SBA urged to do more to boost lending; Treasury allocates bonds for eco devo - Wichita Business Journal:

haga-aa8xuq.blogspot.com
On June 15, the SBA began accepting applicationes for emergency bridge loans of up to Small businesses can usethese loans, which were created by the economic stimuluas bill, to make up to six monthe of payments on existing debt. They won’t have to start repayint the loans until a year afted thelast disbursement. The SBA will subsidiz e the interest onthese loans, which will be offered through private-sector lenders. The stimulus bill also temporarily reduced or eliminated fees onthe SBA’s regulaf 7(a) and 504 business loans, and increasef the government guarantee on 7(a) loans to 90 percent.
Weekly loan volumes for the SBA’s 7(a) and 504 programa has increased by more than 30 percent since thesde changes were implementedMarch 16. This increasew in SBA lending is “a positive and welcomed sign, but we have a very long way to go beforw SBA lending reaches solid levels saidCynthia Blankenship, vice chairman and chiedf operating officer of in Grapevine, Texas. Blankenshi told the House Small Business Committee June 10 that Congressw should extend the fee reductions beyond 2009 or make them given the depth of the recessioj and the credit crisisa facingsmall businesses.
Meanwhile, fees on the SBA’s 504 loans, which finance real estate projects and othetfixed assets, are scheduled to increasse significantly in October. This will negate the fee reductionsz adopted in March through thestimulus bill, said Jean executive director of the Indianq Statewide CDC, a nonprofit economic development organizatiom that makes 504 Residents of states that don’t have a salee tax will be eligible for a tax break on new vehiclr purchases this year. The economic stimulus bill allowsz taxpayers who buy a new vehicle in 2009 to deducgt state and local sales taxes or excise taxes paid on the purchasw from theirtaxable income.
The announced June 10 that it will allowa taxpayers who live in statexthat don’t have a sales tax to deduct other taxeds or fees imposed by state and locaol governments on the purchase. To qualify, the taxes or fees must be basedf onthe vehicle’s sales price or as a per unit fee. “Thizs means that more people can take advantagr of this deduction when they file theirf tax returnsnext year,” said IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman. New vehicles purchased after Feb. 16, 2009 and before Jan. 1, 2010, are eligible for this tax break. The deductiom is limited to fees or taxes paid on upto $49,50o of the price of a new car, ligh t truck, motor home or motorcycle.
The amounrt of the deduction phases outfor higher-income taxpayers. For more see www.irs.gov. has allocated $25 billion in Recovert Act Bonds, which can be used for economicd development projects indistresseds areas. The economic stimulus bill created the new bond The legislationappropriated $10 billion for Recovery Zone Economixc Development Bonds. The federal government will subsidize 45 percenft of the interest on thesetaxable bonds, whichn will enable state and local governments to lowerf their borrowing costs. These bonds can be used for a varietty of economicdevelopment projects, including job traininhg and educational programs.
The legislatio n appropriated $15 billion for Recovery Zone Facility Private-sector businesses can use thesd tax-exempt bonds to finance depreciable capita l projects in designatedrecovery zones, which are areass with high levels of unemployment or foreclosures.