CFE President Ryan Ellis Appears on Podcast to Discuss Main Street Tax Cuts

Tax season is when tax policy stops being abstract. Small business owners see it in what they owe, what they can deduct, and how much they can reinvest in the future. That made the recent podcast featuring CFE President Ryan Ellis and Brian Reardon of the S-Corporation Association especially timely, as the two discussed how the Working Families Tax Cuts improved the tax code for small and family-owned businesses.

The conversation focused on the parts of the law that do the most for Main Street employers. Ellis and Reardon highlighted permanent lower tax rates, the 199A Qualified Business Income deduction, full business expensing, research expensing, permanently higher death tax exemption levels, and the business deduction for state income taxes paid through pass-through entity tax regimes, known as PTET. Those changes gave small businesses a more stable and more pro-growth tax environment at a time when long-term certainty is often in short supply.

What the Law Changed for Main Street

For small and family-owned businesses, those provisions are not minor technical adjustments. Lower rates leave more capital in private hands. The 199A deduction helps protect pass-through firms from being put at a disadvantage. Expensing allows businesses to recover investment costs faster, making it easier to expand, modernize, and hire. Higher death tax exemption levels also help family-owned firms plan for continuity without as much fear that a generational transition will trigger a major tax hit.

PTET remains an important part of that picture as well. For many pass-through businesses, the ability to deduct state income taxes paid at the entity level helps preserve fairer treatment, especially in high-tax states. Ellis and Reardon made clear that these provisions work together to make the tax code less punitive and more supportive of productive business activity.

Why Certainty Helps Small Business

A major theme of the discussion was permanence. Temporary tax policy creates hesitation, especially for smaller firms that do not have the luxury of planning around Washington’s constant uncertainty. When business owners are unsure whether a deduction or expensing rule will still be available in a year or two, they are more likely to delay investment and hold back on expansion.

The Working Families Tax Cuts improved that problem by making several pro-growth policies permanent. For family-owned businesses in particular, that kind of certainty is valuable. Businesses built over decades should not have to make long-term decisions based on the fear that Congress may soon reverse course.

The Next Tax Debate Is Coming

The podcast also looked ahead. Ellis and Reardon discussed the outlook for “Reconciliation 2.0,” the continuing debate over SALT, and the risk that New York could weaken PTET and other SALT parity gains through a state-level “haircut.” Those issues may sound technical, but they have direct consequences for pass-through businesses and the broader tax climate facing employers.

The broader trend remains clear. High-tax, high-regulation states continue to lose people, capital, and business activity, while lower-tax states continue to attract them. Tax policy shapes incentives, and over time those incentives influence where businesses grow and where families choose to stay.

CFE Takeaway

Ryan Ellis’s podcast appearance with Brian Reardon offered a useful reminder during tax season: the Working Families Tax Cuts gave Main Street businesses more than temporary relief. It improved certainty, strengthened cost recovery, protected pass-through firms, and created a stronger foundation for long-term growth.

For small and family-owned businesses, that includes permanent lower tax rates, preservation of the 199A deduction, full business expensing, research expensing, higher death tax exemption levels, and PTET relief. Those reforms deserve continued attention as the next tax debate takes shape.

Want to listen to the full conversation? Stream the entire episode here.