Recovery lending gets coded with alert colors

WORCESTER, MA

I came across this tool on SBA.gov and found it fascinating! The stream of Commerce is now color coded! According to this Transition Tool.... the recovery is over!

Cut and paste the following: http://www.sba.gov/recoveryq/index.html

End of Year Tax Tips

WORCESTER, MA

It's that time of the year; no, we aren't talking about holiday
shopping or gift giving guides...it's time to put those last minute
tax strategies into place before the end of the year. Act now and
chances are you will have just enough time to implement these money
saving tips:

1. Transfer Assets: Have a high income with a stay-at-home spouse?
Talk to your accountant about transferring income-producing assets
into their name instead of yours. For example, if you currently own
investment properties worth $500,000 which produce an income of 5
percent or $25,000 annually you could be hit with a tax bill of up to
$12,500 for high income earners. On the other hand, by transferring
these to your spouse, it may be possible to save half or more in taxes
alone.

2. Buy Now - Sell Later: High net worth individuals may find it
beneficial to close on short sale property prior to the end of the
year and/or hold of selling until the beginning of 2010 in order to
reduce 2009 taxes. Likewise, purchase supplies and materials needed to
renovate or sell a property as well as office equipment before the end
of the year.

3. Pay Property Taxes & Insurance Early: Strategically time the
payment of property taxes and insurance to get maximum impact; most
locations allow property taxes to be paid between November and
April...by delaying payment or paying early, it is often possible to
show two payments in one year thereby offsetting a high income year.
Just remember, should you exercise this option you will not have any
deduction the following year. However, it's a great way to help reduce
high income years for short sale investors that have several
properties under contract.

4. Make Contributions: Don't forget to make pension contributions
prior to the end of the year. If you've had an especially good year be
sure to maximize contributions.

5. Donate to Charity: Rather than tossing away building supplies, old
office equipment and even personal belongings put them to good use by
donating to charity. Not only will it help others in need but can also
help offset taxes.

6. Take Write-Off's & Make Large Gifts Now: If you intend to help
family or friends with the purchase of a large item or cash gift, do
it sooner rather than later. Under the current guidelines, you can
give up to $12,000 tax free to any individual making it a great way to
distribute assets rather than leaving it for estate taxes. Remember,
even debt forgiveness has tax consequences. Be sure to document
everything.

7. Review Family Trusts: Depending upon your individual circumstances,
family trusts make great financial sense but be sure to review them
annually to determine when to begin drawing down benefits or make
further contributions.

8. Take a Loss: Many short sale investors have had a very profitable
year but nearly everyone has at least one under-performing investment
lingering around their portfolio. Whether it's a cherished stock
you've been holding or dismal bonds of some near bankrupt company -
offset taxes by taking a loss now.

9. Verify Tax Credits: First-time homeowners aren't the only people
who may qualify for some form of tax credit so be sure to check.
College expenses, continuing education courses, new car purchase and
even energy efficient upgrades are just a few of the potential tax
credits that may be of interest to short sale investors.

10. Begin Planning for 2010: The last thing you want to think about is
next year's taxes but it's never too early to get organized. In fact,
that new PDA, NeatReceipt Scanner and other helpful gadgets may just
qualify for additional write-offs!

Adam Pasquale

U.S. stimulus funds run out for lower SBA loan fees

WASHINGTON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - The Small Business Administration said on Tuesday that supplemental economic stimulus funds for its two most popular loan programs have run out and new loan volumes could fall if funds are not extended.

The SBA said $375 million in Recovery Act funds for use in 7(a) and 504 loan programs were exhausted by Monday, leaving thousands of struggling but viable small businesses in limbo unless new resources can be found.

The money was used to temporarily reduce fees on SBA-backed loans and raise SBA's guarantee percentage on some loans to 90 percent from 75 percent. This saved small businesses up to $60,000 in fees, made lenders more willing to extend credit and helped lure investors back into the market for securities backed by SBA loans.

"We are continuing to work with Congress on funds to continue these programs, which have helped engineer a turnaround in SBA lending following last year's credit crunch and resulted in more than 40,000 loans to small businesses during these tough economic times," said Jonathan Swain, assistant administrator for communications and public liaison at the U.S. Small Business Administration.

The programs were authorized through Feb. 16, and the Obama administration is seeking enough funding to extend them until that date. One administration official said this would likely amount to around $100 million.

A lack of sufficient capital for small businesses has been weighing on the U.S. economy's recovery from a deep recession. Small companies, which are a key driver of U.S. job growth, are the traditional customers of community banks.

Companies with fewer than 500 employees accounted for 64 percent -- or 14.5 million -- of the 22.5 million net new jobs between 1993 and the third quarter of 2008, the SBA said.

WAITING LIST

To accommodate businesses that can afford to wait for funding, the SBA has implemented a transition period called the Recovery Loan Queue enabling those businesses to get their loan applications in line.

Loan applications that are conditionally approved subject to the funding will be placed in the loan queue in the order in which they were approved.

"We anticipated that once we notified lenders of the Nov. 23 transition date that we would see a surge in loan approvals, which we in fact did see," Swain said.

Last week alone, SBA supported more than $1.1 billion in lending to small businesses and since February has supported more than $16 billion, he said.

Last month, the Obama administration threw its support behind legislation to raise the maximum size of a SBA (7a) loan to $5 million from $2 million. This program provides partial guarantees on loans for small businesses that are borrowing to invest in working capital, machinery and equipment.

The administration also called for raising the maximum size of loans under the 504 program, which provides guarantees on loans to small businesses for real estate and other fixed assets for expansion that will create and retain jobs.

The amount would rise to $5 million from $2 million for standard borrowers and to $5.5 million for manufacturers.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided the SBA with $730 million for lending and investment programs, the agency said.

Of the total, $255 million was also granted for a new loan program to provide temporary interest-free loans to small businesses to help them meet existing debt payments and $30 million to expand SBA's Microloan program. At current lending rates, the interest-free loan program funds could last until around mid-2010.