While many small businesses want to hire more employees, many small business owners feel that they can not afford the benefits that come with a new hire.

A press release from Intuit, Inc. states that: "The latest Intuit Payroll survey from Intuit Inc. (Nasdaq:INTU) finds that nearly half of the small business owners surveyed, 44 percent, are planning to hire new employees within the next 12 months. At the same time, many small business owners believe that benefits are key to attracting new hires but are finding them difficult to afford."

Many small business owners say that they are in a bind. In order to attract the talent that they need in order to succeed, they need to offer benefits such as healthcare and retirement benefits.

Ah, the sound of success.  The barter took place, the exchange was triumphant, and your business was able to save crucial funds through a bartered-for exchange.  And you suddenly find yourself recommending bartering to everyone you meet, small business owners and civilians alike. 

Amid the clinking glasses and celebratory toasts...just don't forget about Uncle Sam.  Even though many barter exchanges do not involve cash, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) still requires an accounting of the exchange.

Here are a few important tax considerations regarding bartering according to the IRS:

They say there is nothing certain but death and taxes.  And while small businesses may be able to sidestep death, they are still in line to pay taxes. But, Uncle Sam does try to help out by providing a number of tax deductions aimed at supporting the small business sector.  Here are a few top picks of small business tax deductions for and how to use them.

1. Legal and professional fee deductions 

If you consulted with an attorney regarding your small business or have engaged an accountant to keep your books in order, you may be eligible to deduct those fees.  Sole proprietors can write off fees using Schedule A of IRS Form 1040 or Schedule C, or Schedule C-EZ depending on the type of professional engaged. 

We posted a piece a few months ago about a new bill called the Small Business Tax Relief Act of 2009, proposed by Senator Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.  Now, your business, and bank account, may be benefitting from the recent upswing in the stock market over the past months, but you may have noticed that job creation and small business financing have still been a struggle.  And that you have had to face tough choices such as cutting staff or cutting health care.  One topic that is always hot among small business owners is taxes--and how to make them work in favor of Main Street. 

With those considerations in mind, you may be wondering, yeah, whatever happened to that proposed legislation?  Is it any closer to becoming law? Well this is your follow-up.

October 15th 2009 is last day sole proprietors, certain individual partners in a  partnerships, and certain shareholders of an S corporation, can take advantage of IRS Net Operating Loss (NOL) carry back incentive, for large losses in 2008.  The incentive was introduced as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) in February.  There are efforts to extend tax benefit, as part of the proposed NOL Carryback Act, but self-employed entrepreneurs risk missing this opportunity by waiting.  

What is a Net Operating Loss (NOL) carry back?

The NOL Carry back incentive allows eligible self-employed individuals the choice to carry back NOLs from tax years beginning or ending in 2008 for 3 to 5 years, rather than the standard 2 years.  Small businesses can receive special tax refunds, which have the potential to be larger because the loss is spread over a larger span of years.

The Internal Revenue Service announced this week that it has extended the grace period allotted for small business owners to pay certain tax-shelter penalties.  It is the second time the IRS has extended the deadline, the first time being in July when the deadline was set for the end of September.

The extensions have less to do with the ability or inability of small businesses to pay the penalties and more to do with passage of potential new law that will change small business responsibility regarding the tax-shelter penalties.  The initial delay in collecting the penalty fees was enacted in order to afford Congress a extra time to pass legislation that would actually create long-term protection for small business owners from being responsible for the penalties.

What inspires the formation of a non-profit? Often, it is the desire to address a cause, support specific reform, and make a statement.  Well, non-profits who choose to make themselves heard by funding state and local candidates received a nod from the U.S. Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia this week.  

The case was brought by Emily's List, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that backs female Democratic candidates who support abortion.  The D.C. court held that Federal Election Commission (F.E.C.) rules restricting  the amount of "soft money" contributions-- unlimited donations by companies, individuals, unions, and political action groups to non-profits-- used to fund candidates violated the First Amendment.

The IRS has formally agreed to stop collecting penalties against some small businesses for participating in forbidden transactions. These penalties, designed to punish abusers of tax shelters, have erroneously placed enormous fines on some small businesses -- many of whom had no intention to skirt taxes and gained little if any benefit.

Here is a rundown of the problems listed transaction penalties have become for some small businesses. As discussed, the heavy so-called Section 6707A penalties seek to punish businesses and individuals who participate in forbidden tax shelters. The draconian fines (which can't be appealed) also caught some small businesses who purchased benefits plans or other packages from financial advisors with no knowledge that the plans were (or would later be identified as) forbidden transactions.

After calls from Congressional leaders, the IRS has reportedly agreed to suspend its collection of the fines for businesses that gained less that $200,000 per year through using listed transactions. According to the AP, the suspension will last until September.

Recently, cash-strapped states have been eying juicy internet sales as a potential source of much needed revenue. Some states have passed a so-called "Amazon Tax." The response of big online retailers including Amazon and Overstock.com? Cut their affiliate program in those states.

Many online retailers offer affiliate programs. These allow website owners to make money by advertising products sold on other sites such as Amazon or Overstock. The affiliates typically get paid when a customer they send makes a purchase from the online seller.

In most states that collect income tax, an affiliate already owes taxes on the referral fee they receive.

States that pass an Amazon Tax are mandating that if an online seller has affiliates in the state, then all the retailer's sales in the state should be taxed.

These taxes need to be watched by two main groups of businesses:

• Businesses that earn referral fees or commissions by sending traffic that results in sales by out-of-state online sellers; and
• Online sellers large and small that pay out-of-state websites for traffic leading to sales.

Affiliates will largely have any decision made for them -- as learned the hard way by Amazon and Overstock affiliates in states where the companies have ceased affiliate programs.

Online sellers who engage out-of-state affiliates in states with an Amazon Tax may find themselves obligated to collect sales tax on all sales in those states.