Posts

Showing posts from April, 2009

Obama Administration Attacks Small Business

Obama Administration Attacks Small Business The Obama Administration's new Labor Secretary, Hilda Solis, screamed to Union workers "You can rest assured that there is a new sheriff in town." Solis proclaimed at a recent AFL-CIO conference that she is going to radically step-up enforcement of the anti-employer wage and hour laws. Even though the Bush Administration started a record number of Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) claims over the past few years and jaw-dropping wage and hour settlements (the average hovering around $24M), Solis is set to hire 250 new wage and hour field investigators. Further, President Obama hopes to increase the Depart of Labor funding for 2010 by $600M. In short, the government is pushing for a major overhaul of wage and hour law enforcement to attack more small businesses. The government declared more than 70% of employers are estimated to be routinely violating wage and hour laws. Businesses should call their lawyers now to make sure they

Taxes are Killing the Economy

Taxes are Killing the Economy The Stock Market has rallied since March 10. Is this a short term improvement in a Bear Market? Unless we see some positive progress in the real economy, the stock market cannot sustain the upward movement. The economy is lousy with construction at a low and many small businesses recording their worst year ever in 2008 continuing into 2009. One major reason the economy remains stalled is taxes are rising rapidly in individual states and the federal government to support government spending like drunken sailors. Amid all of the bailouts, the backstops, the guarantees, and the ongoing promises of aid, we are seeing a dramatic decline in federal and state government revenue (because of the bad economy). It is just worrisome to see more and more promises from the government against the backdrop of such a weakening economy! When will people learn that if you tax something you get less of it and if you subsidize something you get more of it? Let's stop mo

IRS Increases Small Business Audits

 Smaller companies were audited 41 percent more often in 2007 than in 2005, and companies with $10 million to $50 million in assets were 29 percent more likely to be audited in 2007 than 2005, according to a study by Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearing House. Meanwhile, the TRAC study showed that companies with more than $250 million in assets were nearly 40 percent less likely to be audited than in previous years. Click Here for the full article.

Supreme Court Limits Police

Supreme Court Limits Police [4/21/09 – 10:14] In a 5-4 decision this morning, the United States Supreme Court announced a major change to the law related to the search of a motor vehicle following the arrest of a recent occupant. In Arizona v. Gant, the Justices ruled that police may search a motor vehicle following the arrest of a recent occupant only if the arrestee is unsecured and within reaching distance of the passenger compartment at the time of the search. The Court also ruled that a search for evidence inside the vehicle following an arrest will be considered constitutionally valid only when it is reasonable for the police to believe that evidence relevant to the offense triggering the arrest might be found within the vehicle. The facts in Gant involve a driver who was stopped by the police and arrested for driving on the revoked list. The police removed him from the vehicle, and secured him inside of a police car. The police then conducted a search of the vehicle incident to

Net Operating Loss Carryovers for Individuals

Net Operating Loss Carryovers for Individuals The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provides   individual taxpayers potential net operating loss (NOL)  deductions. The IRS has provided opinions stating the ARRA  applies to individual s. An “Eligible Small Business” can elect to carry back a 2008 NOL for  up to five years. The IRS has broadly interpreted the definition of such businesses. Call Ronald J. Cappuccio, J.D., LL.M.(Tax) at (856) 665-2121 if you need some guidance on the NOL changes.

Freedom for All Americans

Freedom for All Americans On this day in 1866, the Republican-majority 39th Congress overrode a veto by the Democrat president, Andrew Johnson, to enact the 1866 Civil Rights Act. Every Democrat in Congress voted against it. The purpose of the 1866 Civil Rights Act was to defend African-Americans from their Democrat oppressors in the post-Civil War South. There, Democrats had enacted black codes to impose near-slavery on African-Americans who had just been emancipated by the Republican Party's 13th Amendment. Senator Lyman Trumbull (R-IL) wrote the 1866 Civil Rights Act, which conferred U.S. citizenship on former slaves and other African-Americans. The law guaranteed African-Americans "full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and property, as is enjoyed by white citizens." Republicans thereby granted African-Americans the right to own property, engage in business, sign contracts and file lawsuits. This was the first time that Congress

Foreign Bank Accounts= Money Laundering????

Congress Wants to Criminalize Tax Accounts Not satisfied with the draconian civil tax penalties for having an unreported foreign bank account, Congress is trying to make Foreign Tax Crimes a Money Laundering Offense - (subsec. 2(g) of the Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act of 2009) (S. 386). This means if a US citizen does not reveal a foreign account it could be subject to an expensive prosecution and 20 years in Federal Prison!

Offshore Accounts Get Hammered!

Offshore Accounts Get Hammered! The IRS is starting to prosecute UBS customers with Swiss and Offshore accounts that have not reported them. On March 28, the IRS issued a directive making this a high priority. If you are thinking of buying books or consulting services from someone that sells "Asset Protection" by using "secret" offshore accounts and bearer stock, check with your tax lawyer before your do anything!