28 columns, newest first. Showing 13–24.
A Sept. 2 advance notice from U.S. Customs and Border Protection asks whether importers should collect the documents foreign suppliers file with their own customs offices, and how to identify factories. Nothing is required yet; comments are due Dec. 1. A separate importer records check starts Sept. 18.
5 min read · 4 to-dos · 2 key dates
A notice published Sept. 2 would require research firms with more than 25 SBIR or STTR Phase II awards in five years to earn at least 33% of revenue outside those programs, rising to 50%, or sit out new Phase I proposals for a year. Comments are due Oct. 31.
6 min read · 4 to-dos · 3 key dates
Revenue Ruling 2026-15, published Aug. 31, keeps the IRS underpayment rate at 7% for October through December, and that rate also prices the penalty for short or late estimated tax payments. Here's who owes the third 2026 installment on Sept. 15 and what a missed payment costs.
5 min read · 4 to-dos · 3 key dates
A final rule effective Aug. 31 removes a 1974-era SBA policy of taking public comment on rules about loans, grants, benefits and contracts even when the law didn't require it. The SBA says it needs to move faster; a contracting law firm says business owners may get fewer chances to weigh in.
5 min read · 4 to-dos · 2 key dates
The FIRE system stops taking information returns at 3 p.m. Eastern on Nov. 19, and the 1099s you file in early 2027 have to go through IRIS instead. Most small businesses won't notice. Those that upload their own files will.
5 min read · 5 to-dos · 3 key dates
Three final rules published Aug. 21 rescind the Executive Order 11246 affirmative action regulations, drop the disability self-ID form and 7% goal, and update veterans' rule thresholds. Here's what a small contractor still owes, and when each change starts.
5 min read · 5 to-dos · 3 key dates
A proposal published Aug. 20 would cut the SBA's table of size standards from 978 lines to 338, switch most industries from revenue to employee counts, and raise the bar for many. The SBA says about 114,500 more firms would qualify as small. Comments are due Sept. 21.
5 min read · 4 to-dos · 2 key dates
FinCEN's final beneficial ownership rule took effect Aug. 14. U.S. companies are out of the reporting system for good, and the agency plans a one-time sweep to delete information it believes came from U.S. persons. You don't have to ask, and you won't get a confirmation.
5 min read · 5 to-dos · 2 key dates
Final regulations published Aug. 10 say payment apps and online marketplaces can't backup withhold on a seller's payments until that seller passes both 200 transactions and $20,000 in a year, the same line that triggers a Form 1099-K. The rule reaches back to payments made in 2025.
5 min read · 4 to-dos · 2 key dates
The Small Business Administration has opened low-interest disaster loans for businesses in eight Iowa counties hit by the July 2-4 storms and six Pennsylvania counties hit by flooding July 5-6. Physical damage applications are due Sept. 21, and working capital loans don't require any damage at all.
4 min read · 5 to-dos · 4 key dates
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has proposed ending the annual EEO-1 workforce report and its sister reports, and on July 30 it formally noticed an Aug. 11 hearing. Comments are due Aug. 24. Nothing is final, and the filing rules on the books haven't changed yet.
5 min read · 5 to-dos · 3 key dates
The Senate Finance Committee approved the Taxpayer Assistance and Service Act 26-1 on July 30. It would let contractors ask clients to withhold tax, extend the mailbox rule to electronic payments and require the IRS to answer refund claims within 12 months. None of it is law yet.
5 min read · 4 to-dos