Small Business Administration

Small biz jobs bill: FAIL

Small biz jobs bill: FAIL
As mom-and-pop businesses struggle to make ends meet, the latest attempt to help them has gotten mired in Washington politics.

Read more on CNN Money

Stimulus Bill and Small Business Grants

The much awaited and the much needed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Economic Stimulus Bill was signed by President Barak Obama on February 18, 2009.It created history in United States because it is the country’s largest legislation in history and  aimed at rejuvenating the ailing economy by providing stimulus to different sectors. Along with other provisions, this stimulus bill also contains provisions for small business sectors.  The importance of Small Businesses in the country is that they provide employment to more than 40% of Americans.

Various sectors and a wide range of individuals have suffered the wrath of this ailing economy as the American economy is facing its worst days since the Great Depression of 1929. Along with the big business houses, the poor economic conditions have also greatly affected the small businesses. The various proposals to save the economy are tax deduction, special depreciation deduction, miscellaneous tax cuts, job creation and small business administration benefits.

Tax deduction under section 169 can in some occasions write off certain qualified plant and equipment purchases in a calendar realist year for the small business units. Until last year this deduction was limited to only $ 128,000 and also could not be more than the income of the small business. Now the stimulus Bill will benefit the small businesses by increasing this deduction to $ 250,000 yearly beginning in 2008 tax year. However the type of equipments that a small business buys is important for receiving this deduction. It is not applicable for land, buildings and other improvements. It is only applicable for things like computers, vehicles, office equipments and like things.

Another provision in the stimulus bill that benefits small businesses is special depreciation deduction. Small businesses can apply for a special depreciation deduction for the year 2008.This will help them to purchase a land or property that cannot be included under the section 179 deduction during 2008 and can be able to depreciate 50% of its value during the financial year 2008 with the help of this provision. This will help them to utilize the remaining 50% of the value of that land or property for calculating the regular depreciation tax deduction.

Small business owners can also have certain tax cuts by showing miscellaneous expenses. The expenses for promotions directly related to a small business can be included in the miscellaneous expenditure. The small businesses can delay the payment of 3% withholding tax in goods and services to the government. Also the share holders of publicly owned small businesses who are holding the shares for more than five years can receive a special capital tax cut. The small businesses which employ workers who have been out of job for more than six months and also those students who left school six months back and are still unemployed, will receive special tax credits under this provision.

Under the Stimulus Package, the Small Business Administration will ensure that the small businesses get loans more easily and also offer incentives to lenders who will give the loan for small businesses. This ensures more capital flow into the market.

Small Business Grant Source:
Learn the application procedures, various funding sources for specific types of businesses and eligibility criteria for small business grants. You can find the most comprehensive information on availing of small business grants by visiting this online guide on grants here

Stimulus Bill and Small Business Grants

The much awaited and the much needed American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, the Economic Stimulus Bill was signed by President Barak Obama on February 18, 2009.It created history in United States because it is the country’s largest legislation in history and  aimed at rejuvenating the ailing economy by providing stimulus to different sectors. Along with other provisions, this stimulus bill also contains provisions for small business sectors.  The importance of Small Businesses in the country is that they provide employment to more than 40% of Americans.

Various sectors and a wide range of individuals have suffered the wrath of this ailing economy as the American economy is facing its worst days since the Great Depression of 1929. Along with the big business houses, the poor economic conditions have also greatly affected the small businesses. The various proposals to save the economy are tax deduction, special depreciation deduction, miscellaneous tax cuts, job creation and small business administration benefits.

Tax deduction under section 169 can in some occasions write off certain qualified plant and equipment purchases in a calendar realist year for the small business units. Until last year this deduction was limited to only $ 128,000 and also could not be more than the income of the small business. Now the stimulus Bill will benefit the small businesses by increasing this deduction to $ 250,000 yearly beginning in 2008 tax year. However the type of equipments that a small business buys is important for receiving this deduction. It is not applicable for land, buildings and other improvements. It is only applicable for things like computers, vehicles, office equipments and like things.

Another provision in the stimulus bill that benefits small businesses is special depreciation deduction. Small businesses can apply for a special depreciation deduction for the year 2008.This will help them to purchase a land or property that cannot be included under the section 179 deduction during 2008 and can be able to depreciate 50% of its value during the financial year 2008 with the help of this provision. This will help them to utilize the remaining 50% of the value of that land or property for calculating the regular depreciation tax deduction.

Small business owners can also have certain tax cuts by showing miscellaneous expenses. The expenses for promotions directly related to a small business can be included in the miscellaneous expenditure. The small businesses can delay the payment of 3% withholding tax in goods and services to the government. Also the share holders of publicly owned small businesses who are holding the shares for more than five years can receive a special capital tax cut. The small businesses which employ workers who have been out of job for more than six months and also those students who left school six months back and are still unemployed, will receive special tax credits under this provision.

Under the Stimulus Package, the Small Business Administration will ensure that the small businesses get loans more easily and also offer incentives to lenders who will give the loan for small businesses. This ensures more capital flow into the market.

Small Business Grant Source:
Learn the application procedures, various funding sources for specific types of businesses and eligibility criteria for small business grants. You can find the most comprehensive information on availing of small business grants by visiting this online guide on grants here

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Image taken on 2010-02-25 10:32:28 by The National Academy of Sciences.

SBA closing Nashville disaster loan outreach centers

SBA closing Nashville disaster loan outreach centers
The U.S. Small Business Administration said that its disaster loan outreach center set up at Bellevue Church of Christ after May’s flood will cease operations as of 5 p.m. Thursday because activity had slowed.

