THE AMERICAN RECOVERY ACT: What Does It Mean To You?

As a small business owner I sometimes find myself not keeping abreast of all the tax regulations because I’m busy advertising and running my business. Now with the latest Stimulus package approved by Congress, I needed to know the changes that will impact me personally and as a business owner.

Ronald R. Mueller, MBA, Ph.D. author of “Home Business Tax Savings Made Easy" is informing people that the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 is HUGE - not just in its price tag, but also in its complexity - so you can expect to read a whole string of Tax Tips as Dr. Muller continues to dissect this massive package containing 100's of both smart investments and pork barrel projects. Due to my busy schedule, I don’t have to go searching for the information because Dr. Mueller will send updates directly to my inbox.

HERE ARE SOME OF THE HIGHLIGHTS:

• The Section 179 "accelerated depreciation" limit of $250,000, which expired on 12/31/08, has
been extended throughout 2010
• The 50% Bonus Depreciation on purchase of business assets, which also expired on 12/31/08, will
continue also
• 5-year "carry-back" of Net Operating Losses for small businesses (more on this in my next issue
of "Tax Tips You Can Bank On")
• Temporary relief of Estimated Tax Payments for small businesses (more on this in my next issue
of "Tax Tips You Can Bank On")

• W-2 workers' take home pay will increase by $400 (for individuals) and $800 (for married couples)
beginning on/about April 1, paid at rate of 6.2% of earned income, until the $400/800 limits are
reached. Phase-outs apply for high income earners.

• Social Security recipients, Veterans who are on disability pay, and Railroad Retirees will each see
$250, which will be paid by the agency producing their current monthly checks.

• Anyone (not just small businesses) who purchases a new car, light truck, RV or motorcycle from
February 17 through December 31, 2009 may deduct, on their Federal tax returns, any state and
local Sales and Excise taxes.

I think you will find this information to be very valuable. I plan to purchase a new car within the next couple of months. Now thanks to the last bullet above, I will be able to write of the sales and excise taxes. That is awesome!

If you want to be kept in the loop regarding both personal and business tax issues, go to http://www.kickstartcart.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=943622 and subscribe to “Tax Tips You Can Bank On”. Be sure to pass this valuable information on to everyone you know.

Have a Great Day!

Yvonne Benjamin
www.GreaterTravelBiz.com
yb@greatertravelbiz.com

Tags: act, based, business, deductions, home, irs, recovery, savings, stimulus, tax

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Comment by Robert Sloan on March 4, 2009 at 1:41pm: Very useful to know, thank you! Nowhere had I found anything on how the stimulus would reach me -- I'm on social security and knew I'd get something but not how it'd come.

Comment by Linda Wyatt on March 4, 2009 at 1:16pm: Yvonne,

I really appreciate your article. I was happy to see your honesty about this issue. Yes the plan is packed with pork and it has a huge price tag and it's not ok no matter who you are, Republican or Democrat, rich, poor or in-between. My question is this: why not just stick to the stimulus or "recovery" part and go line by line and get rid of the pork like you promised, Mr. Obama? Why not do at least a semblance of what you promised to all those who believed in you and trusted you? I know why but those people don't. I know you wrote in your book that you sought out the socialist professors, and you kept company with the radicals, liberal, and extremists.

Yvonne, I appreciate that we will get updates from you regarding Dr. Mueller's findings, however in these findings, I am not seeing the plan helping small business in a substantially meaningful way. I know I am not going to be purchasing a major piece of equipment for $250,000 but that's just me.

We cannot have blinders on, and we should raise our voices to show how we view this plan. Since Mr. Obama took office the stock market has taken the biggest hits in years. Every time this administration speaks or gives interviews, the market goes down. The market has spoken. The investors have spoken. They don't have confidence. They don't back this plan. Yes, the market affects everything, the economy, my biz, your biz. 700,000 jobs have been lost every month since Obama came into office. This affects small biz. See "Where's the Stimulus for Small Business" Forbes: http://budurl.com/4jum

Taxing the rich means that if my small biz makes over $250 I will be hit. As for savings on taxes next year for equipment...see the US News and World Report: http://budurl.com/5a74.

As for the pork, my favorite was the proposal that Harry Reid and Rohm Emmanuel were pushing: railroad from Disneyland to the Moonlight Bunny Ranch in Nevada, but I also liked the tatoo removal, the research for swine odor--9,000 pork items. This plan's shortcomings far outweigh any of the paltry benefits.

Comment by Jose Damaso Ramon on March 4, 2009 at 1:07pm: Every one of us accept eagerly the benefits we get from the tax revenue system.
However, I think real recovery for the US economy is only possible if we work hard individually and collectively to achieve the general goal of having the USA economy in good shape.
It is a great opportunity to show ourselves that everything is possible if we work hard to achieve our dreams and help others achieve theirs.
Jose Damaso Ramon
http://josedweblink.ning.com/

Comment by Barry Ochsner on March 4, 2009 at 1:06pm: Yvonne,

Thanks for your hard work in putting all of this together for us. I am glad that there are people like you who can keep up with all of this.

More than anything though this is just another reminder to me of how over complicated screwed up our entire tax system is in this country.

Comment by Norine 'Action' Jackson on March 4, 2009 at 12:43pm: Hey, I just went to the website and realized that I've actually met Mr. Mueller and bought one of his other tax books in the past. This guy knows his stuff and provide very, very useful tax information. He's also a very professional and kind gentleman!

Comment by Norine 'Action' Jackson on March 4, 2009 at 12:37pm: Yvonne,

Thanks so much for sharing this with us. This is definitely useful information I can use!

Norine

Comment by Chuck Madere on March 4, 2009 at 12:07pm: Yvonne, WOW is all I can say and maybe thank you throen in. Keep up with this info for all of us.
Chuck Madere

Comment by Laurie L. Taylor on March 4, 2009 at 12:00pm: Excellent information -- thanks for putting it into bite sized pieces!

Comment by Brent Thomas on March 4, 2009 at 11:45am: These few benifits will not make up for the taxes Obama is putting in ways that people do not realize but after 6 months many small businesses will see how bad this plan is.