Posted by Kristin Oberlander - As part of President Obama's Executive Order on Regulatory Strategy, he included a specific portion aimed at small businesses. His memorandum specifically mentions the Regulatory Flexibility Act, which requires federal institutions to consider the effect of proposed regulations on small businesses.
The NASE has worked with the SBA Office of Advocacy in the past to point out existing harmful regulations. The home office deduction is one such case. Business owners who use a portion of their home regularly and exclusively for business are permitted to deduct a portion of the costs of upkeep of this home office. Currently, many micro-businesses neglect to take the home office deduction because the eligibility requirements are too difficult to understand and make it difficult to comply. For this reason, the NASE has supported the creation of an optional standard home office deduction.
Another regulation that the Association finds burdensome to the micro-businesses and the self-employed is the 1099 rule, which was passed under the health law and set to go into effect in 2012. The new law would require every business owner to issue a Form 1099 to merchants for goods or services over $600.
A recently released Executive Order outlines the following guiding principles for government agencies when crafting regulation:
- Consistent with law, Agencies must consider costs and benefits and choose the least burdensome alternative.
- The regulatory process must encourage public participation and an open exchange of views, with an opportunity for the public to comment.
- Agencies must attempt to coordinate, simplify, and harmonize regulations to reduce costs and promote certainty for businesses and the public.
- Agencies must consider low-cost approaches that reduce burdens and maintain flexibility.
- Regulations must be guided by objective scientific evidence.
- Existing regulations must be reviewed to determine that they are still necessary and crafted effectively; if not, they must be modified, streamlined, or repealed.
- Taken together, these principles will create a more effective and cost-efficient regulatory framework. In addition to this EO, the Administration is taking two new steps to promote this balanced approach to regulation.
Read the entire Regulatory, Small Business and Job Creation memoranda here.
President Obama's Op-Ed in the Wall Street Journal can be found here.