With 2009 tax season just over for many business owners, it’s time to look ahead to the wide variety of new tax rules owners might take advantage of in 2010.
On healthcare reform, the IRS plans to send postcards to 175,000 tax professionals to educate them about the Health Care Tax Credit, and will hold 1,000 workshops for interested business owners. The credit covers 35 percent of health insurance costs now, and rises to 50 percent in 2014. It’s good for businesses with fewer than 25 workers who earn an average salary of $50,000 or less. The credit’s a bit complicated and works on a sliding scale depending on company and salary size.
To read more of this Entrepreneur blog article click here.
Seventy-nine percent of small businesses revealed a confident to neutral outlook for the U.S. economy over the next 12 months, according to the Small Business Attitudes & Outlook Survey conducted by Constant Contact(R), Inc. /quotes/comstock/15*!ctct/quotes/nls/ctct (CTCT 23.28, +0.09, +0.39%) , a leading provider of email marketing, event marketing, and online survey tools for small organizations. Constant Contact conducted the survey in collaboration with other small business advocates, including the American Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE), SCORE, and the Association of Small Business Development Centers (ASBDC) — all of which are organizations dedicated to the success of small businesses.
Key findings from this survey of nearly 7,000 small business respondents are:
– Small businesses anticipate growth in 2010
– Small businesses are doing more with less
– Small businesses look for new efficiencies as costs increase
– Small businesses question government support
To read more of this Market Watch article click here.
Current recession made many small businesses rethink how they do business and forced them to make changes. Most cut costs to keep doors open. Some decided that the fight is not worth and closed their operations. Others run out of money and quit. In conversations with Alpha Business Bridge during December 2009 almost all wished the economy to stabilize.
Since the beginning of 2010 the economic conditions are slowly improving. As some business owners stated “people are tired of postponing purchases”. However, very few see return to pre-recession sales levels any time soon. Yet, new demand helps businesses stay solvent and make spotty profits. In this situation some owners already are plotting the next move.
Better established businesses consider expanding. This is good news because just six months ago no one ventured to even think about. They realized that the environment is changing and operations have to upgrade accordingly. What is interesting is that the help is coming from internal networks rather than from open market searches.
Certainly, current recession forces many changes on small business. Resilience and resourcefulness will help many of them to weather these difficult times.
