Webb applauds passage of Small Business Jobs Act

U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., voted on Wednesday to pass the Small Business Jobs Act, which now goes to the House of Representatives for final passage.

“Small businesses are essential to the health of our economy — creating two-thirds of all new jobs over the last 15 years,” said Sen. Webb. “I have listened to the concerns of small business owners across the state. This legislation will help small businesses grow and create jobs by providing access to capital, robust incentives for investment, and support for entrepreneurship.”

Summary of the Small Business Jobs Act:

Helps Small Businesses Access Capital
– Incentivizes investors by giving 100 percent exclusion from capital gains taxes on small business investments before January 1, 2011.
– Creates a targeted $30 billion Small Business Lending Fund to provide small community banks with capital to increase small business lending.
– Gives $1.5 billion in grants to support $15 billion in new small business lending through already successful state programs.
– Reduces the tax burden for small businesses by allowing them to carry back general business tax credits to offset their tax burdens from the previous five years. Small businesses will also be able to count the general business credits against the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT), freeing up capital for expansion and job growth.
– Increases Small Business Administration (SBA) loan limits and improves access and lowers costs for small business to access SBA loans.

Increases Small Businesses’ Ability to Make Investments
– Increases Section 179 expensing – permitting up to $500,000 in capital investments that businesses can expense.
– Extends Bonus Depreciation – allowing taxpayers to immediately write off 50 percent of the cost of new equipment.

Promotes Entrepreneurship
– Increases to $10,000 the tax deduction for start-up expenditures – doubling the current levels.
– Creates new tools to help small businesses export goods, which will leverage more than $1 billion in exports.
– Establishes a new State Export Promotion Grant Program (STEP), which would increase the number of small businesses that export goods to other countries.
– Allows self-employed individuals to deduct health insurance costs for purposes of paying the self-employment tax.

A detailed summary of provisions included in the Small Business Jobs Act can be found on the Finance Committee website at: http://finance.senate.gov/legislation/details/?id=da799068-5056-a032-5229-92cebbd2b7a0.
 
 

Edited by Chris Graham. Chris can be reached at [email protected].