NASE National Tax Advisor, CPA To Congress: Support Extending Tax Incentives For Small Biz
When appearing before Congress, NASE National Tax Advisor and Certified Public Accountant, Keith Hall, has one piece of advice for lawmakers – in order to continue growing and creating jobs, small businesses need to be able to count on a number of tax incentives. Mr. Hall was invited to disclose the needs of the self-employed business owner at a recent roundtable on expiring tax provisions, hosted by the Senate Committee on Small Business & Entrepreneurship.
The National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) is strongly in support of extending tax incentives that are currently scheduled to expire. In particular, the NASE supports extending the provisions for Alternative Minimum Tax increased exemption amounts, bonus depreciation options, section 179 limits, the sales tax deduction option, the first time home buyer’s credit, and 15 year cost recovery for certain qualified leasehold improvements and five year recovery for farming business machinery and equipment.
“Many of those provisions were enacted over time by Congress to stimulate business and job growth and have been successful particularly for small businesses across the country,” commented Mr. Hall. “Congress certainly could not have anticipated the economic crisis that we all are currently facing, however, now is not the time to end key tax incentives that have contributed to the creation of new jobs.”
Hall recommended that Senate lawmakers not only approve temporary tax incentives for 2010, but also make them permanent, as temporary tax provisions can make for difficult tax planning for the self-employed. He also suggested that Congress pass legislation that would offer the self-employed the option of a standard home office deduction, as well as the opportunity to write off their health costs as a business expense.
The Joint Committee on Taxation has provided a list of over 25 major tax incentives that are scheduled to expire in 2009. There are also over 85 temporary tax incentives that have been extended from year to year that are scheduled to expire or “sunset” by the end of next year.
Small Biz Health Care Roundup
Here's a list of other top headlines related to the self-employed and the health care debate. If you see something we forgot to include, drop us a line at media at nase dot org.
- Senate Continues Health Reform Debate, Dems Emphasize Patient Protections (RTT News) - "Frustrated with insurance industry practices of dropping or denying coverage for those with expensive diseases, Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., said the Democrats' reform bill would put in place important protections."
- Profiles: How Could Health Reform Affect You? (PBS Newshour) - "A young woman without health insurance. A small business owner. A woman just diagnosed with breast cancer. The PBS NewsHour talks to health policy analysts about how health care reform could affect these individuals and other real people."
- CBO: Senate Bill Won't Change Small Biz Premiums (BizJournals.com) - "Premiums for individuals who buy insurance through the exchanges created by the legislation would be 10 percent to 13 percent higher on average than they would be in 2016 under current law, CBO found. That's because insurance policies in the exchanges would pick up a larger share of an individual's health care costs and cover services, such as prescription drugs, that often are not covered by current individual policies."
- Obama Says Health Care Reform Means Jobs (AP) - "Obama told a town hall gathering in Allentown, Pa., on Friday that health care reform is "part and parcel" of what has to be done to help the economy."
- Harry Reid: Democrats Reach 'Broad Agreement' (Politico) - "Democrats on Tuesday night took a major step forward on a plan by agreeing to ask congressional scorekeepers to give them cost estimates on a possible compromise that would break the impasse over health reform in the Senate."