TaxEsqBlog -by Ronald J. Cappuccio, J.D., LL.M.(Tax)

Pres. Obama has been pushing for changes to the Internal Revenue Code that would limit the tax benefits of pass-through entities. Most small businesses are limited liability companies or S corporations and the profits and losses pass-through to the individual members or shareholders. These are merely preliminary proposals and most likely the House of Representatives will not let these proposals be pushed through Congress. There is been a lot of recent talk about the lack of small business loans and it is been pointed out that the Small Business Administration is a good source for guaranteed business loans for the smallest of businesses. That is simply not true! Since 2005, the average size of the Small Business Administration loan under its loan guarantee program has gone from approximately $160,000 to approximately $342,000. In 2005, the government backed loans totaled almost 96,000. Last year, only 44,000 loans were guaranteed. Also, the smaller banks, that are many times the best...

The Case-Shiller Home Price Index came out today, and it showed that home prices fell 15.4% in the second quarter nationwide, and this just puts more pressure on anyone falling behind in mortgage payments. A homeowner that has a loan worth more than their mortgage often finds it easier to just walk away from a home rather than sell it, so until we can see some price stabilization, the glut of homes on the market is likely to grow. Keep in mind that a lot of the adjustable loans are still set to adjust, so again, the pressure on prices will likely continue. Note: Commercial Building prices seem much steadier. The problem I observe is not the Sales price being too low, but the Listing price of many properties being above market value.