A scientific opinion poll released by Businesses for Responsible Tax Reform shows the majority of small business owners oppose the tax plans under consideration in Congress, with 51% of respondents saying they oppose the tax plan while only 34% support it.

The poll of 794 small business owners nationwide, fielded November 17-18 by Public Policy Polling, also found 52% of small business owners agree the current proposals favor large corporations over small businesses (just 37% disagree).

Nearly six in 10 (58%) believe the wealthy and corporations will benefit most from the plan, while only 32% believe the middle class and small businesses will benefit most. A full 60% of respondents do not believe the current tax proposals put small businesses on a level playing field with big businesses (only 24% believe they do).

Of note, 36% of respondents identified as Republican, 29% as Democrat and 35% as independent or other.

“While bipartisanship has been absent in the tax reform effort, this poll finds that Republican, Democrat and independent small business owners overwhelmingly believe that they are being treated unfairly by the plans.

As a result, a majority of small business owners oppose the tax proposals in Congress,” said Frank Knapp Jr., co-chair of Businesses for Responsible Reform and president/CEO of the South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce. “These proposals are a giant giveaway to big businesses and the wealthy, and if passed will have serious and long-lasting ramifications for the majority of small business owners in this country—the very people creating new jobs and bolstering local economies.”

In order to pay for tax reform, the current proposals cap or eliminate deductions most small business owners take. The majority of small business owners oppose Congress doing away with or limiting these deductions: 53% oppose capping the mortgage interest deduction and eliminating the state and local tax and the home office deductions in favor of reducing their income tax bracket several percentage points.

Indeed, 82% of respondents take the state and local tax deduction on their federal taxes, 62% take the federal mortgage interest deduction and 45% take the home office deduction.

Importantly, 37% of respondents reported a household income of less than $75,000 per year and more than half (54%) reported an annual household income of $100,000 or less. Additionally, 61% oppose increasing the national debt by $1.5 trillion to pay for tax reform, as the current proposals would do.

“As the owner of a small service business that wouldn’t see a dime in savings from these plans, I hope members of Congress slow down the process and come up with a plan that puts small businesses and the middle class at the heart of tax reform—instead of bowing to America’s biggest businesses,” said Anne Zimmerman, president & CEO of Zimmerman & Co CPAs in Cincinnati, OH and co-chair of Businesses for Responsible Tax Reform. “Big corporations, which would see the lion’s share of benefits from these proposals, don’t need the assistance and aren’t creating the majority of new jobs. Small businesses need the help and we deliver the goods. We hire, we grow the economy and we bring value to our communities.”

Additional findings include:

• 58% of respondents oppose a tax bill that would eventually end tax cuts for pass-through businesses such as S-corps, LLCs and sole proprietorships while making corporate tax cuts permanent (20% support it)
• 69% of respondents oppose allowing corporations to continue to deduct state and local taxes from their federal taxes, but not allowing the owners of pass-through businesses, such as S-corps, LLCs and sole proprietorships, to do the same.