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If you have any tax skeletons in your closet, beware of the IRS rat. They're everywhere, scurrying about our small and large business in search of fodder; running rampant in our accounting departments, our social circles and yes, even our homes. 

Indeed, a family law attorney once told me, spurned ex-wives sing their songs of bittersweet vengeance to the IRS. 

It's true. The Internal Revenue Service actually pays people to turn in tax cheats. 

Correction; it pays them in theory. 

The IRS has a special program, the Whistleblower Program, designed to entice citizens to turn informer. Pre-2006, this award was discretionary.  After the 2006 Tax Relief and Health Care Act, however, the tables turned. 

Well, the tables turned for big-dollar informants. The little rats were still left out in the rain, fending for themselves. Under the new regime, informants on cases of $2 million or more could be paid between 15% and 30% of the taxes, penalties and interest collected. 

It looks like the Republicans and Democrats can reach across the aisle.

Some of the time.

On Saturday, a White House Official told the Associated Press that it plans to repeal the 1989 cell phone tax. In fact, the promise of this repeal is included in President Barack Obama's new budget and spending plan for 2011.   

If you're like the rest of America, you're probably scratching your head right now. Cell phone tax?

Perhaps a discussion on "taxable fringe benefits" is mandated before we go any further.  A taxable fringe benefit is considered pay, even if it's not monetary. The use of a company-owned Blackberry, for example, is a taxable fringe benefit. The employee must report, as income (on his or her tax return), the fair market value of the non-work related use of that phone.   

Not surprisingly, President Obama's recently released budget proposal for fiscal year 2011 has elicited polarized views from the business community. He's beginning to stand up to Wall Street and large corporations, at least rhetorically, while promising much-needed relief for small to mid-size businesses (US News). 

Beyond the president's expected populist stance, however, are a few arguably substantive budget proposals for Main Street:

The US Chamber of Commerce-fueled controversy over greenhouse gas emissions, which the Environmental Protection Agency has indicated it plans to regulate, proves that there is room for divergent opinions on environmental issues among US businesses (The New York Times).

While the EPA is asking businesses that emit the largest portion of greenhouse gasses to pay for the environmental costs (Science Daily) of potentially rising oceans and changing climate patterns, the Chamber claims that climate change regulation would stifle the economy and curb job growth at a time of global fiscal crisis. The business organization even indicated it might sue the EPA for its actions (US News).  

President Obama addressed the nation's concerns over the sluggish economy, healthcare, and small business government help last night. As reported by U.S. News & World Report, President Obama promised a new tax credit for small businesses, more money for small business lending, and rallied against big banks for not stepping up their lending to small businesses.

In the speech itself, we can see how many times President Obama actually addresses small business owners. He started by saying that most Americans are angry that Wall Street is being rewarded while Main Street is still struggling: "They don't understand why it seems like bad behavior on Wall Street is rewarded, but hard work on Main Street isn't, or why Washington has been unable or unwilling to solve any of our problems."

The whole concept of free online reviews is great in theory. It could be a way for your small business to build a customer base without expending too much money on marketing. However, it can also lead to unwanted legal problems. Inc. recently wrote about the dangers of the Yelp reviewer. Small business owners can open up a legal can of worms if they try to fight negative online reviews. Here are some of the current legal issues facing small business owners with Yelp and other free online reviews of small businesses.

Bad Reviewers Can Bring Bad Legal News

Inc. wrote about how one small business owner named Diane Goodman got into legal trouble. She wrote messages to a negative reviewer which then culminated into a physical altercation. The result? Ms. Goodman was charged with assault and battery. She was also remanded to San Francisco General Hospital for a mental health evaluation.  

While this is an unusual situation, all small business owners can take note of it. Do not try to locate negative reviewers and confront them. If you choose to message them, do not threaten them. Be more proactive by addressing that customer's concerns.

It is common for small business owners to be unaware of current legal issues that may hit them... until they get into legal trouble. The problem is that legal trouble can cost you. It can even cost you your business. As many know and Business Week recently pointed out, court actions can actually demolish small businesses; especially the ones that did not prepare in advance.

Here are some legal issues that just about any small business needs to watch out for:

We have written about how bleak the economy looks for finance and small business. While there are definitely some dark clouds hovering over small business loan opportunities, there are some bright spots in terms of small business grants. Small business grants afford you the opportunity to grow your business with funding that you don't have to pay back. It is typically given by the federal government, state governments, and by private corporations.

So what exactly do you need to do in order to make sure that your small business can get a grant? Keep reading for places to look for grants and for tips on how to land a grant that could help your small business.

Where do you go if you are looking for new loans for small business? Whatever you do, don't hit up the big banks looking for cash. CNN reports that the country's largest banks have cut back on new loans for small business by $1 billion dollars in November 2009. According to CNN, the banks that received the most in bailouts have cut their small business loan balances by $12.5 billion dollars since April 2009.

In fact, just about all that big banks have been offering to small businesses is credit cards. More credit cards are being offered because they are more profitable for banks -- allowing them to charge (and hike) variable interest rates and charge penalties such as late fees. Some include the possibility of interest rates skyrocketing up to 30% -- needless to say much more than they could charge for a traditional small business loan.

Scott Brown's Senate win in Massachusetts has cast confusion onto the prospects of the health care legislation we've been hearing about for months. One question that will likely remain is whether any eventual legislation will include a construction employer mandate.

It is widely known that the Senate version of the health care reform bill requires employers with 50 or more workers to provide them with coverage. But a lesser-known construction employer mandate in the bill would require construction companies with just five or more employees and a payroll of $250,000 to do the same (Denver Daily News).

The last-minute amendment by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, has irked many small construction companies already hurting from the steep housing decline.

Roughly 53,000 jobs were axed last December in the construction industry alone, according to statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). That's not insignificant, considering that a total of 85,000 non-farm jobs were lost during that period.