Set the Model for Office Behavior

Even seemingly trivial acts of incivility can lead to reduced employee productivity and loyalty.
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Get Out Now

A new book shows you how to escape cubicle nation.
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You Can Start a Restaurant in a Down Economy

In an industry so unforgiving, what’s the recipe for starting a restaurant in a recession?
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Time is on Your Side

Use these 4 tips to kickstart your momentum.
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A Guide to Payroll Cuts

It’s a plan you hope you’ll never use, but consider these 3 components before you cut payroll.
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New Tax Break For Your New Car

Ah, life on the road. The good news for business owners who spend a lot of time behind the wheel is that you’re entitled to a number of vehicle-related tax deductions. Now, thanks to the Recovery Act, you’ve got one more tax break in your arsenal.

If you purchase a vehicle before the end of the year, you’ll be able to deduct the sales tax and get an immediate tax benefit. That’s a change from years past, when business owners added the sales tax to the cost of the vehicle, and recovered it through depreciation or expensing, according to William Massey, senior tax analyst at Thomson Reuters. There are, of course, a few limitations: You can only deduct sales tax on up to $49,500 of the vehicle’s purchase price. And this deduction is phased out if your modified adjusted gross
income is more than $125,000 for single filers and $250,000 for joint filers.

Any individual (not just a business owner) who fits the bill can claim this sales tax deduction. But the tax break may be particularly useful for self-employed individuals who usually depreciate or expense the vehicle’s cost, Massey says. For instance, by not having to expense sales tax, a business owner wouldn’t have to reduce his or her expensing limit, and therefore wouldn’t have to reduce the amount of other assets that can be expensed, he says.

To note: The tax break is designed for individuals, so sole proprietors and people who run limited liability companies that elect to be disregarded as an entity would be entitled to claim the deduction, Massey says. But the IRS will need to issue further guidelines to clarify whether C or S corporations can claim the break, he says

For more on tax provisions provided by the stimulus package, check out Karen Klein’s column here.

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In Addition to TALF, More Credit for Small Business

Last week, we reported on the expanded $200 billion joint Fed and Treasury program, known as the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, or TALF. TALF’s purpose is to induce investors to buy up AAA-rated securities backed by new consumer and small business loans by offering low-interest loans. The idea is to get up to $1 trillion in credit flowing to Main Street borrowers.

Back in December, Dennis Moroney, a research director at TowerGroup, a financial-services industry research firm based in Needham, Mass., criticized the plan in a report on TALF’s impact on the asset-backed securities market. In the report, Moroney and co-author and fellow research director Bobbie Britting said they felt the original pool of possible loans was too small. But since the potential pool has been increased, they thought TALF was significantly improved and could really help consumers and small business owners seeking loans.

Now more government efforts are in the works, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday, though the size of the program is unclear:

Mr. Geithner said Monday that the Obama administration will launch a plan next week that will provide financing, liquidity and guarantees to open up small-business lending, which is seen as a crucial element of economic recovery.

Mr. Geithner’s Monday briefing followed his Feb. 10 announcement that the administration was working on a “small-business and community-bank lending initiative” that would have several components. It would finance the purchase of highly rated Small Business Administration loans, increase the government guarantee for SBA loans, and reduce the fees on certain SBA loans, among other things.

Stay tuned.

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Last Call for Entrepreneur of the Year Nominations

The nomination period for Ernst & Young’s renowned Entrepreneur of the Year award wraps up this Monday, March 16. The criteria is pretty straightforward: you have to be an owner or manager of a public or private company that’s a least two years old. You can access the online application form here if think you think you’ve got a shot.

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New small business innovation report

Just out this morning from Steve King: a new research brief on small business innovation, part of the ongoing Intuit Future of Small Business research project. I still have to dig into it in more detail, but one of the key findings is that small business owners are often “natural innovators” across industries (not just in tech or high-growth areas) even if they don’t think of themselves as innovators.

Here’s a nugget from the report on the small business innovation advantage:

Because of their size, business agility and deep customer understanding, small businesses have several inherent innovation advantages over large corporations. They can more readily identify opportunities, quickly react to changing market and industry conditions, and nimbly compete with bigger competitors.

We’ll have more on this soon. In the mean time, check out the report here.

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Obama Administration’s Program to Ease Credit for Small Business Owners

President Barack Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner are scheduled to announce a program at noon today at the White House that includes reducing small-business lending fees and increasing the guarantee on some Small Business Administration loans, a spokesperson for the SBA confirmed. The Wall Street Journal has a story today about a study by the Government Accountability Office that suggests there is insufficient oversight in place for the program.

Check back for more on the program this afternoon.

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