The tax credit is one of the first health care reform provisions to go into effect and is designed to encourage small employers to offer health insurance coverage for the first time or maintain coverage they already have.

In general, the credit is available to small employers that pay at least half the cost of single coverage for their employees in 2010. Eligible small businesses can claim the credit as part of the general business credit starting with the 2010 income tax return they file in 2011.

You can find much more information regarding the small business tax credit -- including an online tax credit calculator -- from:

• The  U.S. Department of Health & Human Services' website Health.gov,
• The Internal Revenue Service's website
• The Small Business Majority's website

Here's a helpful video explaining more about the tax credit, and a New York Times article that describes how the tax credit helped the business of Betsy Burton, the co-owner of The King’s English Bookshop in Salt Lake City, Utah.