By Calvin W. Goings, Assistant Associate Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration.
As Assistant Associate Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, I travel throughout Region 10 to meet with small business owners. Many small businesses don’t realize that 17 small business tax cuts have been signed into law and an additional five small business tax cuts are proposed for 2013.
- Are you an investor in a small business? Capital gains on investments held more than 5 years in qualified small businesses are 100% exempt for the 2012 tax year.
- Are you a start-up? Start-up entrepreneurs can deduct $5,000 for start-up expenditures.
- Are you a small business owner that has purchased new equipment? Write-off up to $560,00 of the cost of new equipment this year rather than depreciating the cost over time.
- Are you a small business owner that provides health care to your employees or to yourself? Tax credits are available for starting or continuing to provide health insurance coverage for your employees, and this applies even if you are self-employed.
- Have you been in business for up to 5 years? You may “carry back” your business credit up to five years to offset taxes and assist in difficult economic times. Businesses can apply their 2011 credits to previous tax payments going back to 2006.
- Are you a small business owner that uses a cell phone? Starting in 2010, the process for deducting the cost of your cell phone and monthly bills was vastly simplified.
As you can see, there are a lot of tax cuts that small businesses can benefit from this year. Please be sure to stay tuned to what the SBA is doing to assist small business, by helping them start, grow and create an economy built to last.
I hope you have found this information useful. Please feel free to forward this to your friends and colleagues. If you have comments or questions for me, please contact Connie Marshall at connie.marshall@sba.gov.
CALVIN W. GOINGS, Assistant Associate Administrator, U.S. Small Business Administration