Tax breaks aimed at small businesses may favor a sliver of wealthy owners

LOS ANGELES - When Republicans rolled out their tax reform proposal last week, President Donald Trump highlighted a provision aimed at the vast majority of small and family-held enterprises.

Under the tax plan, which Republicans say is meant to simplify a Byzantine code and promote business investment, sole proprietors, partnerships and so-called S corporations would see their top tax rate dropped from 39.6 percent to 25 percent.

The change is meant to help so-called pass-through businesses, which include mom-and-pop shops, restaurants, law firms, hedge funds and other large partnerships that pay taxes based on the individual tax code.

But tax experts said the biggest beneficiaries would be a small minority of wealthy business owners. And the changes, they said, are likely