Your Money: McCain vs. Obama

· Allow small businesses first-year expensing of new equipment and technology purchases.

· Establish a permanent tax credit equal to 10% of what a business spends on wages for research and development.

· Issue tax credits to allow individuals to purchase personal, portable health insurance that can move with them from job to job.

· Reduce the corporate income tax rate to 25% from 35%.

· Cut estate tax rate to 15% and increase exemption to $5 million.

"...I will pursue tax reform that supports the wage-earners and job creators who make this economy run, and help them to succeed in a global economy." -- McCain*

· Expand the SBA's direct-lending Disaster Loan Program to extend loans to companies affected by the economic downturn and credit crunch.

· Temporarily eliminate fees and increase the amount guaranteed by the government through the SBA's 7(a) and 504 programs, which insure lenders against defaults on small business loans.

· Extend the stimulus act's Section 179 tax deduction, which increased the amount businesses can write off on their taxes for capital investments in new equipment, through 2009.

· Exempt investors from the capital gains tax on their investments in small businesses and startups if they made their investment when a small company was valued below a certain threshold. That threshold has yet to be defined.

· Offer a 50% refundable credit for employee health insurance premiums paid by the employer.

· Freeze estate tax rate at 45% and increase exemption to $3.5 million.

"We'll work, at every juncture, to remove bureaucratic barriers for small and startup businesses." -- Obama**