A report recently shared in The Star-Ledger indicates that small businesses pay more when it comes to federal regulations — a lot more. We recently told you about how small businesses are struggling to survive in the current economy and how the Small Business Jobs bill was supposed to provide a certain level of relief.
According to the report commissioned by the Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy, firms with fewer than 20 employees paid on average $10,585 per employee in regulatory fees in 2008, compared to $7,755 for firms with more than 500 employees.
The regulatory fees are fixed costs, and therefore, small firms must pay the same amount as larger firms, even though the larger firms have greater revenues and more employees, according to The Star-Ledger.
Manufacturers were found to be the hardest hit, because they often are hit with environmental regulations more so than other industries. They pay on average $14,070 per employee.
“The issue of government regulation has become a contentious issue in recent months, with small-business advocates contending they further strain companies at a time when sales are already lackluster. The National Federation of Independent Business recently lobbied unsuccessfully to dump a new tax-reporting rule for small businesses that passed under health care reform.”
For those of you who own your own small business, do these numbers surprise you? What do you think the solution to the problem is?
This post is brought to you by the good folks at Dale Carnegie Training of Central & Southern New Jersey. We would love to connect with you on Facebook and Twitter @CarnegieJersey.
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