The Small Business Jobs Act simmering in Washington contains a host of new tax credits and lending measures that are designed to spur hiring at small businesses. But business owners and advocacy groups have mixed reviews on the provisions, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Bill Rys, tax counsel for the National Federation of Independent Business, a Washington lobbying group, says one of the most promising incentives in the bill–which the House is expected to pass this week–are new expensing rules for equipment and property improvements.
A business that uses the deduction to expand, such as a restaurant that adds a bar, may hire more employees as a result, Rys says. “This also benefits the construction industry…and they’ve been hit hard.”
The bill, which passed in the Senate last week, contains several tax-break measures, such as a cell phone deduction and a family health-care deduction for the self-employed. It also makes changes to Small Business Administration loans, raising the maximum lending amount for certain types of SBA loans.
The bill’s major provision is a $30 billion lending facility that aims to enable community banks to lend more to their small-business customers.
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