NRF advocated to preserve the core provisions of the TCJA because 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 were set to expire at the end of 2025. Without congressional action, taxes would have risen for families, small retail businesses and workers. For families, this meant losing expanded child tax credits and lower tax brackets, resulting in less disposable income. For small retailers, the expiration of these provisions threatened to stifle job creation and business growth, depriving them of savings that have been reinvested into their businesses.
The National Retail Federation championed a major tax and budget reconciliation measure, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, enacted on July 4, 2025, 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.
Permanent 21% corporate tax rate:
- Maintains a globally competitive rate, enabling retailers to invest in stores, technology, logistics and workforce development.
Permanent 20% pass-through deduction:
- Provides certainty for small and family-owned retailers, supporting hiring, wage growth and reinvestment in local communities.
Working Families Tax Cut:
- Reduces the tax burden on working families, increases disposable income and strengthens consumer demand — directly benefiting retail.
Protection against harmful tax increases:
- NRF successfully opposed proposals to raise the corporate tax rate or limit the state and local tax (SALT) deduction.
Long-term certainty:
- Ends the cycle of expiring tax provisions, allowing retailers to plan and grow with confidence.
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.
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.
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 the Department of the Treasury and the IRS to ensure that OBBBA’s provisions are implemented with clear, consistent guidance that provides certainty for retailers and consumers alike.
