Archive for July 2018
Head and Heart: “Real” Employee Engagement Reduces Turnover, Increases Productivity
Most annual performance reviews and employee surveys include a section about employee engagement, a nebulous catch-all category that attempts to measure how “sticky” employees feel toward their job and the company. The questions are often along these lines: Do you have a best friend at work? Would you recommend your company to your friends? Do…
Read MoreTop Tax Mistakes Attorneys Make
Most attorneys work tirelessly to advance their careers and earn a particular salary. So, don’t let some common tax mistakes end up costing you money. Whether you are a partner at your law firm, work as a solo practitioner, or are an attorney working for an employer, there are a number of common tax mistakes…
Read MoreService Contract Labor Standards (SCA) Minimum Health and Welfare Amounts Increased
Effective July 11, 2018, the Department of Labor (DOL) increased the prevailing health and welfare (HW) fringe rate under the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act (SCA), or Service Contract Labor Standards (SCLS), to $4.48 an hour. The new rate is a $0.07 increase from the previous rate of $4.41 an hour. This rate applies to contracts…
Read MoreVirginia Rules That Nexus is Created by In-State Contractor Marketing to Out-of-State Customers
Virginia ruled that a business has sales/use tax nexus in the state when it has an independent contractor who solicits sales from a location in the state, even if all of his target customers are outside of the state. By Tina M. Chunn, SALT senior manager Sales tax nexus has become a very hot topic these…
Read MoreNew York Court Upholds Double Taxation of Dual Resident on Investment Income
A recent New York court opinion held that a resident of two states could be taxed by both states on investment income and that neither state is required to provide a tax credit for taxes paid to the other. States have the authority to tax their own residents’ income, no matter what the source, as…
Read MoreWayfair and Sales Tax Nexus: Let the Aftermath Begin
There has been a flurry of state activity leading up to and following the Wayfair decision, as states begin the process of sorting out when and how they will enforce these new rules. It has been approximately six weeks since the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, which we wrote about…
Read MoreNorth Carolina Court Rules That State Can’t Tax Trust Based Solely on Resident Beneficiary
The North Carolina Supreme Court ruled that, pursuant to the Due Process Clause of the Constitution, the state could not tax a trust based solely on the residence of its beneficiaries, opening the door for potential refund claims in North Carolina and other states. The state taxation of trusts is a complex area because there…
Read MoreMichigan Provides Guidance on the Unitary Business Group
Determining whether related entities constitute a unitary business group that is required to file a combined return is complicated, but a recent Michigan advisory helped to shed some light on the matter. By Jess Johannesen, SALT Manager On May 23, 2018, the Michigan Department of Treasury released a Revenue Administration Bulletin (“RAB”) that describes the control…
Read MoreReal Estate Turns to Real-Time Video to Catch Thieves, Save Money
It was the middle of the night when the would-be thief canvassed the site of the mixed-use development that was under construction. He was wearing a dark colored jacket and jeans, with a baseball cap and the scruffy beginning of a beard. The man yanked on the door handles of the nearly completed building, then…
Read MoreKeep High-Potential Millennials Engaged & Challenged With Thoughtful Resource Allocation
Many managers assign important projects and allocate resources with a short mental checklist: who has expertise in this area, and who’s got bandwidth to tackle it? That’s a shortsighted and limiting way to run an enterprise in this fast-changing competitive landscape. There is more competition than ever before for the best talent, especially among Millennials,…
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