I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 4637 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase the amount allowed 

as a deduction for start-up expenditures, to provide a standard home 

office deduction, to increase the amount allowed as a deduction for 

meals and entertainment expenses of small businesses, and to extend 

bonus depreciation, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

FEBRUARY 22, 2010 

Mr. HALL of New York introduced the following bill; which was referred to 

the Committee on Ways and Means, and in addition to the Committee 

on Small Business, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 

Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 

the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase 

the amount allowed as a deduction for start-up expenditures, to provide a standard home office deduction, to 

increase the amount allowed as a deduction for meals 

and entertainment expenses of small businesses, and to 

extend bonus depreciation, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 


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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

2 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 

3 ‘‘Help Small Businesses Start and Grow Act of 2010’’. 

4 (b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 

5 this Act is as follows: 

Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 

TITLE I—TAX RELIEF 

Sec. 101. Increase in amount allowed as deduction for start-up expenditures. 

Sec. 102. Standard deduction for business use of home. 

Sec. 103. Increased meals and entertainment expense deduction for small businesses. 

Sec. 104. Two-year extension of bonus depreciation. 

TITLE II—SMALL BUSINESS LOANS 

Sec. 202. Small business direct lending program. 

6 TITLE I—TAX RELIEF 

7 SEC. 101. INCREASE IN AMOUNT ALLOWED AS DEDUCTION 

8 FOR START-UP EXPENDITURES. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (b) of section 195 of 

10 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

11 at the end the following: 

12 ‘‘(3) SPECIAL RULE FOR TAXABLE YEARS BE13 GINNING IN 2009, 2010, OR 2011.—In the case of a 

14 taxable year beginning in 2009, 2010, or 2011, 

15 paragraph (1)(A)(ii) shall be applied— 

16 ‘‘(A) by substituting ‘$50,000’ for 

17 ‘$5,000’, and 

18 ‘‘(B) by substituting ‘$75,000’ for 

19 ‘$50,000’.’’. 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

2 this section shall apply to amounts paid or incurred in tax3 able years beginning after the date of the enactment of 

4 this Act. 

5 SEC. 102. STANDARD DEDUCTION FOR BUSINESS USE OF 

6 HOME. 

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (c) of section 280A of 

8 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (relating to disallow9 ance of certain expenses in connection with business use 

10 of home, rental of vacation homes, etc.) is amended by 

11 adding at the end the following new paragraph: 

12 ‘‘(7) STANDARD HOME OFFICE DEDUCTION.— 

13 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an indi14 vidual that is allowed a deduction for the use of 

15 a home office because of a use described in 

16 paragraphs (1), (2), or (4) of this subsection, 

17 notwithstanding the limitations of paragraph 

18 (5), if such individual elects the application of 

19 this paragraph for the taxable year, such indi20 vidual shall be allowed a deduction equal to the 

21 standard home office deduction for the taxable 

22 year in lieu of the deductions otherwise allow23 able under this chapter for such taxable year by 

24 reason of being attributed to such use. 


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1 ‘‘(B) STANDARD HOME OFFICE DEDUC2 TION AMOUNT.—For purposes of this para3 graph, the standard home office deduction is 

4 the lesser of— 

5 ‘‘(i) $2,500, or 

6 ‘‘(ii) the gross income derived from 

7 the individual’s trade or business for which 

8 such use occurs. 

9 ‘‘(C) INFLATION ADJUSTMENT.—In the 

10 case of any taxable year beginning in a calendar 

11 year after 2010, the dollar amount in subpara12 graph (B)(i) shall be increased by an amount 

13 equal to— 

14 ‘‘(i) such dollar amount, multiplied by 

15 ‘‘(ii) the cost-of-living adjustment de16 termined under section 1(f)(3) for the cal17 endar year in which the taxable year be18 gins, determined by substituting ‘2009’ for 

19 ‘1992’ in subparagraph (B) thereof. 

20 Any increase determined under the preceding 

21 sentence shall be rounded to the nearest mul22 tiple of $100.’’. 

23 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

24 this section shall apply to taxable years beginning after 

25 the date of the enactment of this Act. 


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1 SEC. 103. INCREASED MEALS AND ENTERTAINMENT EX2 PENSE DEDUCTION FOR SMALL BUSINESSES. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Subsection (n) of section 274 of 

4 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 is amended by adding 

5 at the end the following new paragraph: 

6 ‘‘(4) INCREASED PERCENTAGE FOR SMALL

7 BUSINESS EXPENSES.— 

8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of ex9 penses or items described in paragraph (1) paid 

10 or incurred by the taxpayer in carrying on an 

11 eligible trade or business, such paragraph shall 

12 be applied by substituting ‘80 percent’ for ‘50 

13 percent’. 

14 ‘‘(B) ELIGIBLE TRADE OR BUSINESS.— 

15 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—For purposes of 

16 subparagraph (A), the term ‘eligible trade 

17 or business’ means, with respect to any 

18 taxable year, a trade or business (whether 

19 or not incorporated) which employed an 

20 average of less than 50 employees on busi21 ness days during the taxable year. 

22 ‘‘(ii) CONTROLLED GROUPS.—For 

23 purposes of clause (i), all persons treated 

24 as a single employer under subsection (b), 

25 (c), (m), or (o) of section 414 shall be 

26 treated as a single employer.’’. 


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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendment made by 

2 this section shall apply to expenses paid or incurred after 

3 the date of the enactment of this Act. 