Read more on The Tennessean

SBA Administrator Mills Takes Your Questions on Small Business and the Economy

SBA Administrator Karen Mills discusses lending and other issues affecting small business in the economic recovery during a special online discussion. November 16, 2009. (Public Domain)

FEMA, SBA arrive to offer recovery assistance

FEMA, SBA arrive to offer recovery assistance
Federal and state long-term recovery assistance has arrived in Val Verde County. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), as well as the United States Small Business Administration (SBA) have set up a disaster recovery center inside the Vega Verde Community Center, 1690 Cienegas Road.

Read more on Del Rio News-Herald

SBA Delivering Success: Top 10 Business Tips

The US Small Business Administration and the US Postal Service bring you Delivering Success—video interviews with successful entrepreneurs who share the lessons they’ve learned about owning a small business. The series concludes with Top 10 Business Tips—10 quick tips to business success. For more information on SBA’s services, visit us online at www.sba.gov

Financial Aid to Small Businesses Must Increase

U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is urging banks to boost their lending to small businesses as it’s an important factor for continued economic growth and lowering the unemployment rate. He says, “Making credit accessible to sound small businesses is crucial to our economic recovery. More must be done.”

Since February he and other regulators have been trying to get banks to increase their lending to smaller businesses as the lack of bank assistance has evidently played a role in the economy not picking up as expected. Even though larger companies employ around 60 percent of jobs, smaller businesses still have a significant impact, generally increasing job creation. Bernanke has noted that over the last 20 years, small businesses have accounted for approximately one-quarter or ten percent of work force job creations.

Money has been granted to the larger companies, which have allowed them to expand and hire, but it’s the other businesses that need the help. The Obama administration sent a proposal to Congress in an attempt to set aside $30 billion for a program aimed at small business funding. This funding is to come from small to medium sized banks whose assets are under $10 billion. It is hoped this will encourage them to provide small business loans to start-up companies.

Small business owners are claiming that depreciating collateral and real estate are having a negative impact on them qualifying for loans. They say that working capital and credit lines are mandatory to stay in business. Federal regulators have noticed a sharp decline in small business lending when $710 billion was handed out in 2008 as the country suffered its peak financial crisis, compared to $670 billion during the first quarter of 2010.

Karen Mills, head of the U.S. Small Business Administration explains, “Contrary to popular belief, it’s not just the small firms that are struggling to survive that need these loans. It’s also the small firms that are seeing growth despite the current economy. Some firms are ready to expand and hire more workers. If these healthy, creditworthy, small businesses can’t get loans to help them create jobs, something is very wrong. Something is still broken,” she said.

Many small business owners have been forced to use their retirement savings or their own personal credit cards due to lack of financial aid. Acquiring assistance from traditional lending institutions is difficult, even for well-established businesses. With this being the case, it’s no wonder that more and more small businesses are turning to private lending institutions for financial assistance.

Three Year Payment Relief for United States Small Business Loans

Small business owners continue to be impacted by the greed of Wall Street and large banks. Over the past few months,small business owners have struggled to obtain their small business loans and financing. Small business transactions have come to complete halt. As the top US banks have received TARP funding and Wall Street has rallied to over 10,000 small business owners continue to struggle. Financing for small business owners is harder than ever, with terms that are simply unreasonable for most. As banks and hedge funds, such as Goldman Sachs and others, have seen record profits and boost to stock values, your local business is systematically punished by the lack of policy on part of the law makers and reduction of funding from banks.

Seventy percent of Americans work for small business owners. They form the backbone of the US economy. That is the reason why Bizcloud was created. At the same time 22 of the biggest banks that have been the beneficiary of TARP have reduced small business loans by over 8 Billion dollars. Small Business Administration has been ineffective in championing the needs of US business owners and entrepreneurs. The fifteen billion dollars allocated for small business loans is still caught in Washington and banking red tape, and very little if any has been provided to small business owners.

President Obama will be announcing new effort to stimulate small business and entrepreneurship. He is also headed to Japan next month to discuss various geopolitical issues. We hope that the President takes time to meet with Japanese finance minister and discuss the current global economic meltdown. Valuable lessons can be learned from the Financial Services Agency of Japan on how to support small business owners in this country.

Japanese Financial Services Agency has recently stated that it would ask banks and other lenders to ease repayment terms, such as extending repayment deadlines, for smaller and medium size companies as part of emergency legislation for up to three years.
A similar approach can also help United States small business owners.  United States law makers and current administration should consider a similar model. The small business community is asking for a three year freeze of loan interest and principle payments for 261 billion dollars of current small business loan portfolio by the banks.  Considering the financial guarantees of payments provided to Financial Services companies by the United States tax payers, having guarantees provided to small business owners to protect them from the unchecked capitalistic greed of Wall Street bankers would be a huge boost to the US economy.

The cost for this program can be paid for by a three year surcharge tax on large corporate conglomerates, such as Wall Mart, Starbucks, and other mass retailers that operate over 100 corporate owned stores across the nation, and constantly siphon local community profits to Wall Street bankers and hedge funds. These mass corporate retailers and large financial institutions’ policies and unfair business practices have caused the death of small business ownership and entrepreneurship in America.

A simple 10% excise tax on large corporate stores and conglomerates of 100 locations or more can produce billions of dollars in revenue for Federal, State and Local Governments. It would additionally provide a level playing field for small business owners that do not get the special zoning rights, incentives, group health insurance discounts or the purchasing power from Chinese manufactures, and enable them to compete in the local economy.

Unless drastic measures are taken by the current administration, this holiday season will be a very grim one for small business owners. Minister Shizuka Kamei’s proposal for freezing loan repayments by small and medium-size companies battered by credit crunches amid the global economic slowdown is the right step to help sustain small business life in Japan and identical measures are needed in the US.