3 Things You Should Know About Small Business: Jan. 20

NEW YORK (MainStreet) -- What's happening in small business today?

1. Were small businesses hurt by the loss of the Keystone Pipeline deal? President Barack Obama's kibosh on the Keystone XL Pipeline deal has reverberated within the small businesses that were counting on the deal to boost income, according to Entrepreneur and CNN Money.

Yet the number of businesses that the deal would have affected is hard to quantify. Small businesses would have had to bid for a subcontract with either state governments or TransCanada before starting any work, Entrepreneur says.

2. More on the SBA consolidation. USA Today contributor Rhonda Abrams expresses her concerns for when the government combines five trade and commerce agencies into one, including the Small Business Administration.

Her biggest concern: "We'll soon return to the days when small business received little attention and fewer dollars from the government," she writes.

Obama says the changes will help not only small-business owners but medium and large businesses too. Abrams points out that this is not a good thing, questioning who will likely see the bulk of the assistance -- a big company with 3,000 people trying to grow to 5,000 employees or 200 companies trying to add 10 people each?

"Small businesses and the self-employed represent a significant portion of our economy. We need a decently financed, strong agency that will work especially for small companies with an independent voice," she writes. "If the president's plan goes through as proposed, small businesses will lose their seat at the table."

3. Home office tax deductions. The National Federation of Independent Business shares what is allowable and what's not during a webinar on 2012 tax planning.

Business owners can take a home-office deduction right away if it is their primary business location. But here are a few tips to maximize the deduction:

• Calculate the home office percentage, a ratio that explains how much your office contributes to the household expenses.
• Limit or remove any items that are nonbusiness related.
• Don't deduct home office expenses that take place outside of the home.
• Include storage and warehouse spacing in the home office percentage, but only the part you use, such as half of the basement.

-- Written by Laurie Kulikowski in New York.

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