Forewarned is Forearmed –
Download 2009 LB Magazine Investment Strategies
2009 is destined to be another challenging year for business owners and consumers. The attached articles discuss the various investment, tax and strategic planning strategies to employ during these uncertain times.
On the positive side, the current volatile economy offers the savvy businessperson unlimited opportunities to thrive in calendar 2009.
There are over 8,500 distinct state, federal and local tax incentive zones throughout the U.S. which allow businesses to claim valuable tax breaks ranging from: hiring credits, equipment credits, "green"/ pollution control, income, property and sales tax exemptions, and/ or other financial incentives.
Most of these tax incentive programs allow taxpayers to claim these tax breaks in prior years via current year documentation and in some cases via amended returns for up to four years.
Due to the lack of information on eligible locations and employees, NTCG has developed the only national database of eligible business and employee addresses, which allows users to identify tax credit eligibility in seconds. Through our "batch screen" application, users can screen thousands of addresses quickly and accurately and use the results for tax planning, marketing or economic development purposes.
National Tax Credit Group, LLC in cooperation with CCH (a Wolters Kluwer Company) has developed one of the most powerful and accurate web-based software solution to allow businesses to identify all of their business locations and employees that will generate these tax incentives. The attached brochure details the power of our NTCG/ CCH software and includes screen shots of the software and output.
Download NTCG Tax Zone Locator Brochure
Hiring credits typically range from $500 to $15,000 per "qualified" employee per year under the state Enterprise Zone, and Federal programs. Statistically over 20% of businesses have one or more business facilities in a tax incentive zone and every business is eligible to claim credits under the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC) – $2,400 to $4,800 of credit per employee, or the $8,500 Welfare to Work (WtW) program.
The Tax Zone Locater Software allows users to document these credits and provides details regarding tax forms and logistics for claiming refunds and future benefits.
Read more about state and federal tax credits:
Download Don't_leave_valuable_incentive_credits_on_the_table
With the federal unemployment rate at 6.7% and the California rate rising to 8.4%, business owners and legislators should take a hard look at the wide variety of federal and state tax credit programs ranging from state Enterprise Zone (EZ) programs as well as the federal Empowerment Zone, Renewal Community, Indian Tribal Lands, and Rural Renewal County tax credit programs.
These relatively easy to access programs can generate state and federal hiring credits ranging from $500 to $15,000 per qualified employee annually. In addition, many state programs have added benefits such as equipment credits, liberalized business loan and grant programs, tax holidays and sales tax incentives.
By accessing these existing programs, employers can dramatically reduce their labor costs while helping to reduce the unemployment rate in their region.
Download 2008 AICPA Corporate Tax Losses 12.11.08
Download 2008 AICPA Federal Rescue Package 11.2008
With over $150 billion of 2008 federal tax benefits adopted as part of the federal Rescue Package, along with over $5 billion of California tax increases due to the California budget challenges, year-end tax planning for businesses and individuals offer numerous opportunities to reduce taxes, increase cash flow, and/ or lock into lower rates this year compared to next year.
With the volatile year and continuing economic challenges, year-end is also a great time to review your overall financial and estate plan. In particular, a careful review of the investment allocations within your qualified retirement plans (e.g. IRAs/ 401(k)s, etc) as well as other "taxable" investment accounts is critically important. Year-end is an excellent time to jettison your poor performing stocks and harvest your tax losses to offset any capital gains you might be lucky enough to have this year.
The following December 1, 2008 L.A. Times article covers a variety of tax planning ideas and the second item provides detailed tax planning ideas for both businesses and individuals.
http://www.latimes.com/business/investing/la-fi-smallbiz1-2008dec01,0,6684885.story
