• NASE Member Tells How Health Care Tax Credits Could Help Her
• Attention: Philadelphia Area Women Entrepreneurs!
• Study Shows Small Businesses’ Power As Innovators
• Facts, Figures and Museum Exhibits for Women’s Business Month
• IRS Headliner: New Ways to Reach the IRS

NASE Member Tells How Health Care Tax Credits Could Help Her

This week, NASE Member Allison Coia shared her frustrations over the lack of quality, affordable health coverage options for the self-employed as legislators introduced a bill that would help her gain access to coverage. The Securing Access, Value and Equity in Health Care Act provides all Americans with pre-payable, refundable tax credits for the purchase of health insurance.

“I’m shocked to discover the high premiums I would have to pay as a sole proprietor,” said Coia, who recently opened her personal chef business Cook-A-Doodle-Doo. “Health care tax credits are one option that would free up working capital for my business. When I pay medical expenses out of pocket, that’s less I have available to reinvest in Cook-A-Doodle-Doo. The first thing that has gone so far is my marketing budget. Without that, it’s more difficult to find more customers, and keep the business running – all because of the cost of health care.”

The bill, nicknamed “S.A.V.E.,” was introduced by Reps. Kay Granger (R-TX) and Albert Wynn (D-MD). It proposes tax credits for the uninsured of $1,000 per individual/ $2,000 per married couple/ $500 per child/ or $3,000 per family, plus 50 percent of any additional premiums on top of these amounts. It also provides one-quarter of the base credit amounts to people currently using employer-based health plans. The tax credit will be phased out at $65,000 for an individual and $105,000 for a couple filing jointly.

If you have a story about how skyrocketing health care costs have affected your business, the NASE wants to hear from you. Personal stories like Coia’s help the NASE illustrate to Congress the real impact legislation will have on the self-employed and micro-businesses. You can use the “Tell Your Story" feature of the Legislative Action Center to contact the NASE.

Attention: Philadelphia Area Women Entrepreneurs!

The NASE is proud to sponsor the Women Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century summit on April 3, 2003 in Philadelphia, PA. If you are a woman living in the Philadelphia area, are self-employed or run your own micro-business, this conference is for you. Packed full of networking opportunities, panel discussions and break-out sessions on everything ranging from procurement to taxes to health care, and keynote speakers, this free summit offers cutting-edge insights on the most pressing concerns of women business owners today. Register today at http://www.women-21.com/conference.asp.
 

Study Shows Small Businesses’ Power As Innovators

America’s technological innovators are found in small firms, and they are more productive than their larger counterparts. These findings are revealed in a study, “Small Serial Innovators: The Small Firm Contribution to Technical Change,” recently released by the Office of Advocacy of the U.S. Small Business Administration.

“This report shows how important small business is to innovation in America,” said Thomas M. Sullivan, chief counsel for Advocacy, in a press release announcing the findings. “It’s clear that small innovative firms with multiple inventions and patents are vitally important in newer and science-intensive technologies.”

The study, written by Diana Hicks of CHI Research, analyzes patent applications by small and large firms from 1996 to 2000. It found that, on average, small firms produce more highly cited patents than larger firms. Smaller firm patents were cited in subsequent patent applications 28 percent more often than those of larger firms and were twice as likely to be among the one percent most cited patents. Prior research has established that highly cited patents represent economically and technically important inventions.

For more information and a copy of the report, visit the Office of Advocacy Web site at www.sba.gov/advo.

Facts, Figures and Museum Exhibits for Women’s Business Month

Washington Watch reported last week that President Bush had declared March “Women’s History Month.” In honor of women business owners across the nation, take a look at these impressive statistics:

• It is estimated that as of 2002, there are 6.2 million majority-owned, privately-held, women-owned firms in the U.S., accounting for 28 percent of all businesses, employing 9.2 million workers and generating nearly $1.2 trillion in revenues.

• The largest share of women-owned firms is in the service sector, with more than half (53 percent).

• Women-owned firms continue to diversify across industries, with the fastest growth rates seen in “non-traditional industries,” including construction (36 percent increase in the number of women-owned firms between 1997 and 2002), agricultural services (27 percent), and transportation, communications and public utilities (24 percent).

• The number of women-owned businesses continues to grow at twice the rate of all U.S. firms. From 1997 to 2002, the number of women-owned firms grew by 14 percent, while the number of all firms grew by 7 percent.

• As strong as the growth of women-owned firms is overall, the growth of firms owned by women of color is even stronger. The number of minority women-owned firms increased by 32 percent between 1997 and 2002 – twice the rate of all women-owned firms and four times the rate of all U.S. firms.

Have these facts and figures got you interested in the women entrepreneurs that forged their way before you? Then visit www.enterprisingwomenexhibit.org, the Web site for “Enterprising Women: 250 Years of American Business.” This exhibit – traveling across the country over the next year -- brings to life the stories of women who helped shape the landscape of American business, such as:

• Mary Katharine Goddard, who printed the first copy of the Declaration of Independence in 1777;

• Martha Coston, who patented the Pyrotechnic Night Signal (night flare) in 1859, which gave naval superiority to the North in the Civil War; and

• Madame C.J. Walker, who created a hair-care and beauty empire that brought economic opportunity to black women in the late 1800's.

For more information, visit the National Women's Business Council.

IRS Headliner: New Ways to Reach the IRS

(The following “Headliners” article has been provided by the IRS Taxpayer Education and Communication office 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 http://www.irs.gov/smallbiz.)

The IRS is making it easier and more efficient for you to get the answers to your Federal tax questions by providing two new toll free numbers. These new toll free numbers represent a substantial difference in how you can contact the IRS.

If you have a business or specialty tax question you can call 1-800-829-4933. Customers calling this number can apply for a new Employer Identification Number (EIN) and receive help on Employment Taxes, Partnership, Corporation, Estate, Gift, Trust and Excise Taxes, or other small business issues. This new number will enable the Internal Revenue Service to provide better service for businesses, with a number dedicated just for them, and better service for customers with individual income tax questions by reserving the traditional 1040 help line (1-800-829-1040) for them.

Access to IRS information will be quicker and easier with fewer topic choices to negotiate within the separate individual and business service lines. Separating the incoming calls by individual and business issues means quicker and more efficient service for you from a customer service representative who is trained in your topic. You can continue to obtain assistance with any Form 1040 issue by calling 1-800-829-1040.

If you need information about an individual income tax refund, and have access to the Internet, the fastest way to get assistance is through the “Where’s my Refund?” automated self-service feature, available 24/7 at http://www.irs.gov/. If information is not readily available via the Internet, please call the Refund Hotline at 1-800-829-1954, which is the second new toll free number the IRS has established to provide more efficient service to customers.

The Business and Individual Tax Lines are designed to handle general inquiries. As always, if you have received correspondence from IRS directing you to call a different number, you should call that number to receive the quickest resolution of your specific issue.

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.