The IC-DISC: An Underutilized Tax Savings Provision

Part of a series on issues related to Manufacturers, Distributors and International Trade

There is an increasingly wide divide between Democrats and Republicans on a multitude of issues. However, both parties agree that exports are a key to economic growth.

Last year, President Obama announced his goal to double U.S. exports by 2015, and Republican leaders indicated their desire to work with the President to expand trade to key allies. To encourage exports, the President issued a National Export Initiative that focuses on helping small to mid-sized U.S. businesses export their products and services.

The extension of the qualified dividend rates through 2012 also provides U.S. exporters with the opportunity to save taxes by establishing an Interest-Charge Domestic International Sales Corporation (IC-DISC).

Yet many export companies that could benefit from the tax savings of an IC-DISC fail to do so. According to some estimates, only about 6,000 businesses–a small portion of those that qualify—take advantage of the tax savings of an IC-DISC.

Capitalizing on these tax savings could give Missouri export companies a leg up on their competition. A key to increasing profitability is working smarter not just harder. Less taxes means more money that can be injected into the business to fuel growth and increase profitability.

Candidates for an IC-DISC

Privately held C-Corporations and pass through entities, such as S-Corporations, partnerships and LLCs, that could benefit from the tax savings of an IC-DISC include:

• Manufacturers and distributors of U.S. manufactured products with more than 50% U.S. content and a destination outside of the U.S.,
• Architectural and engineering firms with projects outside of the U.S.,
• Software developers of computer software that is licensed for reproduction outside of the U.S.,
• Agricultural and mineral producers that export products outside the United States, and
• Lessors of new or used U.S. made products to third parties for use outside of the U.S.

Continue reading »

IRS Publishes Guidelines for Domestic Partners and Same-Sex Spouses

The IRS has published guidelines for domestic partners in community property states and same-sex spouses in California.

Each year, many LGBT couples must complete two separate and completely different tax returns. For states recognizing same-sex marriage or allowing the registration of domestic partners, the couple may be able to file jointly for their state tax return. Then, due to the provisions of the federal Defense of Marriage Act, the couple must individually complete separate federal tax returns.

The IRS guidelines help with couples in which an individual may be eligible for head of household status and clarify that each member of the couple must file a separate tax return.

For more information, click here: “Questions and Answers for Registered Domestic Partners in Community Property States and Same-Sex Spouses in California.”

Your Employees Are Griping About You on Facebook: Can You Fire Them?

Have you ever caught your employees publicly griping about your company, or maybe even about you personally, on Facebook? If you have, your first instinct might have been to discipline or even fire them.

But according to several recent decisions from the National Labor Relations Board, if colleagues discuss compensation, working conditions or other issues related to their employment over Facebook, their conduct may be protected by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Continue reading »

Employee Social Media Griping: Can An Employer Terminate Employees Because of Their Social Media Posts Without Violating Section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act

Social Media is the new water cooler conversation. It enables and facilitates conversations that years ago would have taken places at the old-fashioned water cooler. In today’s world of Facebook and Twitter, employee complaining is instantly, electronically and permanently transmitted to the world. Social Media users think less about their posts and disclose more so that a simple gripe monologue is turned into dialogue – on steroids – with the world. Such platforms encourage employees to blur their personal and professional lines of behavior and blurt out what is bothering them without engaging their higher level thinking tools.

With seven hundred and fifty million people actively using Facebook, there is a significant chance that a post about working conditions, compensation or other issues related to their employment will spark a conversation with an employee’s colleagues, and such conversations may constitute concerted activity under the National Labor Relations Act.

The question remains, if your employees say something negative on Facebook about your company, their fellow employees or their supervisors, can you terminate without running afoul of the National Labor Relations Act?

The answer depends on the facts surrounding the post(s). The test is whether the employee is engaging in activity solely for himself or on behalf of other employees.

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Back to School Time for Children with Special Needs

The Illinois Suburban Journal has posted a great article on “Unique first day pressures face kids with special needs.”

Changes in routine can be upsetting for any child with special needs, especially a child with autism.

Prior to the first day of school, if you have a child with special needs, it’s probably a good idea to communicate with the school to set up a time for you and your child to meet the new teacher and see the classroom. The teacher should spend enough time with you and your child to walk through what the new routine will be this school year.

Spending time establishing a relationship with your child’s teacher will help you, your child, and the teacher understand better how to ease your child into that first day of school. If your child’s teacher learns about your child’s special triggers and sensitivities before the first day of school, it can make the transition much better. It can also help the teacher help prepare better for your child if special preparation needs to be made, such as extra visual charts for the class schedule, as suggested in the Journal article.

