Home Depot and small‑business owners tell House committee lower taxes funded hiring and investment

Karen DeWalt, vice president for global tax at The Home Depot, told the House Ways and Means Committee that the corporate rate reductions under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enabled increased investment and hiring. DeWalt said the company ‘‘paid $5,000,000,000 in corporate income taxes’’ in 2023 and described multi‑billion dollar investments in supply‑chain facilities and wage increases that followed enactment of TCJA.

Small‑business witnesses said similar effects flowed through to Main Street. Lana Paul, who runs multiple family businesses out of Pella, told members the 20% small‑business pass‑through deduction (section 199A) allowed her to give employees raises and to invest about $2,000,000 in a nearly 40,000‑square‑foot warehouse expansion. Paul said uncertainty over expensing and 199A has forced a temporary freeze on equipment purchases.

Steve Soukup, the president and CEO of Soukup Manufacturing, said immediate expensing and lower rates led the company to increase research and development spending and to add about 200 manufacturing jobs. Soukup and other witnesses urged Congress to restore or preserve full expensing for equipment and R&D, arguing that the ability to take immediate depreciation reduced financing costs and encouraged capital investments.

DeWalt summarized the corporate view in closing testimony: "Maintaining a competitive corporate tax rate of 21% is essential for the continued growth and success of US‑based companies like the Home Depot." Committee members asked companies to detail how TCJA‑funded investments flowed to workers and suppliers; witnesses provided examples of local supplier relationships and wage investments. No legislative measure was adopted during the hearing.