small business owners.

By Caryn Shinske November 15, 2011

The economy is tough on many businesses, but a proposed federal millionaires’ tax would make things even worse on small firms, according to a New Jersey congressman.

In case you missed it, the Truth-O-Meter this weekend gave a Mostly False rating to Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th), for his claim about the proposed tax. Frelinghuysen claimed that small businesses would suffer if taxes are raised for people earning at least $1 million annually.

But the Truth-O-Meter found Frelinghuysen wrongly applied a statistic from a report by the U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Tax Analysis when explaining his concerns about the proposed tax.

Frelinghuysen claimed the Treasury Department said "41 percent of all business income reported on individual returns would be hit by the [millionaires’] surtax," but PolitiFact New Jersey found that Frelinghuysen used a figure representing all business income to make a point about small business owners. Read the full ruling here.
 
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In coming weeks PolitiFact New Jersey will put out a newsletter for readers about our fact checks and what’s coming up for the Truth-O-Meter. If you’re interested in receiving the newsletter, drop a note with your email address to PolitiFact New Jersey Editor Caryn Shinske at [email protected]. You can also follow @PolitiFactNJ on Twitter or find us on Facebook.

Check out the complete story on Frelinghuysen’s statement at PolitiFactNJ.com and then join the conversations about this ruling and others at NJ.com. 

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A federal millionaires' tax could hurt small business owners, congressman says