Once school is underway, your child’s special services will begin. When your special needs child attends public school and is receiving special educational services, the school is required to provide your child with an individualized education plan (IEP). An IEP must be updated yearly to ensure that a child is receiving the necessary services to achieve that child’s goals. It will be important to educate yourself about the IEP process and what can and should be included in your child’s plan.

When you have a child with special needs, you will have to continue to advocate for your child throughout his or her educational process. At times, it will feel like a never ending battle with the school to ensure that your child is receiving necessary services.

But in the end, it is up to you to stay on top of your child’s educational process. Consult the experts, attend seminars your school district provides, and be your child’s educational advocate.

It’s a Great Time to Become an Urban Business Dweller

With downtown St. Louis office vacancy now at 19%, landlords are being forced to compete aggressively and find creative ways to market their office properties.

Landlords have found they also have to create major incentives for tenants: everything from rent concessions to significant tenant improvement allowances.

If you are looking at moving your business, or if you are opening a new office, your best bet may be a move to downtown St. Louis.

Now may be a good time to be looking! Read more in this article from the St. Louis Business Journal.

Protecting Against Preference Demands in a Bankruptcy Case

I just came across an article on guarding against preferential transfers. If you own a business and one of your customers files bankruptcy, not only are you likely to lose the money the customer currently owes to you, but you might also have to give back some money you’ve recently collected! The bankruptcy laws may deem those payments to be “preferential payments” or “preferences,” which have to be returned to the bankrupt company or to its Trustee. The bankruptcy laws on preference recovery are some of the most unfair laws around because there is no “preferring” requirement to a preference. It’s all just a matter of timing.

If you receive a demand to return a preferential transfer, see a qualified business bankruptcy lawyer immediately. This is not a matter for a consumer bankruptcy lawyers who file cheap bankruptcies for people that have too many credit cards.

There are several defenses to a preference demand. The most common involve “new value” and the “ordinary course of business.”

The “new value” defense is pretty simple – if the debtor paid you an old $10,000 account receivable before it filed bankruptcy, the payment might be recoverable from you as a preference. If, after you receive the money, you extend $10,000 in additional credit, the “new value,” to the debtor, they cancel each other out. Obviously, that defense is a matter of luck, since you don’t know when or if the customer is going to file bankruptcy.

The “ordinary course” defense, however, is something you might be able to prepare for. The bankruptcy laws provide that payments in the ordinary course of business are not recoverable preferences. If you regularly bill your customers on thirty-day terms and it regularly pays according to terms, those payments are being made in the ordinary course of business, the payments you received before the bankruptcy filing generally are safe.

But suppose your customer starts to pay more slowly, or only makes partial payments. You, being a good business person, react to protect yourself. You put the customer on fifteen-day terms, or demand that it provide collateral for future shipments, or take some other action to insure collection. You’ve done the right thing, but future payments are no longer being made in the ordinary course of business! By taking responsible action, you’ve made yourself liable to a preference demand if your customer files bankruptcy.

So – what to do? You try to turn the “out of the ordinary” into the “ordinary”:

• First, make your best efforts to keep the customer as close to ordinary terms as possible for as long as possible.
• If these efforts are not successful, at least try to keep the customer within industry standards.
• If neither attempt works, institute the new terms at the first sign of trouble. If enough time passes before the bankruptcy filing, the new terms will have become the ordinary terms.

As an additional option, you could enter into a new contract with the customer. The new contract could set out the new terms, and provide that you are not obligated to sell to the customer at all. If you choose to sell, however, these are the new ordinary terms of the arrangement.

Being forced to return substantial preferential payments can send your business into bankruptcy itself. Be sure that your accounts receivable staff is sensitive to customer behavior, to the industry’s rumor mill, and anything else that may suggest coming trouble. Review the situation with a bankruptcy attorney to discuss what strategies your company could take, and stay off the receiving end of preference demand letters.

The content of our blogs are never to be construed as specific legal advice and blog-related correspondence never implies the existence of an attorney-client relationship. Please refer to our Disclaimer for more information.

Illinois Considering Substantial Changes to Improve Foreclosure Process

Chicago Tribune reports Illinois considering changes to its foreclosure process, potentially affecting any one of the approximately 70,550 foreclosures pending in the State.

