The Venture Edge

I just finished reading an article in the Wall Street Journal about the stampede by many business owners to sell their businesses before January 1, 2013 -- the date capital gains taxes are due to increase in the United States. According to the article, the tax rate on capital gains will increase from today's 15 percent to at least 23.8 percent. So, for every one million dollars of gain, that's the difference between paying $150,000 in taxes today, or $238,000 in taxes starting January 1. That's an additional $88,000 going to Uncle Sam instead of into the owner's pocket.. Says compressed-gas business owner Bert Wolf, who recently sold his company to Praxair, ""It just made more sense for me to take my chips off the table and go do something else." Wolf went on to say that if he waited until after the tax increase to sell, he would have to expand the business at the current rate "for at least 3 or 4 more years to achieve the same after-tax sales dollar."

It seems like every time I turn on the news, some commentator or talking head is claiming that the U.S. economy won't get better until the government brings certainty into the financial or regulatory or tax or whatever [insert favorite excuse here] situation.

On Monday the White House, in partnership with the Kauffman Foundation and the Case Foundation, announced a new entrepreneurial initiative: the Startup America Partnership. Just in case you didn't get the memo, Startup America has secured the commitment of a number of very big companies and foundations to support a variety of different entrepreneurship programs.

 On Monday, President Obama signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act, hailed by the administration as “a great victory for America’s entrepreneurs,” and promising to provide loans that small businesses have been waiting for. The administration is hoping that doling out taxpayer money to the tune of $30 billion to community banks will ensure that small businesses will rush to increase their debt and grow their businesses, adding new jobs that are desperately needed. But not so fast...unfortunately, this tactic appears to be a solution in search of problem.

Whether or not you like Obama's health care reforms, the resulting law is (still) in effect, and it is beginning to have tangible financial impacts on business -- impacts that you should be aware of.  

As I mentioned in my January 27, 2010 post, it was looking increasingly likely that President Obama would soon announce help for America's small businesses. That day has finally come. According to a White House press release, Obama will today announce a new Small Business Lending Fund, funded to the tune of $30 billion redirected from TARP. Interested? Check out the press release, then drop by your banker's office and get in line. I suspect this will be a VERY popular program.

It looks like President Barack Obama will announce in his upcoming State of the Union address tonight that he made some mistakes during his first year in office. It is anticipated that among these mistakes will be the admission that not enough focus has been placed on getting the economy back on track. I suspect this new focus on the economy will be officially rolled out tonight. Because small businesses are considered to be a key engine of economic growth in this country (as well as the source of our greatest technological innovations), expect to see an emphasis tonight on programs that will reinvigorate small business. This could potentially be accomplished through a variety of means, including tax breaks, unemployment tax holidays, incentives for hiring new employees, improved access to capital, and much more. So, if you've got a small business here in the United States, tonight just might be your night.