IRS tax information in 2014 income tax returns filed by individuals was recently released. This information includes: income and losses reported by sole proprietors on Schedule C, farmers on Schedule F, and items passed through to owners of partnerships, limited liability companies, and S corporations on Schedule E. Barbara Weltman compared the 2014 statistics with those for 2013 to see how small business owners are doing.

Barbara Weltman presents her analysis of the IRS tax data in “What do tax stats tell us about small business?”

What Do Tax Stats Tell Us about Small Business?

The IRS released statistics on 2014 income tax returns filed by individuals. By comparing 2014 statistics with those for 2013, we can see how small business owners are doing. Income and losses For 2014, there were over 24 million Schedule C filers. Read the rest of the post… barbaraweltman.com

In summary, her conclusions about the IRS tax data are:

• There has been little growth in small business
• The number of business has not expanded
• Revenues have not significantly increased

Barbara’s conclusions seem to be in alignment with the August 2016 Small Business Economic Trends published by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). The NFIB report indicates that business owners “are refusing to expand and are expecting worse business conditions.” NFIB Chief Economist Bill Dunkelberg states “the NFIB survey showed no signs of strength in the small business sector…The current economic environment is not a good one for strong or sustained growth.”

Over 50% of the working population (120 million individuals) works in a small business. So, let’s hope this economic picture changes for the better.