Fiscal Cliff Deal Slams Some Small Businesses With Higher Tax Bills

What The Cliff Deal Means For Small Businesses
The US Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 2, 2013, on the day after a compromise bill passed the US Congress, avoiding the 'fiscal cliff.' The agreement raises taxes on the rich and puts off automatic $109 billion federal budget cuts for two months. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
The US Capitol in Washington, DC, on January 2, 2013, on the day after a compromise bill passed the US Congress, avoiding the 'fiscal cliff.' The agreement raises taxes on the rich and puts off automatic $109 billion federal budget cuts for two months. AFP PHOTO / Saul LOEB (Photo credit should read SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

It's likely to be a year of painful decision-making for small-business owners like Tom Secor of Norwalk, Ohio, one of hundreds of thousands of Americans who could face a higher tax bill after Washington's last-minute deal to avoid the fiscal cliff.

Mr. Secor co-owns Durable Corp., a 90-year-old maker of rubber mats and loading-dock bumpers with 36 employees and just under $10 million in revenue last year. Because the company is structured as an S-Corp, or partnership, the 55-year-old Mr. Secor and his four partners each pay taxes on their share of the profits at their personal income-tax rate. In Mr. Secor's case, that rate was 35% last year.

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