I have been writing about the flooding here in Iowa and elsewhere across the Midwest. On Tuesday, the SBA released an announcement that will help businesses affected by the disasters.

Acting Small Business Administration Director Jovita Carranza toured Iowa Tuesday and announced increased benefits for businesses in the declared disaster areas, including immediate access to loans of up to $14,000 without collateral and a $500,000 increase in the disaster loan cap to businesses.

“Midwest residents whose homes and businesses have been destroyed or damaged by severe flooding will have enhanced support through the SBA to help them recover due to the new provisions,” said Carranza. “These changes will help alleviate the burden of rebuilding and make the recovery process more manageable. I encourage disaster victims to use the resources and counseling of SBA to help them during this very difficult time.”

If there is no disaster support office in your city, you can download the loan application at www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance.

Also note that the deadline for filing disaster loan requests from the recent Midwest disasters is July 28, 2008.

The IRS has increased its allowable mileage rates to 58.5 cents for the second half of 2008. Starting today, your business auto travel can be deducted at 58.5 cents a mile. Of course, this adjustment by the IRS is in reaction to the increases in the prices of gasoline. The rate for business travel during the first half of 2008 (January 1 through June 30) is still 50.5 cents a mile.

"Rising gas prices are having a major impact on individual Americans. Given the increase in prices, the IRS is adjusting the standard mileage rates to better reflect the real cost of operating an automobile," said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. "We want the reimbursement rate to be fair to taxpayers."

The easiest way to determine this deduction is to keep track of miles traveled and multiply by the standard deduction. This year, you will need to separate Jan-June from July-December trips.