If you want to reduce your 2011 tax burden, make sure you take advantage of an incentive Congress established to help business invest in new capital and equipment, says Byron Shinn, founder of Shinn & Company in Bradenton. But act fast. This incentive is going to expire Dec. 31, 2011.

As part of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (Tax Relief Act of 2010), Congress extended and increased the bonus depreciation to 100 percent of certain kinds of property as long as it was purchased and placed in service after Sept. 8, 2010, and before Jan. 1, 2012.

The property that qualifies for the bonus depreciation is tangible property such as computers, servers, furniture and equipment; computer software; water utility property; and qualified leasehold improvement property. The tangible property must be brand-new.

Shinn says the tax savings can be significant and provides this example: A business owner with net taxable income of $100,000 by year-end and a tax rate of 20 percent and a W-2 income of $50,000 purchased a computer system for $30,000. Using the bonus depreciation, she could deduct the entire purchase in 2011 as long as it’s in use before Dec. 31, 2011. "Her tax liability without the purchase would be approximately $27,000, and by making the purchase in the current year, her tax liability would be lowered to $20,000, for a tax savings of $7,000," he says.

For more information on the tax deduction, go to irs.gov/businesses/small/article.

Overheard

"On a trip from Marina Jack to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, we discovered 60 unprotected wireless networks , including several [at] upscale law firms."

—John Jorgenson of The Sylint Group at the Cybersecurity 101 event presented by Biz(941) and USF’s Institute of Public Policy and Leadership.

METRIC

46,000

Number of jobs Sarasota and Manatee have lost since the economic recession began in 2007, making our employment level almost identical to what it was in 2000.

SOURCE: Chris Benner, associate professor at the University at California, Davis.