4 SEC. 104. TWO-YEAR EXTENSION OF BONUS DEPRECIATION. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—Paragraph (2) of section 168(k) 

6 is amended— 

7 (1) by striking ‘‘January 1, 2011’’ and insert8 ing ‘‘January 1, 2014’’, and 

9 (2) by striking ‘‘January 1, 2010’’ each place 

10 it appears and inserting ‘‘January 1, 2013’’. 

11 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENTS.— 

12 (1) The heading for subsection (k) of section 

13 168 of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘JANUARY

14 1, 2010’’ and inserting ‘‘JANUARY 1, 2013’’. 

15 (2) The heading for clause (ii) of section 

16 168(k)(2)(B) of such Code is amended by striking 

17 ‘‘PRE-JANUARY 1, 2010’’ and inserting ‘‘PRE-JANU18 ARY 1, 2013’’. 

19 (3) Paragraph (5) of section 168(l) is amended 

20 by striking subparagraph (B), by adding ‘‘and’’ at 

21 the end of subparagraph (A), and by redesignating 

22 subparagraph (C) as subparagraph (B). 

23 (4) Subparagraph (C) of section 168(n)(2) of 

24 such Code is amended by striking clause (ii), by addVerDate Nov 24 2008 07:07 Feb 23, 2010 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4637.IH H4637

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1 ing ‘‘and’’ at the end of clause (i), and by redesig2 nating clause (iii) as clause (ii). 

3 (5) Subparagraph (B) of section 1400N(d)(3) 

4 of such Code is amended by striking ‘‘January 1, 

5 2010’’ and inserting ‘‘January 1, 2013’’. 

6 (c) EFFECTIVE DATE.—The amendments made by 

7 this section shall apply to property placed in service after 

8 December 31, 2009. 

9 TITLE II—SMALL BUSINESS 

10 LOANS 

11 SEC. 202. SMALL BUSINESS DIRECT LENDING PROGRAM. 

12 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Administrator of the 

13 Small Business Administration shall establish and carry 

14 out a program under which the Administrator is author15 ized to make loans directly to eligible small business con16 cerns (in this section referred to as the ‘‘program’’). 

17 (b) ADMINISTRATION.—Except as otherwise provided 

18 under this section and to the extent practicable, the Ad19 ministrator of the Small Business Administration shall 

20 carry out the program— 

21 (1) using the administrative resources of the 

22 Small Business Administration; and 

23 (2) in a manner similar to the loan program 

24 under section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 

25 U.S.C. 636(a)). 


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1 (c) USE OF LOAN FUNDS.—Amounts from a loan 

2 made under the program may be used by a small business 

3 concern for the operation or expansion of such concern 

4 or for any other purpose allowed under section 7(a) of the 

5 Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)). 

6 (d) LOAN AMOUNT.—The maximum amount of a 

7 loan made under the program shall be $1,500,000. 

8 (e) LOAN TERM.—The maximum term for repayment 

9 of a loan made under the program shall be 25 years. 

10 (f) LOAN INTEREST RATE.—The interest rate with 

11 respect to a loan made under the program shall be the 

12 prime rate (as determined by the Administrator of the 

13 Small Business Administration). 

14 (g) ACCOUNTABILITY.— 

15 (1) SBA REPORTS.—Not later than 30 days 

16 after the date of enactment of this Act and every 

17 month thereafter, the Administrator of the Small 

18 Business Administration shall submit to the Com19 mittee on Small Business of the House of Rep20 resentatives and the Committee on Small Business 

21 and Entrepreneurship of the Senate a report de22 scribing— 

23 (A) the number of loans made under the 

24 program; 


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1 (B) the amounts of loans made under the 

2 program; 

3 (C) the uses of loans made under the pro4 gram; 

5 (D) repayment progress with respect to 

6 loans made under the program; 

7 (E) the default rate with respect to loans 

8 made under the program; and 

9 (F) other relevant information with respect 

10 to the program. 

11 (2) GAO REPORTS.— 

12 (A) REVIEW.—The Comptroller General of 

13 the United States shall conduct a review of the 

14 program to evaluate the effectiveness of the 

15 program and identify any waste or abuse relat16 ing to the program. 

17 (B) REPORTS.—Not later than 90 days 

18 after the date of enactment of this Act and 

19 quarterly thereafter, the Comptroller General 

20 shall submit to the Committee on Small Busi21 ness of the House of Representatives and the 

22 Committee on Small Business and Entrepre23 neurship of the Senate a report describing the 

24 results of the review conducted under subpara25 graph (A). 


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1 (h) DEFINITIONS.—In this section, the following defi2 nitions apply: 

3 (1) ELIGIBLE SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.— 

4 The term ‘‘eligible small business concern’’ means a 

5 small business concern that the Administrator of the 

6 Small Business Administration determines— 

7 (A) is economically healthy; 

8 (B) has good credit; and 

9 (C) is unable to obtain a loan on reason10 able terms from a non-Federal source (which 

11 may be demonstrated with respect to a small 

12 business concern by evidence that a lender dis13 continued a line of credit of such concern not14 withstanding the good credit of such concern). 

15 (2) SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN.—The term 

16 ‘‘small business concern’’ has the meaning given 

17 such term under section 3(a) of the Small Business 

18 Act (15 U.S.C. 632(a)). 

19 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

20 authorized to be appropriated to the Administrator of the 

21 Small Business Administration $10,000,000,000 to carry 

22 out the program, including the hiring of necessary per23 sonnel. 


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1 (j) TERMINATION.—The program shall terminate on 

2 the date that is 2 years after the date of enactment of 

3 this Act. 

Æ 


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