• Legislative Alert: Home Office Tax Simplification Act

• Regulatory Relief for Micro-Business: President Bush Signs Executive Order

• NASE Participates in Houston Women Entrepreneurship Event

Legislative Alert: Home Office Tax Simplification Act

The National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) is continuously working to ease the tax burden on the self-employed and micro-businesses. With 50 percent of NASE members having home based businesses, the home office tax deduction is an important tax benefit for self-employed individuals and micro-businesses.

The NASE is currently advocating for H.R. 5220, the Home Office Tax Simplification Act of 2002, introduced by Reps. Mac Collins (R-GA) and Tom DeLay (R-TX). The legislation provides home based small-business operators with a new $2,500 standard deduction option, which will greatly simplify their tax filing process. This amount represents the average amount taken by home office tax filers each year. The deduction will be indexed to inflation.

Additionally, the bill repeals tax code provisions that require homeowners to "recapture" their depreciation when they sell their homes. These current tax provisions prevent home based business owners from taking full advantage of capital gains tax exclusions, which exempt $250,000 ($500,000 for married couples) on the gain of the sale of a primary residence.

This legislation will greatly assist home based micro-business owners and the self-employed. Please go to the NASE Legislative Action Center and ask your legislators to support the Home Office Tax Simplification Act of 2002.
 

Regulatory Relief for Micro-Business: President Bush Signs
Executive Order

The National Association for the Self-Employed scored a major victory last week when President George W. Bush signed an executive order designed to decrease the burden of federal regulations often placed on micro-businesses. President Bush signed the order in Waco, Texas during the Economic Forum hosted by the White House.

The Executive Order requires each federal agency (i.e. EPA, OSHA) to “thoroughly review draft rules to assess and take appropriate account of the potential impact on small businesses, small governmental jurisdictions, and small organizations as provided by the [Regulatory Flexibility Act].”

The NASE applauds President Bush for this significant advance for small business. “Complicated and onerous regulations still remain a burden for micro-business owners and the self-employed,” remarks NASE President Robert Hughes, “ President Bush’s executive order will hold federal agencies accountable to the affects their rules and regulations have on small business, the driving force in our nation’s economy.”

Under the new order, all federal agencies must outline how they will account for small businesses in their rule making process. Federal agencies, including independent agencies, must submit their plans within 90 days to the Office of Advocacy of the Small Business Administration (SBA). Agencies have 180 days to execute these plans and must consider Advocacy’s comments on their effectiveness before their implementation.

“President Bush has delivered on the promise he made to small businesses when he introduced his Small Business Plan,” said Thomas M. Sullivan, Chief Counsel for Advocacy within the SBA Office of Advocacy, “He promised to tear down the regulatory barriers to job creation for small business and give small-business owners a voice in the complex and confusing federal regulatory process. This order does just that.”

For more information, please visit the White House Web site, or the SBA Office of Advocacy.
 

NASE Participates in Houston Women Entrepreneurship Event

On August 15, 2002, the National Association for the Self-Employed sponsored and participated in the Houston Women Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century Summit. The event, hosted by Rep. Tom DeLay (R-TX) and the Public Forum Institute, had over 200 Texas-based women business owners in attendance.

NASE TaxTalk CPA, Keith Hall, represented the Association as part of the tax panel. He explained important sections of the tax code and offered strategies for micro-businesses and the self-employed. Highlights included the use of the home office tax deduction and the employment of independent children. If you are a micro-business owner or self-employed and you need tax assistance, visit NASE Tax Talk.

The NASE encourages you to attend a conference in your area. They are proving to be an invaluable source of information for women micro-business owners.

Click here for more information, or to register for an upcoming summit.
 

Do any of these issues affect you? Do you want to be proactive in helping the micro-business community? Visit the NASE's Legislative Action Center and “Tell Your Small Business Story.” This will help the NASE understand - on a personal level - how key legislative issues are affecting your business and your bottom line.

For more information about any of the articles in Washington Watch, contact Maureen Petron, NASE public affairs manager, at (202) 466-2100 or mpetron@nase.org.