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The administration’s plan included provisions increasing loan guarantees for small business to 90 percent of the loan value to encourage banks and other lenders to extend credit, and waiving the Small Business Administration's loan fees...

...by the end of March the Treasury Department would begin making direct purchases of securities backed by loans guaranteed by the Small Business Administration...In addition, the administration wants to ease the secondary market for loans backed by the Small Business Administration, which has been frozen since last fall.

...the I.R.S. announced Monday that small businesses with deductions exceeding their income in 2008 could use a new net operating loss tax provision to get a refund of taxes paid in prior years. The provision, enacted as part of the economic recovery plan, enables small businesses with a net operating loss in 2008 to elect to offset this loss against income earned in up to five prior years, instead of the usual two-year limit. “The new net operating loss provisions could throw a lifeline to struggling businesses, providing them with a quick infusion of cash,” said the I.R.S. commissioner, Doug Shulman, in a statement. “We want to make it as easy as possible for small businesses to take advantage of these key tax benefits.”

Some customers will have their interest rates increased to reflect the current risk environment, said Pam Girardo, a spokeswoman for McLean, Virginia-based Capital One.