House votes to make current estate tax permanent

House votes to make current estate tax permanent

WASHINGTON (Dec. 4, 2009) — By a 225-200 vote, the U.S. House of Representatives has voted to make permanent the current estate tax rate of 45 percent on individual estates worth more than $3.5 million for individuals or $7 million for married couples.

Under the current law, the federal government has phased in gradual reductions in the estate tax, with total repeal in 2010. However, the repeal would sunset in 2011, bringing the tax back to the old, pre-2001 rate of 55 percent on estates worth more than $1 million.

Small business groups such as the Tire Industry Association (TIA) have long favored total repeal of the estate tax, saying it is the only way to ensure small businesspersons won’t have to sell off their inheritance simply to pay the tax. Other groups, however, insist an estate tax repeal would cost the federal government too much money at a time it can ill afford the loss of revenue, and also that the tax’s danger to small business is exaggerated.

Paul Fiore, TIA director of government and business affairs, said the association is encouraged by the House vote. However, he said, TIA hopes for quick congressional passage of the proposal by Sens. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., and Jon Kyl, R-Ariz., to permanently raise the estate tax exemption to $10 million per couple and reduce the top tax rate to 35 percent.

Strategies: Get started now on end-of-year small business tax savings

Strategies: Get started now on end-of-year small business tax savings

It's December. You know what that means. No, not just holiday shopping, and in-laws sleeping on your couch. For small business owners, it means it's time to take a few easy steps to reduce your taxes.
Right now – as soon as you finish reading this column – take the following steps:

1. Do a quick accounting to figure out a likely ballpark figure of your profit or loss for the year.

2. Set up a time to talk to your accountant within the next week.

Hope that novel approach with SBA, investors will open new source of funding

Hope that novel approach with SBA, investors will open new source of funding

“The backbone of our local economy is made of small businesses, and that goes for the country as a whole, but small business is the least likely of all the sectors to be on the receiving end of bank loans,”

How to Reduce Your Small Business Tax Bill

How to Reduce Your Small Business Tax Bill

Advice for small business on how to save on taxes by taking the right deductions, making smart tax elections, keeping with current law changes, and learning standard tax rules.

Thanksgiving Quotes: Inspirational, Reflective Sayings To Share With Friends And Family

Thanksgiving Quotes: Inspirational, Reflective Sayings To Share With Friends And Family

"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." -John Fitzgerald Kennedy

"Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving." -W.T. Purkiser

"Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence." -Erma Bombeck

.Even in Recession, Some Small Businesses Grow

Even in Recession, Some Small Businesses Grow By ANNE FIELD
Published: November 24, 2009
Many small businesses have found themselves treading water, at best, during the recession. But, that is not true for everyone. In fact, a significant minority of resilient companies have been able to do the seemingly impossible and increase revenue in these troubled times. According to a recent survey of 300 small-business clients conducted by SurePayroll, a payroll service based in Chicago, about 30 percent of respondents said their sales increased over the last year.

QuickBooks 2010 Helps Merchants "Go Paperless"

QuickBooks 2010 Helps Merchants "Go Paperless"

QuickBooks is the leader in small-business accounting software. According to Intuit, which produces QuickBooks, nearly 50 million people use it or a similar Intuit product.

Intuit releases a new version of QuickBooks annually. The 2010 version was just released on Intuit's site. The upgrade price is $179 for single user license of QuickBooks Pro.

To determine the principal benefits of the 2010 version, we spoke with Denise Loter, a Certified QuickBooks Pro Advisor. Loter owns EBS Associates, a Portland, Ore.-based accounting firm that offers QuickBooks training solutions, as well as small business accounting services.

Loter said that she recommends her small business clients purchase the QuickBooks upgrade each year. For the 2010 version, Loter described what she believed to be the primary new features.