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Washington Watch
April 16, 2003
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NASE Attends Rose Garden
Briefing
The NASE joined several other trade
associations and small-business owners this week
at a White House briefing in the Rose Garden.
President Bush urged Congress to pass a growth
package that includes tax relief to stimulate the
economy and promote job creation. |
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"The small-business folks in America, the
entrepreneurs, represent one of the great strengths of
this country: the spirit of free enterprise, the
willingness to take risks, the hard work required to
move this economy forward," President Bush said.
The President's package includes an increase in
business equipment expensing to $75,000, which the
NASE supports.
"Under this plan," the President said, "some 23
million small-business owners will see their taxes
cut, which leaves more money for investment, more
money for growth, more money for job creation."
His package would also remove the double tax on
dividends. President Bush's growth plan faces hurdles
in the Senate, where Democrats and some moderate
Republicans want to scale down its size.
The NASE has told Congress and President Bush that
provisions that help micro-businesses and the
self-employed need to be included in any plan aimed at
stimulating the economy. Specifically, the NASE
supports an increase in business equipment expensing,
independent contractor status clarification, a
one-time payroll tax cut, home office tax deduction
simplification, self-employment tax relief on health
insurance premiums and health care tax credits.
For more information on the NASE Micro-Business
Stimulus Plan,
click here.
To view a transcript of President Bush's remarks, or
to view the Web cast,
click here.
SBA Reauthorization and Advocacy Independence
Two moves by the
Senate
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship could have
huge effects on the
U.S. Small Business Administration.
First, the committee chair, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-ME),
introduced the "Independent Office of Advocacy Act of 2003."
Co-sponsored by Ranking Member Sen. John Kerry (D-MA) and Sens.
Kit Bond (R-MO) and Tom Harkin (D-IA), S.818 would erect a
firewall around SBA's Office of Advocacy, guard against
political interference in its day-to-day management, and
strengthen its ability to serve as an independent voice for
small businesses. The bill gives the Office of Advocacy its own
line item in the President's budget -- it is currently funded
from the general SBA budget. The change would mean that Advocacy
could be independent in its research and policy opinions,
regardless of the positions taken by the President or
Administration.
A similar bill, H.R. 1772, was introduced by Reps. Todd Akin
(R-MO) and Ed Schrock (R-VA). Washington Watch recently reported
on a hearing these two members of the
House
Small Business Committee held to discuss an independent
Office of Advocacy.
Also last week, Sen. Snowe hosted a roundtable discussion on
renewing the SBA’s non-credit programs, including its Advocacy
Programs, Entrepreneurial Development Programs and Government
Contracting/Business Development Programs.
“I want to ensure that the agency’s resources will be able to
respond to the many challenges faced by existing small-business
owners and the increasing number of new business start-ups,”
Snowe said.
The NASE supports both an independent Office of Advocacy and
increased funding for the SBA’s vital programs, such as
Small
Business Development Centers.
"Where's My Refund?"
(The IRS Taxpayer Education and
Communication Office provided the following “Headliners” article
in an effort to educate micro-business owners and make it easier
to fulfill their tax obligations. For more articles, or for more
information about any of the information contained in this
article, please contact the IRS Small Business/ Self-Employed
Division at
www.irs.gov/smallbiz.)
Want to check the status of your federal income tax refund? It
only takes a minute to log on to
www.irs.gov and
click on Where’s My Refund? - the first Web-based access
to your personal tax account information.
To access your account information, you must enter three
personal identifiers, which the IRS will verify. All you need to
enter is:
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Your Social Security Number or
Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (the first SSN on
married, filing jointly, returns.);
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Your filing status;
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The exact amount - dollars and cents
- of the refund claimed on your tax return.
The IRS’ secure technology protects
the confidentiality of your personal information. Where’s My
Refund? was tested extensively to meet strict security and
privacy certifications. If you attempt to access your records
with personal information that does not match IRS records, you
will be locked out of the site for 24 hours after a
predetermined number of unsuccessful attempts.
Where’s My Refund? also works with the Job Access with
Speech (JAWS) screen reader used with a Braille display for the
visually-impaired.
The Where’s My Refund? service includes information
about:
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Returns received and in processing;
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Returns received and under review;
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Dates of direct deposit or mailing
of refunds;
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Mistakes that change the amount of
the refund;
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Refund offsets to other government
agencies;
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Processing delays due to bankruptcy,
SSN mismatches, etc.; and
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Refunds returned to the IRS by the
Post Office.
If you don’t have Internet access,
you can still find out the status of your tax return and your
refund by calling: 1-800-829-1954 (New Refund Hotline) or
1-800-829-4477 (Automated Refund Line).
SBA-Backed Loans to Small Businesses Up Sharply in
First Half
of FY 2003
The number of small businesses
receiving loans backed by the
U.S. Small Business
Administration through the first two quarters of Fiscal Year
2003 is up by more than 35 percent, compared to the same period
a year ago, with the most significant increases coming in loans
to minorities, women and veterans.
The agency also reported a large increase in SBAExpress loans,
which more than doubled from 6,122 loans to 13,991 over the
first six months of the fiscal year. The increase is largely due
to significant efforts by the agency to make SBAExpress loans of
under $250,000 more widely available by making it easier and
faster for lenders to approve the loans.
The overall increase in loan approvals under the agency’s two
major loan programs, the 7(a) General Business Loan Guaranty
program and the Certified Development Company (or 504) loan
program, came to 34.7 percent, reflecting an increase from
23,709 loans during the first two quarters of FY 2002 to 32,183
loans during the same period in the current fiscal year. Strong
increases were registered in both programs: 7(a) loans were up
by 38.1 percent and 504 loans increased by 15.3 percent.
The growth in the number of loans to minorities, women and
veterans also was pronounced. Overall, loans to small businesses
owned by minorities increased by 42.1 percent, from 5,972
through March 2002 to 8,486 through March 2003. Within that
total, loans to African Americans increased by 68.2 percent,
loans to Hispanic Americans increased by 40.6 percent, loans to
Asian Americans increased by 33.1 percent and loans to Native
Americans increased by 26.7 percent.
Additionally, loan approvals for women small-business owners
increased by 34.8 percent, to 6,401 loans, and loans to
veteran-owned small businesses were up by 26.2 percent, to 3,114
loans.
The total dollar amount of loans approved under both programs
actually declined by 0.3 percent, to $6.14 billion. The dollar
value of loans approved under the 7(a) program alone declined by
4.5 percent, to $4.85 billion, reflecting the increased number
of smaller loans.
The average loan size in the 7(a) program fell to $165,360 in
the first half of the year, from $239,079 in the same period a
year ago. The average 504 loan increased from $440,143 to
$454,487.
The agency expects to continue encouraging its lending partners
to focus on making a greater number of smaller loans available
to entrepreneurs.
Do any of these issues
affect you? Visit the NASE
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.
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