SBA Announces New Tax Stimulus Help Site

The SBA today announced a new resource center to provide small businesses with information on the tax stimulus package. Note that the stimulus package provides two benefits for small businesses: accelerated depreciation, and increased expensing for Section 179 property.

Included in the website are:

• A fact sheet, with highlights of the tax benefits from the 2008 Economic Stimulus Package
  
• A depreciation calculator, which provides an estimate of the first year depreciation available under the provisions of the Stimulus Package
  
• An on-line seminar, which summarizes the tax benefits from the 2008 Economic Stimulus Package. The seminar concludes with the depreciation calculator.

The fact sheet mentions Section 179 deductions and discusses special depreciation allowances for business equipment purchased in 2008.

I tried the depreciation calculator by putting in a car worth $20,000 and a 5-year useful life. The calculation gave me the maximum depreciation for 2008, including $10,000 in "bonus" depreciation. The online "seminar"(a series of PowerPoints with voice-over) was the most useful; I'd suggest reading it first.

If you have questions, go the forum to put them on my new message thread, so everyone can see them.