Small businesses who have employees on military leave should be aware of a new federal signed by President Bush on December 10, 2004. The law amends the existing Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), and significantly increases workplace protections for employees on military leave and places new burdens on employers. The new revisions create new compliance obligations to all employers, including small businesses, foremost of which is the protection it provides to employees serving the military. The employment protection it gives to employees serving the military implies that businesses cannot hire new employees to replace those in military

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Ebay has become an important marketplace of anything and everything — from the weird (buy ad space on my forehead!) to the unexplained (image of the Virgin Mary on a half eaten sandwich) to the charitable endeavors (beat “Frank” the cancer sticker). Well, with all the available items on eBay, can the spammers be far behind? A search of “email lists” yield several listings of email lists containing anywhere from 60 million to 350 million addresses, with bidding starting anywhere from as low as $7.99 to $69.99. The claim, of course, is that these email lists are 100% opt-in, no

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A new study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project entitled “Search Engine Users” has a number of interesting findings: 1. Majority of search engine users (62%) are not aware of the distinction between paid ads and natural search engine results. It is not really surprising that many people do not understand that the phrase “Sponsored Links” is actually advertisement. Many think that the listings below sponsored links are endorsements of some sort, not paid advertising. Plus, some engines do a better job in separating the paid placements from the natural search results like Google, while others like Yahoo

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One of the tax changes made for 2005 is the demise of the bonus depreciation option. Instead, as a small business owner, you can increase your depreciation rate by as much as 50% of cost on top of the depreciation you could otherwise take in the first year of use. This rule covers new properties such as equipment bought and put in service in 2004, computer software and leasehold improvements. According to the publishers of the must-have tax time book series J.K. Lasser’s Guides, this new rule can affect you as a small business owner in three ways: First off,

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Have you ever wondered if your state’s tax system is business friendly? And how does your state’s tax regime compares with other states? Do you think you’ll be better off if you move your business operations to another state? A new study by a Washington D.C. think tank Tax Foundation examines the role of attractive state business tax climates in the decision of where to locate a business. They’ve created a State Tax Business Climate Index that measures the “tax friendliness to business of each state’s tax system at the beginning of 2004.” It is a comparative measure that can

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While the April 15 deadline is still a few months away, it is time to start preparing your taxes (if you haven’t already). Tax time for me was usually a time for cramming, doing everything at the very last minute. I just dread the work that tax preparation entails, even with the help of a tax preparer. Plus, I love to do it at the very last minute – driving my husband bonkers. But this year, I resolved to make tax time easy and painless (hopefully!) for me. I read an article that said that business owners need to be

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