Recovery Act Stimulates Increase in SBA Loans

Changes under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to U.S. Small Business Administration loan programs led to a rebound in SBA-backed loans for small businesses and greater access to much-needed capital.

Since the Recovery Act was signed on Feb. 17, SBA has supported more than $11.3 billion in lending to small businesses through its two largest loan programs and seen its average weekly dollar volume increase by more than 60 percent in comparison to the weeks before the Recovery Act.  Additionally, the average number of loans approved per week has increased by more than 50 percent. The dollar volume for September 2009 ($1.9 billion) was the highest single-month total since August 2007.

“These numbers, along with our conversations with lenders and small business owners around the country, show that the Recovery Act hit the mark,” SBA Administrator Karen Mills said. “The Recovery Act was critical to unlocking the market and as a result we’ve helped put billions of dollars of much needed capital in the hands of small business owners during this tough economic time, and brought more than 1,200 lenders back into SBA’s loan programs.  With half the nation’s workforce either working for or owning a small business, these dollars played a critical role in driving economic recovery across the country.”

Karen Mills

As a result of the credit crunch, SBA lending saw a significant decline in the fall of 2008 and early 2009. For the seven weeks prior to the Recovery Act being signed, SBA’s average weekly dollar volume was $165 million.  The average weekly average since the Recovery Act was signed, through Sept. 25, was $275 million.  

Mills cited Recovery Act provisions that reduced fees on SBA loans and raised SBA guarantees to 90 percent, as well as actions that reinvigorated the secondary markets for SBA-guaranteed loans as especially helpful in improving access to SBA-backed credit. 

Overall, SBA loan approvals for the fiscal year amounted to a combined 50,829 loans (preliminary number) worth $13.1 billion under the 7(a) and 504 loan programs.  The comparable figures for fiscal year 2008, which ended just as the nation’s economy entered the financial crisis, were 78,317 and $17.96 billion.  

The dollar volume totals for SBA loans in fiscal year 2009, which ended Sept. 30, do not include loans made under the agency’s ARC, (America’s Recovery Capital) loan program.  Launched on June 15, the agency has approved 2,715 ARC loans worth more than $88 million as of September 29.  Thus far, nearly 740 lenders have made ARC loans, and the number of participating lenders is increasing by an average of about 50 per week.

For more information about these and other SBA programs, visit the SBA Web site at www.sba.gov, or contact your local SBA field office.  You can find contact information for your local SBA office at http://www.sba.gov/localresources/index.html .

Tax Saving Opportunities for Small Businesses from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act

From the IRS e-news for Small Businesses

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), enacted in February, created, extended or expanded a variety of business tax deductions and credits. Because some of these changes—the bonus depreciation and increased section 179 deduction, for example—are only available this year, eligible businesses only have a few months to take action and save on their taxes. Here is a quick rundown of some of the key provisions.

Faster Write-Offs for Certain Capital Expenditures

Many small businesses that invest in new property and equipment will be able to write off most or all of these purchases on their 2009 returns. The new law extends through 2009 the special 50 percent depreciation allowance, also known as bonus depreciation, and increased limits on the section 179 deduction, named for the relevant section of the Internal Revenue Code. Normally, businesses recover these capital investments through annual depreciation deductions spread over several years. Both of these provisions encourage these investments by enabling businesses to write them off more quickly.

The bonus depreciation provision generally enables businesses to deduct half the cost of qualifying property in the year it is placed in service.

The section 179 deduction enables small businesses to deduct up to $250,000 of the cost of machinery, equipment, vehicles, furniture and other qualifying property placed in service during 2009. Without the new law, the limit would have dropped to $133,000. The existing $25,000 limit still applies to sport utility vehicles. A special phase-out provision effectively targets the section 179 deduction to small businesses and generally eliminates it for most larger businesses.

Bonus depreciation and the section 179 deduction are claimed on Form 4562. Further details are in the instructions for this form.

Expanded Net Operating Loss Carryback

Many small businesses that had expenses exceeding their incomes for 2008 can choose to carry those losses back for up to five years, instead of the usual two. For small businesses that were profitable in the past but lost money in 2008, this could mean a special tax refund. The option is available for a small business that has no more than an average of $15 million in gross receipts over a three-year period.

This option is still available for most eligible taxpayers, but only for a limited time. A corporation that operates on a calendar-year basis, for example, must file a claim by Sept. 15, 2009. For eligible individuals, the deadline is Oct. 15, 2009.