Special Needs Kids: Autism Elopement

CNN released an article today titled “‘Eye on the door’: Life with autism wandering” about children with autism who tend to wander off. Whether you are in public or at home, the thought of your child wandering off can be terrifying for any parent. Parents of a child with any diagnosis that causes the child to have more of a tendency to attempt to escape parental supervision should take extra precautions.  Here are a few ideas from the article:

1. Make sure you have your child fingerprinted by your local law enforcement agency. Often the police department will have kits parents can obtain to fingerprint and list other vital information.
2. Contact your local law enforcement agency and see if they have a registration program. Many municipalities are instituting programs for the elderly with dementia or Alzhemeir’s in the event they are found but cannot remember where they live. See if the municipality has a similar program or advocate for the implementation of such a program in your neighborhood.
3. Educate your neighbors regarding your child’s diagnosis and tendency to run away. Let them know where you live and how to contact you in the event that see your child unsupervised.
4. Be aware of dangers in your neighborhood. If the child has a strong interest in water, such as the child in the article, make sure you know who has swimming pools in the neighborhood and whether those pools have fences. If moving to a new neighborhood, make sure to check the code requirements for swimming pools and know whether the neighborhood required a proper fence.
5. Install alarms on your windows and doors that alert you if a door is opened.
6. Finally, GPS tracking devices are now sold in bracelet and necklace form. For a child that will tolerate wearing one, these can be an excellent device to locate a wandering child.

Whatever steps you take to secure your child from escaping parental supervision, make sure you educate yourself about the resources in the community and be aware of the potential dangers in your neighborhood.

NYSE and Deutsche Boerse (DB) Merge to Survive

Is America’s dominance in capitalism clearly over?

The NYSE merger is one of survival both for the NYSE and for the German securities exchange Deutsche Boerse.

The NYSE is inefficient, i.e. the pit, traders on the floor. Lower fees and better efficiencies created the mess at the NYSE.  The NYSE has too many outdated traditions which created numerous types of inefficiencies, forcing the NYSE into a downward position. Even the NASDAQ was doing better than the NYSE regarding efficiencies via electronic trading.

We live in a global economy. There are trading exchanges all over the world, i.e. China, Tokyo, Brazil , Russia, India, Australia, London, etc. The stock exchanges in China and Brazil are some of the largest in the world. Everybody in the world can access securities exchanges via the Internet.

The dollar is weak right now. Europe has a debt crisis and the Euro is not so stable.

Not long ago, one of Europe’s leading independent forecasters for the Treasury asserted that the Euro could collapse as a result of Europe’s debt crisis. The European Central Bank’s Governing Council Member asserted that it is not up to the bank to save countries where governments run the risk of being insolvent.

Right now, Ireland, Greece, Portugal, Italy, and Spain have a lot of debt problems and plenty of entities are buying more insurance at higher prices to cover potential losses in those countries.

Germany had good growth in 2010 but their economic model is centered around exports, i.e. cars and machines. Asia (China) drove Germany’s growth in 2010. Can Germany sustain their economic model since other European countries (mainly southern Europe) have stagnant economies re: exports and imports? The European debt crisis has pushed the Euro down which has made German exports more competitive.

Right now, US exports are even better than German exports because the US dollar is weak, too.

Since Germany appears to be in the best economic position in Europe more people are putting capital in Germany when investing in Europe. German exporters could take a huge hit if Europe’s debt crisis runs into other European countries.

Who knows what will happen because regulators have to look this over. Also, there are may political issues with this deal starting with a fight over what to name the exchange. Politicians could crush the regulatory process simply because they do not like the proposed name. I suspect it will go through because both exchanges need this for survival.

I think the NYSE deal is a play on a world asset which is undervalued as a result of a weak US dollar.

Ex: InBev could not purchase AB if the US dollar was strong. InBev took advantage of a weak US dollar and is now dealing with a lot of debt and debt service. The strength of the US dollar runs in cycles just like the markets. Will the US dollar stay at its current value forever or remain at lower values when priced against other global currencies? I suspect not.

The World Bank has predicted a global growth of 3.3% for 2011. Europe’s debt crisis is a huge factor which could derail any global recovery.

The European Central Bank has asserted that inflation may be around for months in Europe which would probably require a European interest rate hike which would make borrowing from global banks tougher than it already is.

However, major companies are lean and mean now and sitting on trillions of dollars of cash. In addition to inflation and a debt crisis, the 17 member European nation is still facing 10% unemployment which was after a recent drop. Also, housing prices continue to drop in Europe although it appears that it has bottomed out.

Is America’s dominance in capitalism clearly over? I would say no since nothing is clear right now with global economies, global financial markets and global debts and debt service.