For a few months now we have read in the news that small business owners’ confidence in their business is good, and the outlook for an improved economy is embraced by many businesses across the nation. Some changes in taxes that small business owners could claimed have expired last year, but still their outlook is optimistic. According to recent surveys conducted by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in conjunction with The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia found that many of the small business owners in NJ,NY, PHI and neighboring states claimed they are more confident in finding credit for their small business and plan to hire within the next six months.
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Some good news for small contractors in 2014
Federal contractors entered 2014 having witnessed the failure of Congress to implement comprehensive procurement legislation. But lots of large and small tweaks found their way into the system — and small businesses might be among the benefactors.
Many of these developments center on small business contracting. In 2014, contractors can expect increased governmental emphasis on small business size rules. Plus, major procurement reform may have eluded Congress, but one big change that did occur opens up new business opportunities for small companies.
That change occurred deep in the 2014 National Defense Authorization Act. Section 1609, one of the shorter sections, updates the rules for how large prime contractors are able to meet their small business subcontracting goals.
The NDAA in effect rewrites rules originally derived under the Small Business Act designed to boost participation in federal contracts by small, disadvantaged, woman-owned, and veteran-owned businesses, as well as those located in designated highly-underutilized business zones.
Small business confidence rising in 2014
More small business owners are planning to add jobs and boost pay this year, according to the most recent Business Confidence Survey released by Insperity Inc.
Half of the respondents said they plan to add employees this year, up from just 26 percent in October, while only 3 percent say they expect more layoffs. Compensation metrics climbed as well with average compensation for the fourth quarter of 2013 up 2.9 percent from the year before among the 5,500 small- and medium-sized clients with Insperity.
“The small business community is taking a more positive approach to 2014 business plans according to our Business Confidence Survey responses and internal data,” says Paul J. Sarvadi, Insperity chairman and CEO. “Business owners and managers seem willing to hire more employees, increase wages and gear up for improved sales in spite of challenges like an uncertain economy and the Affordable Care Act.”
Another ObamaCare Delay for Some Small Businesses
Small-business owners got a bit of reprieve from the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service Monday, as the employer responsibility provision of the Affordable Care Act saw yet another delay.
Businesses with between 50 and 99 employees will not have to comply with the employer mandate portion of President Obama’s signature legislation until 2016. The law requires every business with at least 50 or more full-time workers to offer them approved coverage or face a penalty of $2,000 per worker per year for failing to comply. For companies with 100 or more full-timers, this mandate kicks in in 2015.
The government says it is delaying the move to “streamline” tax reporting requirements for businesses. The departments said in a release that the delay will impact only about 2% of employers nationally. In 2011, there were 7,876,979 small businesses that fell into this category, according to the Small Business Administration.