Eligible individuals should file a claim using Form 1045, and corporations should use Form 1139. Details can be found in the instructions for each of these forms, and answers to frequently-asked questions are posted on IRS.gov.

Exclusion of Gain on the Sale of Certain Small Business Stock

The new law provides an extra incentive for individuals who invest in small businesses. Investors in qualified small business stock can exclude 75 percent of the gain upon sale of the stock. This increased exclusion applies only if the qualified small business stock is acquired after Feb. 17, 2009 and before Jan. 1, 2011, and held for more than five years. For previously-acquired stock, the exclusion rate remains at 50 percent in most cases.

Estimated Tax Requirement Modified

Many individual small business taxpayers may be able to defer, until the end of the year, paying a larger part of their 2009 tax obligations. For 2009, eligible individuals can make quarterly estimated tax payments equal to 90 percent of their 2009 tax or 90 percent of their 2008 tax, whichever is less. Individuals qualify if they received more than half of their gross income from their small businesses in 2008 and meet other requirements. For details, see Publication 505.

COBRA Credit

Employers that provide the 65 percent COBRA premium subsidy under ARRA to eligible former employees claim credit for this subsidy on their quarterly or annual employment tax returns. To help avoid imposing an unnecessary cash-flow burden, affected employers can reduce their employment tax deposits by the amount of the credit. For details, see Form 941. Answers to frequently-asked questions are posted on IRS.gov.

Other ARRA business provisions relate to discharges of certain business indebtedness, the holding period for S corporation built-in gains and acceleration of certain business credits for corporations. Also see Fact Sheet FS-2009-11.

$2 Billion in Federal Grants Available to Stabilize Neighborhoods With High Foreclosure Rate

U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan announced that HUD is now soliciting grant applications under the Department’s Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) to make available nearly $2 billion in Recovery Act funding to states, local governments and non-profit housing developers to combat the effects of home foreclosures. Applications for NSP funds will be due July 17, 2009.

HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan

Funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, this round of NSP funding will award grants to applicants who will target their efforts in areas with the greatest extent of abandoned and foreclosed homes. In addition, HUD will provide up to $50 million in technical assistance grants to help grantees better manage their neighborhood stabilization programs. Applications for NSP technical assistance will be due June 8, 2009.

“HUD is committed to getting these funds out quickly and effectively to help communities recover from the blight and vacancies that have become visual symbols of difficult economic times,” said Donovan. “We have much more work to do to mitigate the impacts that foreclosures have had on local communities; however, innovative collaborations between local government, housing agencies, and non-profits and creative, green-focused uses of federal funds will create jobs and put us on the path to recovery.”

HUD has already allocated nearly $4 billion in NSP grants to help state and local governments respond to rising foreclosures and falling home values. The additional $2 billion in NSP grants that HUD is making available today will further assist these state and local governments, as well as non-profit developers, to acquire land and property; to demolish or rehabilitate abandoned properties; and/or to offer downpayment and closing cost assistance to low- to middle-income homebuyers. Grantees can also stabilize neighborhoods by creating “land banks” to assemble, temporarily manage, and dispose of foreclosed homes.

The NSP Program also seeks to prevent future foreclosures by requiring housing counseling for families receiving homebuyer assistance. In addition, the Agency seeks to protect future homebuyers by requiring States and local grantees to ensure that new homebuyers under this program obtain a mortgage from a lender who agrees to comply with sound lending practices.

HUD is also offering up to $50 million in technical assistance grants to help NSP grantees to more effectively manage the inventory of foreclosed homes they purchase under the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. Once awarded, HUD’s NSP technical assistance grants will help NSP recipients to:

• Implement sound underwriting, management, and fiscal controls;
• Measure outcomes in the use of public funds through accurate and timely reporting;
• Build the capacity of public-private partnerships;
• Develop strategies to serve low-income households; and
• Incorporate energy efficiency into State and local NSP programs.
• Provide support, technical assistance, and training on the operation and management of ‘land banks; and
• Train NSP recipients and their subgrantees on HUD program rules and financial management requirements.

In addition, Secretary Donovan and the Department are committed to providing the highest level of transparency possible as Recovery Act funds are spent quickly and efficiently. It is vitally important that the American people are fully aware of how their tax dollars are being spent and can hold their federal leaders accountable. Every dollar of Recovery Act funds HUD spends can be reviewed and tracked at HUD’s Recovery Act website.  The full text of HUD’s funding notices and tracking future performance of these grants is also available at HUD’s Recovery Act website.

HUD is the nation’s housing agency committed to sustaining homeownership; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development and enforces the nation’s fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.