(Fort Worth, TX...) Tax relief for small businesses and individuals can yield some positive outcomes as long as filers know that they are there and how to plan to take advantage of them, according to Allyson Baumeister and Susan Roberts, CPAs and partners at Fort Worth-based Sanford, Baumeister and Frazier, PLLC.

    For individuals, car buyer incentives, first time homebuyer credits, COBRA health insurance coverage adjustments, and credits for energy efficient home improvements top the list.

    For businesses, extension of time for net operating loss carrybacks, S corporation capital gain changes, and more time to take bonus depreciation on property will probably yield considerable relief.

     All this gained the spotlight just a month after President Obama took office and less than two months before April 15. As law, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Bill of 2009, commonly referred to as the 2009 Stimulus Act, aims to fire up the economy by both injecting funds directly into our US economy and by giving some tax relief to individuals and business.

Since income tax filers need to know the options to take advantage of them, CPAs and lawyers are extra busy communicating the changes. Here's a look at just a few of them:

First-Time Homebuyers

The Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008, which allowed a refundable tax credit of up to $7,500 for first-time homebuyers, changed so that you can increase the credit to $8,000. If you buy a house between January 1, 2009 and December 1, 2009, you won't have to repay the credit if you continue to live in your house for three years after date of purchase. You've got to make less than $95,000 MAGI for singles and $170,000 MAGI for couples for this to work for you. If you haven’t owned a home for a while this “First-Time” benefit may also apply to you!

New Car Incentives

If you buy a vehicle with a price tag up to $49,000, look for the “above-the-line” deduction on state and local sales taxes or on excise taxes paid on new car purchases. This doesn't refer to used cars or leases, and the deduction goes away if the purchaser's modified adjusted gross income (if a single filer) is $135,000 or more, $260,000 for married people filing jointly. This will be only for cars bought from February 17 through December 31, 2009.

Homeowners and Energy Efficient Improvements

There are a number of ways for homeowners to benefit if they want to make specific qualifying energy efficient improvements to their residence.

Energy Credit

The energy credit is extended through 2010. And, you can now take a credit of 30 percent of the cost of improvements for all properties. In addition, the lifetime $500 cap is now a $1,500 cap on the credit for the two-year period, 2009-2010.

Energy Efficient Property Credit

If you invest in certain types of energy efficient property, such as solar water heating, geothermal heating, fuel cell property, and wind assets, you can take a separate credit for that investment. The credit is 30 percent of the cost of improvements. The Act has no cap on the credit available for each, other than for fuel cell property; that credit is capped at $500 per kilowatt of capacity.

    As the year progresses and the recovery process momentum gets going, Americans should anticipate future additional modifications in the tax law---some tax breaks and some tax increases, too.

    Readers will get lots of input about the changes, so it’s good to remember that such information is not tax advice or recommendations. Contact individual advisors with questions about individual circumstances.

     Founded in 1949, SB&F is a full service accounting firm that performs audits, tax planning and compliance, business assurance services, pension administration and consulting, and merger and acquisition consulting for entities in real estate, oil and gas, financial institutions, dealerships, trusts and estates, technology, healthcare and retail. SB&F headquarters are in the historic Sinclair Building in downtown Fort Worth, Texas. Web site is www.sbf-cpa.com.

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