Senate defeats tax deduction amendment on small-business bill

The Senate tabled an amendment to a small-business bill that provides a 20 percent tax deduction for companies that employ fewer than 500 people.

The vote was 73-24 on the amendment to the Small Business Jobs and Tax Relief Act (S.2237), which is the Senate version of legislation authored by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), H.R. 9.

Ahead of the vote, Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.) called on his chamber to table the amendment.

"This Cantor bill is a gross giveaway," Baucus said ahead of the vote. "It gives businesses for simply earning income. They don't have to do anything. Just earning income and get a 20 percent deduction. It allows businesses to avoid paying tax on about a fifth of their profits so long as they employee 500 people. That's virtually 99 percent of all American companies."

Baucus repeatedly called the amendment a "giveaway."

"Rather than creating jobs or investing in business, the Cantor bill incentivizes the opposite," Baucus said.

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