A recent poll from lobbying group Small Business Majority shows that small business owners are worried about several aspects of the impending “fiscal cliff.” The term refers to more than $500 billion in tax increases and across-the-board spending cuts that will go into effect Jan. 1 if a new plan to reduce the deficit is not agreed upon.

Key findings from the survey include:

• More than three-quarters of small business owners are concerned about the expiration of a 2 percent tax cut on the employee portion of payroll taxes. This cut saves a typical household $1,000 a year, and its expiration could be a double-edged sword for business owners. It could cost entrepreneurs directly and decrease disposable income and demand from customers.
• 81 percent of small business owners are concerned with the possibility of an eightfold increase in the number of households facing the Alternative Minimum Tax – an increase of about $2,800 per family. 53 percent are very concerned.
• A small margin, 5:4, believe that a plan for creating jobs is the most important job for Congress and the President in the coming year, not a plan to reduce the deficit.
• Most small business owners, a 2:1 ratio believe spending cuts for education, healthcare and infrastructure would hurt the economy more than a tax increase on the top 2 percent. Most also believe that allowing tax cuts for high-income earners to expire is the right thing to do, given the current state of the economy.

Click here for the complete survey results.

More curious about how the fiscal cliff will affect you on a personal level? Click here for some specifics for which you should be prepared, from The Huffington Post.