Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 Provides Valuable Benefits for Businesses

On September 23, 2010, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 5297, the Small Business Lending Funding Act, as amended. Last week the bill was passed by the Senate, and it is now headed to the President, who is expected to sign the bill early next week.

The tax title of this bill is the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010. It contains a number of important tax provisions, including:

• liberalized and expanded expensing for 2010 and 2011
• revived bonus depreciation for 2010
• five-year carryback of unused general business credits for eligible small businesses
• removal of cell phones from the listed property category
• liberalized penalty rules for failure to disclose certain transactions to the IRS

Although most businesses will benefit from one or more of the provisions included in this bill, the benefits may be muted because the bill was passed so late in the year.

Like most tax bills, this legislation includes a number of complex, highly technical changes. We’ve sifted through the details and provided a brief explanation of those provisions that are most likely to affect you and your business.

Read the entire alert, plus recommended next steps.