Small businesses are the backbone of our nation’s economy, especially in rural America, creating jobs, supporting growth, and providing vital tax revenue that supports a range of critical services. However, rural small-business owners like me need greater clarity and stability when it comes to our tax code to help ensure our businesses’ long-term success and enable us to continue investing in ourselves and our communities.

That is especially true now, as several key components of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) passed during the first Trump administration are set to expire at the end of the year, while others already need to be restored. Lawmakers in Washington must work quickly to extend these tax cuts and help ensure rural small businesses and Main Street job creators nationwide have the tax certainty they need and deserve.

Included in the 2017 tax law was a 100% bonus depreciation tax credit for equipment and machinery and 100% research & development tax credit in the year that expense occurred. Both of those provisions were immensely helpful to businesses but sadly, they have been phased down and will expire at the end of 2025. There was also the popular 20% small business deduction and the reduction of the corporate income tax rate from 35% to 21%.

These deductions have given smaller, mom-and-pop businesses the flexibility needed to re-invest in growing their operations, opening new locations, creating more local jobs, and contributing to stronger local economies. Renewing and extending these important tax provisions will help protect and build on the gains small businesses have seen since passage of the TCJA.

In fact, a report by the National Federation of Independent Business found that permanently extending the 20% small business deduction would enable small businesses to create an estimated 1.2 million new jobs each year over the next decade and 2.4 million jobs annually in the years after that. Extension of this deduction would also contribute hundreds of billions of dollars to the U.S. economy. Keeping the corporate tax rate at its permanent 21% level while restoring bonus depreciation would also be a powerhouse to the U.S. economy.

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Conversely, failing to extend the small business deduction would amount to a massive tax hike for nine in 10 small businesses, according to the NFIB. Without it, the top federal tax rate will increase to over 43% for 26 million small businesses nationwide. That would make it harder for rural small businesses to compete—both with larger companies in the United States and with foreign competitors—and stay afloat in these uncertain economic times.

As lawmakers work to extend key tax cuts and deductions, they must also help ensure rural small businesses, particularly those working in the agriculture or manufacturing industries, can immediately expense their investments in R&D and equipment. Being able to do so helps support innovation and ensures that rural farmers and farming businesses that use heavy machinery can invest in new equipment to improve efficiency and productivity, enhance workplace safety, and reduce their costs and operating expenses.

The TCJA helped lower the tax burden for tens of millions of small businesses, many of them operating in rural communities. Retaining a competitive tax code, including the small business deduction, immediate R&D and equipment expensing, and a low corporate tax rate, is critical for rural and Main Street small businesses like mine.

Rural small businesses have survived years of inflation, economic turbulence, supply chain disruptions, and tightening margins. Now is not the time for lawmakers to push us off a fiscal cliff by massively raising taxes. Congress needs to pass legislation to extend the 2017 tax cuts and reforms to help provide some much-needed greater certainty and confidence for small-business owners in Worden, Montana, and across the country.

Mike Limberhand is the policy chair for the Rural and Agriculture Council of America and a small business owner.