The 2018 State Business Tax Climate Index by the Tax Foundation was released last week with few surprises in either the top or bottom 10 states in the listing. Less regulation-oriented states populate the 10 most business-friendly while the more progressive “pick up the rear”. Wyoming tops the list, followed by South Dakota and Alaska.…
Read More »The Cook County soda tax is going the way of 1917 national predecessor, repealed! The effort first got its real momentum a few weeks ago and then a budget deal was reached last week that cut the tax from the county budget. Tuesday, the County Finance Committee endorsed the repeal effort by a vote of…
Read More »Last Friday, President Trump signed into law the Disaster Relief and Airport and Airway Expansion Act of 2017. Don’t let the airport references in the title fool you, the significance of this bill for small business owners is the relief it provides for those whose businesses were devastated by recent Hurricanes Harvey and Irma. The…
Read More »
You win some, you lose some. As we head into the fall, franchise owners from Dunkin’ Donuts and other QSR systems have some reasons for optimism and some things to worry about as well. Increasing the minimum wage has been all the rage over the past few years, with union and other activists successfully pushing…
Read More »No, we didn’t use the wrong preposition, city officials in San Francisco are indeed targeting the machines, or more specifically those who use machines instead of employees. The idea of hitting employers that utilize technology and automation (read: robots) with additional taxes for making their businesses more efficient (at the cost of employee jobs) first…
Read More »President Trump has raised the prospect of significant tax reform and pushed the Congress to focus on passing tax reform measures quickly. Anticipating the release of a tax reform bill and working to advance the tax priorities of franchisees across the country, the Job Creators Network (JCN) and the Asian American Hotel Owners Association (AAHOA)…
Read More »Speaking of being in limbo, retailers in Cook County, Illinois are between the proverbial rock and the hard place as relates the county imposed tax on sugary drinks. As we advised last week, the FDA has said that collecting the tax and then giving it back as a refund violates the federal food stamp program…
Read More »It is a completely different type of ballot initiative campaign that Florida Governor Rick Scott is undertaking. Scott recently announced plans to push for an amendment to the state constitution that would require a supermajority in order for state taxes to be increased. Scott, who is term-limited out of office this year and expected to…
Read More »OK, he may not have actually killed it, but declaring it DOA in Albany is about as close to terminal as it gets. A few weeks back, New York City mayor Bill de Blasio endorsed the idea of increasing the city income tax on an individual making more than $500,000 ($1 million for couples) by…
Read More »In so many ways, it could be described as poetic justice, but the federal government has threatened to withhold as much as $87 million from Cook Country as a result of their imposition of a countrywide tax on sugary beverages. The rub comes from the fact that purchases made with food stamps are exempt from…
Read More »
