These overlooked assets often come in the form of unclaimed tax refunds associated with various federal and state tax incentive programs.  These programs range from:

- Research & Development Credits

- Federal and State Hiring Credits

-Eco/”Green” Tax Credits

- Sales and Use Tax Credits and Exemptions

- Property Tax Refunds/ Exemptions

Current business owners, or buyer’s of these businesses, can obtain a significant economic advantage by documenting these refunds and working them into there business plan, exit strategy, or factor them into their acquisition strategy.

To read all the details, please click on the following link:

http://www.cpa2biz.com/Content/media/PRODUCER_CONTENT/Newsletters/Articles_2010/CorpTax/M_and_A_Transactions_Enhanced.jsp

For full access to all of my AICPA articles, please click here:

http://www.cpa2biz.com/search/results.jsp?N=79&mode=content

To obtain daily tax and economic updates, please follow me on Twitter @:

www.twitter.com/taxcredits_cpa

www.blakechristian.com

Going Green: Federal and State Eco-Credits and The Regulatory Landscape 

http://twitter.com/taxcredits_CPA

Media Links

To download, click on the hyperlink below and choose Save

 Blake E. Christian

Access all my CNN Local Videos: 

http://www.hcvt.com/resources-links/media-links.html

Available Topics (please click on link above):

Blake Christian CNN inverview – Local Eco Credits / Green Jobs [36.0 MB] February 2010

Blake Christian CNN interview – California Tax Overhaul Proposal [41.1 MB] October 2009

Interview – Pros and cons of a national sales/flat tax [lieu of current fed. tax system] [40.3 MB] September 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – The U.S. Tax Gap [40.5 MB] September 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – Swiss and U.S. at (Tax) War [40.6 MB] September 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – $9 Billion of New California Taxes [40.5 MB] June 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – POLB Middle Harbor Project [40.5 MB] May 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – Tax Planning in a Recession [40.5 MB] May 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – Enterprise Zone Credits “Green Jobs” [40.5 MB] April 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – Affect of Budget & Stimulus on Business [40.4 MB] April 2009

Blake Christian CNN interview – Employee Free Choice Act [40.4 MB] April 2009

Check out the full library of  tax and economic articles @: www.blakechristian.com

We continue to see businesses and their CPAs overlook extremely valuable tax breaks, including:

- Federal and State Hiring Credits ($500 to $15,000 per employee)

http://www.blakechristian.com/hiring_tax_credits.html

http://www.blakechristian.com/california_tax_incentives.html

- Federal and State Eco/ Energy/ Green Credits (10% to 50%)

http://www.blakechristian.com/energy_tax_credits.html

- Use of Interest Charge DISCs for Export Sales

http://www.alliantgroup.com/_ag/index.cfm/our-services/export-incentives/interest-charge-domestic-international-sales-corporation-ic-disc1/

- Evaluation of Compensation Structure Options to Minimize After-Tax Cash Outflows.  This includes taking advantage of the lucrative and flexible qualified retirement plan rules.

http://www.cpa2biz.com/Content/media/PRODUCER_CONTENT/Newsletters/Articles_2008/CorpTax/Compensation.jsp

http://www.cpa2biz.com/Content/media/PRODUCER_CONTENT/Newsletters/Articles_2007/CorpTax/Services.jsp

- Re-Evaluating Legal Structure of Business Operations to Minimize Taxes

http://www.taxguideonline.com/hcvt/

There is still time to claim many of these tax benefits on your 2009 tax returns. 

www.blakechristian.com

For Daily Tax and Economic Updates, please follow me on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/taxcredits_CPA

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Eco/ Green Credits – 10% to 50% of Equipment Costs

President Obama spent a good portion of his State of the Union Speech focused on jobs and the economy.

 Throughout California – and across the U.S. – there are literally thousands of specified “tax zones” which allow employers hiring new employees to claim valuable federal and state hiring credits, as well as other tax and economic incentives.  In addition, certain state and federal programs such as the federal WOTC program and the California new jobs credit, which apply to businesses operating in any jurisdiction with the federal or state boundaries, respectively.

Click here for my latest AICPA hiring credit article, and please rate it at the end of the article:

 http://www.cpa2biz.com/Content/media/PRODUCER_CONTENT/Newsletters/Articles_2010/CorpTax/Jobs_Jobs.jsp

Obama’s proposed $5,000 per employee hiring credit – up to $500,000 per taxpayer:

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/78661-obama-to-roll-out-jobs-tax-credit-proposal-friday

 For more information regarding the California general jobs credit and the CA Enterprise Zone Program, please click on the links below:

 http://www.ftb.ca.gov/businesses/New_Jobs_Credit.shtml   $3,000 CA Jobs Tax Credit

http://www.hcvt.com/services/hiring-a-equipment-credits–ez-studies-.html  EZ Hiring & Equipment Credits

 For information regarding the 10% to 50% Federal and State Energy and Pollution Control Credits:

 http://www.blakechristian.com/green_tax_incentives.html

 Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or comments.

 For ongoing tax and economic updates, please follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/TaxCredits_CPA

 (562) 590-9535 x1800 – Telephone

(562) 216-1803 – Fax

Blakec@hcvt.com

www.hcvt.com

The above link and related articles will provide you with an overview of the wide-variety of valuable, but often overlooked, federal and state energy and pollution-control equipment credits.

These credits typically range from 10% to 50% of the “qualified” cost of the equipment (excluding installation) – but in some limited cases can be as high as 100% of the equipment cost.

Technology is changing at a rapid pace and so are the tax incentives.  New credits are being considered every week at the state and federal levels; therefore, it pays to do your research and fully understand these benefits before you make the capital investment.

These credits can dramatically reduce the cost of being an early adopter of these cleaner, yet more expensive, processes.

To participate in a comprehensive eco-credit webinar on Friday, January 22nd at 9:00 am  PST, or to access the archived webinar if you miss it, please click the following link:

http://www.cpelink.com/product/detail.php?p=1610

Despite the challenging economy and related capital market gyrations, business owners across the country are continuing to invest in a variety of eco-friendly technologies.  Businesses that choose to invest in green technologies do so for a variety of reasons including: 

-     Being socially responsible, 

-     Reducing long-term operating costs, 

-     Public relations/ employee relations benefits, 

-     Securing tax benefits 

-     Or most likely a combination of these factors. 

A sampling of the type of investments that business owners are making to reduce their energy costs, as well as their carbon footprint , include: 

-         Developing their own power sources, such as solar, cogeneration, geothermal, etc.,

-         Purchasing more energy efficient office and processing equipment,

-         Acquiring alternative powered vehicles,

-         Installing pollution control and energy control systems,

-         Adopting or improving their office and plant recycling programs,

-         Using more renewable raw materials and supplies,

While great strides are being made to reduce the carbon footprints of businesses and individuals, these new eco-friendly shoes can come at a very high price.   Many technologies are still being proven in the marketplace, and proven technologies such as solar, LNG powered vehicles, and LEEDS certified buildings require significant investment and long-term pay-back.

As positive as these eco investments are on the environment and the communities these businesses operates in, business owners will still naturally look to the lowest cost method for greening their business.  Unfortunately, sometimes this means deferring the planned upgrades until cash flow is sufficient to justify the significant up-front costs.

On the bright side, there are a large number of federal and state tax incentives, including eco-credits such as energy and pollution control tax incentives, hiring credit incentives research & development credits and accelerated depreciation benefits (through December 31, 2009) readily available to a large cross-section of industries.  The combination of state and federal credits, and bonus/ section 179 asset write-offs can dramatically reduce the after-tax cost of green infrastructure.

Energy Incentives (Just a Sampling)

-         Federal Solar Credit of 30% on Solar Panels and related equipment,

-         Federal Small Wind Energy Credit of 30% (Maximum Rating of 100 kilowatts),

-         Cogeneration energy production from alternative fuel sources – 30% federal credit

-         Alternative Fueling Stations, including electric recharging stations – federal credit equal to the lesser of: i) 50% of the eligible costs, or ii) $50,000 per station.  More pricey hydrogen station credit caps are increased to the lesser of: 30% or $200,000 per station.  See: www.carbondayautomotive.com  for more info on plug-in recharging stations.

-         Hybrid or Electric Vehicles – $2,500 to $15,000 per electric vehicle purchased or a 10% credit for conversion costs to convert a conventional or hybrid vehicle to a plug-in electric format.  The pay-back period can be relatively quick at $3 per gallon,

-         Federal bonus depreciation at 50% of asset costs and IRC Section 179 “expensing” of most tangible personal property for assets purchased by December 31, 2009 also offer significant up-front tax advantages,

-         Federal and state Research & Development costs for developing or refining new equipment or processes

For companies that design, manufacture, assemble or distribute green technology products, some of the largest tax incentives come in the form of Location Based Incentive Credits (LBICs) which are available to most companies operating in any of the over 8,000 federal, state and local tax incentive zones throughout the country.   Therefore, companies are very wise to carefully choose where they establish or expand their business in order to minimize their federal and state tax burdens.

A small sampling of the 40 state and numerous federal LBIC programs  include:

-         The California Enterprise Zone Program (www.caez.org) available in 42 Zones throughout the state, which offers:

•  hiring credits up to $13,000 per year/ per qualified employee
• equipment credits up to 10.75% on pollution control, energy control, technology, manufacturing and processing equipment used exclusively in a Zone,
• lender tax exemption for loans to businesses operating exclusively in a Zone
• Employee-Level credits up to $525
• Favorable permitting, bidding, grants and loans

-         Florida Enterprise Zone Program available in numerous regions throughout the state provides benefits including: hiring credits, equipment tax breaks, sales tax benefits, and property tax reductions,

  -         Federal Empowerment Zone Program (up to $3,000 per qualified employee/ per year)

-         Federal Renewal Community Program (up to $1,500 per qualified employee/ per year)

-         Federal Rural Renewal County Program (up to $4,800 per qualified employee/ per year)

-         Federal Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) Program available to business operating in any location – from $2,400 to $4,800 per qualified employee and up to $8,500 for Welfare-to-Work employees.

Federal and state grants and more liberal loans are also available for these assets.

 Businesses that either purchase or sell energy and pollution control equipment and spend the time educating themselves on the very beneficial green/ eco credits, state enterprise zone programs, federal tax incentive programs, can enhance their cash flow and profits and will gain significant competitive advantages. 

Read additional green tech blog entries below or review the article library at: www.blakechristian.com.

For more information on identifying Location Based Incentive Credit Zones, please refer to: www.ntcgtax.com.