Law & Entrepreneurship News

Archives: Small Businesses

Indiana Gives Small Businesses A Voice In The Regulatory Process

Inc.com is reporting that Indiana is the third state to pass a law requiring state agencies to analyze the economic impact to small businesses when proposing rules and regulations. The other two states to pass such legislation are New Mexico and Virginia.

In addition to requiring state agencies to analyze the economic impact of the proposed rules and regulations, the law also requires these state agencies to evaluate alternative regulatory methods.

Regulatory flexibility laws are important to small businesses because they help reduce the costs and burdens that come with regulatory compliance. Hopefully, these three states are just the beginning of a nation wide trend to free small businesses from some of the regulatory stranglehold.

Pros And Cons Of Franchising

The May edition of the SBA's Solutions newsletter focuses on the pros and cons of franchising. It is a must read for any entrepreneur looking to buy a franchise.

Small Business Update 4/29/05

I am going to post stories from the past three days. Small Business Week has opened the floodgates to small business articles so here is a sampling:

- House Committee passes Small Business Checking Act which would allow small businesses to earn interest on checking accounts (NFIB)

- How women can enhance their bargaining skills (Business Week)

- The reasons why many startups collapse (Business Week)

- Tips on where to find funding (Business Week)

- The San Francisco Bay Guardian is calling on politicians to fight President Bush's SBA budget cuts

- An American Express survey shows that small business owners are optimistic about their growth prospects over the next six months (Inc.com)

- SBA Office of Advocacy testifies in front of Congress in an effort to eliminate the tax gaps between small business treatment compared to its big business counterparts (Press release here)

- Entrepreneur.com reports on why small businesses are vital to America

- SBA Office of Advocacy testifies in favor of regulatory reform

- Sen. John Kerry calls out the Bush administration and the SBA on its treatment of women owned businesses

Small Business Brief 4/26/05

- Tips for small business owners on delegating responsibility

- Pittsburgh Tribune Review has a nice article on financing startups and small businesses

- The Salt Lake Tribune has a nice story on how microloans have helped Utah entrepreneurs and how the Utah microloan program works

Happy Small Business Week

With finals taking up a majority of my time for the next couple of weeks, I am going to be providing quick hits (with links) for what is going on in the small business world instead of longer articles.

Yahoo.com is reporting that President Bush has declared this week small business week with programs and ceremonies to celebrate America's small businesses

Inc.com is reporting on the fastest growing counties in terms of job growth (interpreting a recently released Bureau of Labor Statistics report).

A Wal-Mart survey is indicating that small business economic confidence is waning.

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that spending on technology will be slow for small businesses this year.

Rising Interest Rates Sneaking Up On Small Businesses

The AP is reporting that the realities of the interest rate hikes over the past ten months are starting to creep into the small business consciousness due to increased capital needs because of inflation and skyrocketing energy costs.

Innovation And Entrepreneurship Study

The SBA Office of Advocacy has released an excellent study that statistically analyzes the connection between entrepreneurship and innovation in 394 areas in the country. Please click here for the full report. Please click here for the research summary.

The Small Business Counsel Of America Is Against The Estate Tax Repeal

Citing the loss of step-up basis upon death, The Small Business Counsel of America (SBCA) believes that the bill repealing the estate tax beyond 2010 is a bad thing for many small businesses. The SBCA is calling for immediate tax reform to aid small business owners.

Specifically, the SBCA is calling for the estate tax exemption to be increased immediately to $3.5 million, with gradual increases until it reaches $5 million. It is also calling for preservation of the step-up basis rules and an increase in the gift tax exemption in order to match the estate tax exemption. It also proposes an exemption for retirement plan assets of up to one million dollars if assets are going to a spouse and $500,000 if the assets are going to others. Finally, SBCA is calling for the top estate tax rate to be reduced if an interest in a closely held or small business is subject to the tax.

The death tax debate should heat up as the Bill nears Senate vote. It will be interesting to see where the small business community stands since it is pitting the estate tax against the step-up basis rules. Theoretically, the dividing line will be between the "have's" and the "have-not's" in the small business community. This is because a cost benefit analysis would make the step-up basis rules more appealing to "small" small businesses since they are probably too small to be subject to estate taxes whereas "large" small businesses would be more likely to gain from the estate tax repeal since the capital gains tax rate is less than the estate tax rates.

House Votes For Permanent Repeal Of The Federal Estate Tax

The AP (via Forbes.com)is reporting that the House approved a permanent repeal of the federal estate tax beyond 2010 by a vote of 272-162. It now moves to the Senate where similar bills have failed to gather enough support to become law in the past.  The repeal of the estate tax is strongly supported by small business advocacy groups.  One reason for such support is that estate taxe makes it very costly to pass down successful family businesses to the next generation. 

Small Business Bill Of Rights Awaits House Vote

The NSBA is reporting that the House Small Business Committee recently approved a Bill (H.R. 22) that would form a "Small Business Bill of Rights." It is now up to the House to vote on the bill.

The Small Business Bill of Rights calls for simplified tax laws that aid family-owned business succession, a right for small businesses to be free from frivolous lawsuits, the right to be free from restrictive and unnecessary regulation, the right to be free from high energy costs, right to equal tax treatment with large businesses when seeking access to start-up and expansion capital and credits, and the right to compete for federal government business.