U.S. Capital Equipment Tax Deduction Rule Pending |  |
- U.S. Capital Equipment Tax Deduction Rule Pending
- Check Out These Events and Contests for Small Businesses
- CrowdIt: Raise Money Online, Get Feedback and Mentorship, Too
- Learn Vital Lessons by Entering The Mind of Elite Entrepreneurs
| U.S. Capital Equipment Tax Deduction Rule Pending Posted: 23 Mar 2013 04:00 PM PDT
A new law being proposed in the U.S. House of Representatives will stabilize the amount small businesses can deduct for machinery, equipment, vehicles, furniture, off the shelf software and other qualifying property. An official IRS release on the proposed law explains:
The Section 179 tax deduction was first approved in the early 1980s and initially capped deductions at $5,000. During the recent economic recession, the cap for deductions through Section 179 was raised to $500,000 from 2010 to 2013. The cap in 2012, according to our previous reports, was $139,000. Although the tax deduction has become popular among small business owners, the instability of the deduction cap and the plan to drop it next year to just $25,000 had confused and irked many. According to an Associated Press report, the proposed update to the federal tax code would stabilize the Section 179 tax deduction. Earlier this year, Congress approved a change to the plan to drop the deduction to $25,000 and capped it in 2013 at $500,000. The U.S. House Ways and Means Committee approved a proposal this week that would make the Section 179 deduction permanent at $250,000. That means a small business owner could invest that much money in qualifying new business equipment and deduct that purchase from the gross income, according to the AP report. Section 179 had become known as the "SUV Tax Loophole" and the "Hummer Deduction" after many business owners used the law to deduct the cost of business vehicles. Those laws have been tightened and what qualifies as an equipment purchase has been more clearly defined recently, according to the web site Section179.org, designed to help business owners determine what is qualifying and how to calculate a deduction. Businesses that spend more than $2 million in new qualifying equipment in 2013 will not be eligible for the full deduction. For every dollar over $2 million spent, the same is reduced from the total deduction available, according to Section179.org. This particular tax law is designed to benefit small businesses, encouraging them to make larger purchases to expand their business. If the law is made permanent and the cap not subject to the whims of Congress—which has routinely fluctuated the cap—the known spending a business incurs could provide security for an owner to either spend more or hire new employees, according to AP's report. The post U.S. Capital Equipment Tax Deduction Rule Pending appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Check Out These Events and Contests for Small Businesses Posted: 23 Mar 2013 01:30 PM PDT Ever since the new Events Calendar launched here on Small Business Trends, we’ve been getting a steady stream of new listings of events, contests and awards for small business people and entrepreneurs. We don’t accept just anything — all events, contests and awards submitted are vetted to bring you only the highest quality. Below is a partial list. To see the full list, please visit the Small Business Events Calendar, where you can also submit a listing.
Featured Events, Contests and Awards
InfusionCon 2013 March 27, 2013, Scottsdale, AZ InfusionCon is a must-attend event for all Infusionsoft customers. There are a variety of sessions geared towards business owners, marketing and sales strategists, developers, administrators and more. Session topics cover topics relevant to small businesses, including Infusionsoft training, marketing strategy, social media, company culture, business management, automation, branding, copywriting, affiliate marketing and more. Twitter hashtag: #ICON13
More Events
More Contests
This weekly listing of small business events, contests and awards is provided as a community service by Small Business Trends and SmallBizTechnology.
The post Check Out These Events and Contests for Small Businesses appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| CrowdIt: Raise Money Online, Get Feedback and Mentorship, Too Posted: 23 Mar 2013 09:00 AM PDT A new crowdfunding site to raise money online for projects has emerged. But this time, the site claims to offer more than just the opportunity to raise some startup cash. The new site also offers entrepreneurs the opportunity to get feedback and mentorship. Said CEO and Co-founder of CrowdIt, Jason Graf:
The site began accepting project ideas on March 6, 2013. On June 4, CrowdIt will launch its initial campaigns and open up the social features of the site. Anyone can sign up for an account for free. Then, users can earn different "badges" based on their activity. For example, when you launch a project, you'll get a Dreamer Badge. When you support a project, you'll get a Believer Badge. And professional investors and mentor types can earn a Suit Badge.
When the full site launches in June 2013, users will be able to launch and contribute to projects, follow the activity of certain users, send messages and start and join groups. In addition, CrowdIt will offer both full and partial funding options to raise money so users can still keep the money they raise, even if they don't make it all the way to their goals. The photo above on the left shows where users can enter the information for their project, and the photo on the right shows an example of what a project's page on the site will look like. Graf explained that as an entrepreneur himself, he found that both lack of capital and lack of experience could get in the way of business success. When he stumbled upon Kickstarter and other crowdfunding sites, he thought the general idea was a great one. But as time went on, he noticed that there was room for improvement. So he recruited a team and spent the last several months building what would become CrowdIt. He described CrowdIt as a "second generation crowdfunding site," with established players like Kickstarter making up the first generation. Kickstarter is continuing to grow, though, with 18,109 successfully funded projects in 2012 compared to 11,836 in 2011. CrowdIt is based in Springfield, Missouri. The startup is part of MSU's e-factory incubator and also recently completed its first venture capital funding round from Baron VC. Currently, all accounts on the site are free (though it will charge the standard 5% for projects that reach their goals and 10% for projects that don't), but Graf said the company is open to creating new revenue streams in the future. The post CrowdIt: Raise Money Online, Get Feedback and Mentorship, Too appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
| Learn Vital Lessons by Entering The Mind of Elite Entrepreneurs Posted: 23 Mar 2013 06:00 AM PDT
When you start a business, you make choices. But how do you know you're acting as an entrepreneur and developing the unique values of a sustainable business? Johnson should know. He founded Johnson Media during his sophomore year in Morehouse College in Atlanta. Now, 13 years later, Johnson Media has gown to manage multi-million dollar marketing and communication contracts for many Fortune 100 firms. I learned about the book after following Johnson's tips and ideas shared on Twitter. Knowing the value he has brought to the social media world with his observations, I was too happy to finally have those observations in a book format for review. The book is based from Kevin's blog yet incorporates new insights. The text is organized into seven subjects:
The thesis behind the text is meant to guide young entrepreneurs away from major mistakes and miscues. Take this perspective of what creates a business failure.
There are other nuggets, such as reflections on managing ego in business:
Another perspective gives a starting point for vetting clients:
Johnson also tempers some misconceptions about starting a business, such as the falsehoods that arise from being your own boss:
This book complements business books marketed towards African American business owners, like Dente Lee's Black Business Secrets, as well as books examining a broad workplace influence such as The Experience Effect. Some situations may read as too specific for general advice, but no suggestion comes across as entirely alien to a budding business. Johnson's dealing with a bounced check is an example. A mentor taught him how to properly verify if a customer's check really had sufficient funds behind it. This is a solid note about selecting the right mentor. Examples like the check incident will raise a “been-there” thought from readers who know how to sustain a business. The point of books like this is to accelerate the experiences that instruct one's judgment. Your extrapolation from Johnson's tips will be as useful as your imagination. To get the best from it, imagine this book as a fine wine list of what business operations should be like. The post Learn Vital Lessons by Entering The Mind of Elite Entrepreneurs appeared first on Small Business Trends. |
Johnson Media CEO, Kevin Johnson, (| You are subscribed to email updates from Small Business Trends To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment