Every year, policymakers in Washington have a huge impact on small businesses across the country for a number of reasons, and that certainly held true this year. However, some of these issues were more important than others.
Perhaps the biggest of all of them is the fact that, at long last, the federal government finally met its goals for making contracts with small businesses across the country, according to a report from the Washington Post. Federal law actually requires the government to spend 23 percent of all contracting dollars on deals with small companies, but it hadn’t actually done so since 2005. This year it did eclipse that mark – just barely – by coming in at 23.39 percent of all contracts; in all, these deals were worth some $83.1 billion to independent firms.
Moreover, the U.S. Small Business Administration believes that it can continue to hit those benchmark goals, for a number of reasons, the report said. The largest of these is that Congress recently passed a deal that would allow more smaller companies to win awards, including new contracts. That includes a particular focus on boosting contracting with companies owned by women, and making it easier for all small businesses to place bids.
Taxes a concern?
Meanwhile, many small business owners across the country might remain at least somewhat concerned about the amount of money they pay in federal taxes every year, and while there was a lot of discussion about making things easier for entrepreneurs, no changes were actually made, the report said. Tax reforms were slated to happen but didn’t, and a number of other obstacles – political and otherwise – cropped up throughout the year which served to make the process even more difficult than it normally would have been. Fortunately, at the end of the year federal lawmakers were able to sign extensions for a number of tax breaks for owners, including one that would allow them to write off significant amounts for equipment purchases. However, they were not made permanent, as many might have hoped.
Owners have to keep a close eye on many things regarding their companies throughout the year, including their budgets. For this reason, it might be wise for them to look into more affordable small business insurance coverage, including plans for commercial insurance, to make sure their bottom lines are as healthy as possible.
