June 26, 2025 The Best Source of News, Culture, Lifestyle for Culver City, Mar Vista, Del Rey, Palms and West Los Angeles

Tax relief for small businesses? L.A. City council committee to consider plan Monday

Latest Los Angeles City Hall news.
Latest Los Angeles City Hall news.

A Los Angeles City Council committee will consider a plan Monday to offer a total of $54 million in tax relief to small businesses by 2020, taking a potential step toward phasing out a gross receipts tax that local business leaders have criticized as a “job killer.”

As many as 39,000 small businesses could start receiving exemptions from the tax on Jan. 1, 2016, a number that could grow to 72,700 businesses by 2020, under a proposal to be discussed by the Budget and Finance Committee on Monday.

The city already exempts small businesses from its gross receipts tax, but currently considers small business to be those with gross earnings of $100,000 or less each year.

The changes being taken up by the committee would address concerns by some in the business community that this definition of a small business is too restrictive.

Under the proposal, the threshold to be considered a small business would be raised to $250,000 by Jan. 1, 2016, to $500,000 in 2018, and ultimately to $1 million by 2020.

The higher threshold could mean that professional service providers, such as law firms, or jewelry stores and other businesses that sell “big- ticket items,” would also be able to apply for the exemption, according to Hollywood Chamber of Commerce President Leron Gubler.

Gubler said even if some businesses bring in higher gross earnings, they may only employ 5 to 10 people, which is typically seen as a small business.

“I’m encouraged they (the City Council) are at least considering this,” Gubler said. “The business committee has been crying for relief from the gross receipts tax.”

Los Angeles is one of a dwindling number of cities that still collects such taxes, which are based on the gross receipts of businesses, and local business chambers have long sought to get rid of the city’s tax altogether.

The tax is projected to bring $491 million into the city’s coffers this fiscal year. The budget is $8.6 billion.

City officials have not agreed to a plan for phasing out the tax, despite having discussed the idea for years, according to Gubler.

The gross receipts tax “is a job killer, and it has been for the last 25 years,” Gubler said.

Stuart Waldman, president of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association, said raising the threshold and including more businesses in the exemption would be “a good first step” toward eventually eliminating a tax that is “essentially a punishment for doing business within city limits.”

“We would like to see it eliminated altogether, and hope that’s the end game,” he said.

The plan comes as city leaders have vowed to draw up a “comprehensive plan” for creating a friendlier business climate in Los Angeles, especially after voting to raise the citywide minimum wage from $9 per hour to $15 per hour in 2020.

With the wage hike prompting outcry from the business community that it would lead to job loss, City Council President Herb Wesson earlier this year formed an ad hoc committee on job creation, specifically to work on a plan that would address those concerns.

Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Senior Vice President Ruben Gonzalez said this latest proposal to give tax credits to more small business fits the bill.

Gonzalez said small business owners exempted from paying the city’s gross receipts tax would be able to reinvest their money into their workers and toward improving their business, which would be  “very much in line” with the city’s efforts to create more jobs.

The current small business exemption “has proven to be an effective tool for the city in helping maintain and grow a sector that is key to the health of our economy,” Gonzalez said.

 

Related Posts

Santa Monica Police Arrest Shooting Suspect After Officer Ambushed Near Downtown Mall

June 26, 2025

June 26, 2025

Man Linked to Waymo Vehicle Gunfire Taken Into Custody Following Tense Manhunt The suspect wanted in connection with a shooting...

Michelin Stars Shine Bright on LA: Somni West Hollywood and Providence Earn Top Honors

June 26, 2025

June 26, 2025

Two Restaurants in Los Angeles Receive Three Stars as Michelin Guide Celebrates Bold Flavors The MICHELIN Guide California 2025 celebrated...

Cherished Culver City Ice Cream Vendor Abducted in Broad Daylight

June 26, 2025

June 26, 2025

Ambrocio “Enrique” Lozano’s Disappearance Led To Grassroots Action Ambrocio Lozano, also known in the neighborhood as Enrique, was abducted around...

Culver City Leaders Address Youth Safety Crisis After Teen’s Death, Gunfire at Vigil

June 25, 2025

June 25, 2025

Leaders Respond Following Tragedy and Shooting at School Vigil Culver City officials convened a press conference Wednesday morning to confront...

Brentwood Home by Landry Design Group Wins Top National Architecture Award

June 25, 2025

June 25, 2025

Landry Design Group Wins Gold Nugget Awards for Brentwood, Crestwood Projects Landry Design Group (LDG) earned two top honors at...

(Video) WISE & Healthy Aging Helps Loved Ones Boost Their Quality of Life

June 24, 2025

June 24, 2025

See How the Nonprofit’s Innovative Programs Advance the Dignity of Life for Older Adults See How the Nonprofit’s Innovative Programs...

Masked Federal Agents Detain Iranian Asylum Seeker and Wife in Westwood

June 24, 2025

June 24, 2025

31-Year-Old Woman was Hospitalized After Possible Medical Emergency On Tuesday, June 24, between 11:00 a.m. and 11:30 a.m., near the...

Culver City Pride Rolls In with Sunset Ride and Rally June 28

June 24, 2025

June 24, 2025

Celebrate With a 6-Mile Pride Ride and Free Block Party Culver City will mark its fifth annual Pride celebration on...

Los Angeles Leaders Push to Ban Masks for Federal Agents Amid Immigration Raids

June 24, 2025

June 24, 2025

Concerns Grow Over Anonymous ICE and CBP Officers in Los Angeles   A growing coalition of California lawmakers and local leaders...

Squatter-Plagued Beverly Grove Buildings Could Be Razed After Hazard Cleanup

June 24, 2025

June 24, 2025

Demolition of Three Abandoned Apartments May Begin in Two Weeks Three abandoned apartment buildings in Beverly Grove may soon be...

From Westwood to DTLA, Angelenos March Against Military Escalation in Iran

June 23, 2025

June 23, 2025

Protestors Rally at the Westwood Federal Building This Weekend Following President Donald Trump’s authorization of airstrikes on three Iranian nuclear-related...

Overnight Traffic Stops in Culver City Lead to Felony Arrests, DUI Bust

June 23, 2025

June 23, 2025

Culver City Police Nab Suspects Wanted for Burglary and Identity Theft Culver City police officers arrested three individuals in separate...

LAPD Sergeant Killed Assisting Crash Victims on 405 Freeway in Brentwood

June 23, 2025

June 23, 2025

Tragic Early-Morning Collision Claims Two Lives, Including Veteran Sergeant Two people, including an LAPD sergeant, were killed early Monday in...

Recent Homebuyer Down Payments Slip for First Time in Nearly Two Years

June 23, 2025

June 23, 2025

April’s Median Down Payment Fell as Buyers Lean Toward Lower-Cost Homes The median down payment made by U.S. homebuyers dropped...

Del Rey Affordable Housing Project to Rise on Former Charter School Site

June 23, 2025

June 23, 2025

Community Corp., Local Faith Group Team Up to Build 122 New Apartments Plans are moving forward for a new residential...