·         A $30 billion lending fund for small businesses administered by small banks;

·         Tax relief for employer-provided cell phones;

·         $12 billion in tax breaks including a one-year extension of 50 percent bonus depreciation for equipment that goes into service in 2010;

·         Enhancement to federal programs that support very small businesses;

·         Built-in gains (BIG) tax relief – reduces the holding period of BIG assets to five years;

·         Section 179 expensing through 2011; and

·         Five-year carryback of general business credit of eligible small business with less than $50 million in revenue.

Click here, for a full summary and information on the bill.

The bill will be returned to the House, and a final vote is probable next week that will send this bill to President Barack Obama’s desk for signature.

The bill was not without debate. On Wednesday, the Senate rejected two competing proposals concerning this bill — especially removing Form 1099 requirements for reporting business transactions of $600 or more enacted in the health-care bill.

Republican Sen. Mike Johanns’ (R-Neb.) proposal would have repealed the standard altogether. “This mandate threatens to swamp as many as 40 million businesses, churches, non-profits and other entities with useless tax reporting paperwork, consuming valuable resources and limiting their ability to grow and hire more workers,” said Sen. Johanns. His proposal was rejected 46-52. Additional Republicans have expressed increased concern and frustration over the 1099 reporting. “This is just one more way Democrats are holding back the economic recovery,” said Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). For more on Johanns’ proposal, click here.

Additionally, Democrats have been divided on this issue. Clearly Democrats, like Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), see the need for an amendment. His proposal – that would have exempted small businesses with less than 25 employees from these standards – was rejected 56-42. “I know it takes time and money for small businesses to comply with information reporting requirements,” said Sen. Baucus (D-Mont.), “but the research demonstrates that voluntary compliance doubles when information reporting is in place.”

Prepared September 16, 2010 by Katy Williams (kwilliams@financialexecutives.org) legislative aide, Financial Executives International (FEI). This summary does not represent FEI opinion unless specifically noted above.