• Friday Deadline for 2004 Women's Advisory Council

• NASE Voices Concern Over IRS Taxpayer Advocate Report

• NASE to Sponsor Women Entrepreneurship Summit

• NASE Participates in NAWBO Public Policy Days

Friday Deadline for 2004 Women's Advisory Council

 

The deadline is quickly approaching to apply for this year’s NASE Women’s Advisory Council. The 2004 WAC is an influential committee of women NASE Members and entrepreneurs who will serve as a focus group and work closely with NASE President Robert Hughes, the Board of Directors, and Association staff to offer valuable insight about new benefits and programs.

Women business owners are a rapidly growing sector of the community and the economic landscape. As one of the estimated 10.1 million women owned micro-businesses in the nation, there is no better way to have your voice heard than to participate in the Council. Last year’s Women’s Advisory Council shared their experiences as micro-business owners with the Department of Labor, the National Women’s Business Council and the National Association of Women Business Owners. This is an exciting opportunity for Members from all over the country, and women with varying degrees of business experience are encouraged to apply.

To participate on the NASE Women’s Advisory Council you must be:

• An NASE female Member in good standing

• An NASE Member for 6 months or longer

• A micro-business owner and operator (business with 10 or less employees)

• Willing to commit to for a one-year period

• Enthusiastic about the NASE

Council members will be asked to attend one meeting in Washington, D.C., in June, participate in telephone conference calls every six to eight weeks, and respond to e-mail communications as necessary. Any costs involved with participating in the NASE Women’s Advisory Council, such as travel, are covered by the NASE.

To apply, simply log onto MyNASE.org. Submission deadline is Friday, March 5, 2004.

NASE Voices Concern Over IRS Taxpayer Advocate Report

Long a priority issue of the NASE, clarifying worker classification has come to the forefront recently with the IRS Taxpayer Advocate’s annual report to Congress. In it, Advocate Nina Olsen blamed an $81 billion “tax gap” of unpaid taxes on the self-employed. In addition, she offered a new withholding recommendation to recoup the lost revenue.

The NASE and other members of the Independent Contractor Coalition met last week for the second time with the Advocate to voice their objections and concerns. While the Taxpayer Advocate’s mission is to provide an independent system to assist and protect individual and taxpayer rights, the NASE feels that the withholding proposal adds more tax compliance complexity for the self-employed.

The NASE believes confusion is the root cause of reporting and filing errors by the self-employed. It is the systemic and well-chronicled problem of code complexity for sole proprietors that policy makers should be looking to rather than concluding deliberate under-reporting on the part of these taxpayers. Simplification of the tax code would better address this problem then a new withholding scheme.

Read the full NASE response to the Taxpayer Advocate report at www.NASE.org. Visit the NASE Legislative Action Center and let the NASE know if you have had problems with the complex tax code as a sole proprietor. 

NASE to Sponsor Women Entrepreneurship Summit

Continuing its commitment to the fastest growing segment of micro-business owners, the NASE will sponsor the Women’s Entrepreneurship in the 21st Century Summit in Cleveland, Ohio, Wednesday, March 10, 2004.

Hosted by the Department of Labor and U.S. Small Business Administration, the conference offers a full day of cutting edge insights, networking opportunities, and educational seminars for women entrepreneurs. Workshops will include discussions on access to capital, health insurance costs, understanding the tax code, and achieving a satisfying work/life balance, among other issues. The event is free and open to all women micro-business owners, or those thinking of starting their own business.

As of 2002, there are an estimated 10.1 million women-owned micro-businesses. According to NASE original research, start-ups of women-owned businesses have grown by double digits annually from 2000-2003, significantly outpacing growth in the 1990s and out-numbering men-owned start-ups by nearly a 2-to-1 ratio in 2003.

Be a part of this exciting summit. For more information on the free conference, or to register, visit www.women-21.gov. Be sure to include the NASE as the organization on the registration form.

NASE Participates in NAWBO Public Policy Days

Enabling women small business owners across the country with the tools they need to influence policy makers, the National Association of Women Business Owners’ (NAWBO) Public Policy Days was held this week in Washington, D.C. The NASE has long partnered with the women’s advocacy group, and NASE Director of Government Affairs Kristie Darien joined a “how-to” panel discussion during the conference. In the “Beyond the Basics” discussion, Darien gave the gathered group of women entrepreneurs tips on forming a coalition of other business owners with similar interests, strengthening their lobbying impact.

Read Darien’s coalition-building tips here.