Preserving the core provisions of the TCJA is more than just smart policy — it’s a direct investment in millions of American workers, businesses and communities. Retailers thrive on stability and certainty, which are critical for long-term planning and growth.
Since its enactment in 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has fueled growth, job creation and investment across the U.S. economy — impacting the retail industry more significantly than almost any other sector. As the nation’s largest private-sector employer, retail depends on stable, pro-growth tax policies to hire workers, invest in stores and supply chains, and provide value to American consumers.
However, key provisions of the TCJA are set to expire at the end of this year. Without congressional action, taxes will rise for families, small retailers and workers. For families, this means losing expanded child tax credits and lower tax brackets, resulting in less disposable income. For small retailers, the expiration of these provisions threatens to stifle job creation and business growth, depriving them of savings that have been reinvested into their businesses.
The TCJA reduced the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%, enabling retailers to remodel stores, upgrade technology, boost wages and enhance employee benefits. These investments directly support the 55 million Americans who work in or are supported by the retail sector.
If key provisions of the TCJA are allowed to expire, the consequences will ripple across the economy. Retailers, particularly small businesses operating on tight margins, will face higher taxes at a time when they are already grappling with inflation, supply chain disruptions and workforce challenges. Consumers will also bear the burden, as retailers are forced to pass on higher costs.
Provisions like the 20% deduction for pass-through businesses and maintaining a globally competitive corporate tax rate have empowered retailers to grow their businesses, expand their workforces and reinvest in their communities. Allowing these provisions to lapse would undermine this progress, slowing hiring, curbing investment and dampening economic growth.
The National Retail Federation championed a major tax and budget reconciliation measure, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, enacted on July 4, 2025, as Public Law 119-21, delivering a pro-business package of permanent tax provisions that will drive economic growth and strengthen America’s retail industry.
NRF successfully advocated to preserve the globally competitive 21% corporate tax rate and to make the 20% pass-through deduction permanent, ensuring that both large retailers and small business entrepreneurs can continue to invest, hire and expand. NRF also fought off harmful tax increases, including proposals to raise the corporate rate and limit the state and local tax deduction.
Through smart, pro-growth tax policy, OBBBA promotes sustained economic expansion by fueling retail investment, job creation and direct benefits to millions of American workers, businesses and communities nationwide.
With OBBBA now law, NRF remains deeply engaged in the next phase of tax policy, ensuring America’s retailers can plan and grow with confidence. Our focus now turns to securing an extension of the Work Opportunity Tax Credit, guarding against harmful tax increases that could undermine retail investment, and working closely with Treasury and the IRS to ensure that OBBBA’s provisions are implemented with clear, consistent guidance that provides certainty for retailers and consumers alike.
