• Tell Us What You Think: New Legislation to Offer Tax Break for Small Business

• Micro-business Loans for Entrepreneurs in Developing Countries

• Fight Over Estate Tax Repeal Heating Up

Tell Us What You Think: New Legislation to Offer Tax Break for
Small Business

The NASE wants to hear from you regarding the Business Retained Income During Growth and Expansion Act (S. 1903 / H.R. 3062) known as the BRIDGE Act.

The BRIDGE Act would allow a growing business to defer, not deduct, up to $250,000 in Federal income tax for two years. Businesses would pay the deferred taxes over the following four years. Interest would be paid during the entire deferral period at the Federal tax underpayment rate. Businesses would be eligible if:

• They had at least 10 percent in gross receipts above the prior 2-year average, and

• They are on accrual accounting for tax purposes, and

• They have $10 million or less in gross receipts.

The deferred tax amount would be placed in a trust account at a bank, to be used as collateral for a business loan. The tax deferral would expire after 2005 (unless extended), with a General Accounting Office study and report to Congress.

The BRIDGE Act has been introduced in the Senate by Senators John Kerry (D-MA) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME), and in the House of Representatives by Reps. Jim DeMint (R-SC) and Brian Baird (D-WA).

The bill has been gaining bipartisan support within Congress as a way to increase working capital for small businesses. The NASE would like to know your opinion of the BRIDGE Act. Will the BRIDGE Act assist your business with its capital needs? Will it facilitate the growth of your micro-business? Let us know what you think by contacting Kristie Darien, NASE's director of government affairs, at kdarien@nase.org.
 

Micro-business Loans for Entrepreneurs in Developing Countries

On Tuesday the House of Representatives passed H.R. 4073, a bill that would give more money in micro-enterprise loans to entrepreneurs and small businesses in developing countries. Bill sponsor Rep. Christopher H. Smith (R-N.J.) said the bill would mostly benefit women and efforts to thwart the rise of terrorism.

Women in developing countries would have the most to gain from the expansion of loan programs because of the lack of economic and educational opportunities available to them, Smith said. According to Smith, the bill fights terrorism because, "when we look at the countries that are supporters of terror or places where terrorists plot their evil actions, they have one thing in common: poverty."

Micro-enterprise loans are typically small -- usually no more than a few hundred dollars. In the past two years, $155 million has been available for loans; H.R. 4073 would authorize $175 million in 2003 and $200 million in 2004. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) would administer the funds.
 

Fight Over Estate Tax Repeal Heating Up

The battle over permanent repeal of the Estate Tax is heating up in Congress this month, and the NASE continues to fight for micro-businesses.

The House is expected to vote later this week on H.R. 2143, a bill that would permanently repeal the estate tax. Supporters of the bill hope the House vote will help generate momentum for the issue in the Senate. Many Senate Democrats had attempted to stall estate tax repeal from coming to the floor, but a vote on H.R. 8 in the Senate is expected later this month.

The NASE will continue to keep you informed of the progress we make on this issue. Help us in the fight by visiting the Legislative Action Center and tell your Senator that you want them to support permanent repeal of the estate tax or an increase in the exemption limit to $5 million dollars.
 

The NASE knows how expensive health care can be for the self-employed and micro-business owners - in fact, the NASE is about to release the results of a survey on access to affordable health care for micro-businesses. But we need your help in putting a face behind the statistics so that the media and Congress understand what limited options and high premiums mean to you. Email Maureen Petron, NASE public affairs manager, at mpetron@nase.org if you are interested becoming a Small Business Crusader for this issue.

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.