I HATE WASTE

I hate wasting time, money, talent, assets, energy, strength, ambition, motivation, years of life.

How do these things get wasted?

• Acceptance of mediocrity. 
• Doing things the way they have always been done. 
• Stupid rules.
• Bureaucracy. 
• Conformity. 
• Busy work.
• Fighting fires.
• Wrong priorities. 
• Lack of clear direction. 
• Afraid of change.
• Desire to stay in comfort zone.
• Fear. 
• Improper management and allocation of resources.
• No collaboration. 
• Afraid to share.
• Ego.
• Lack of knowledge. 
• Pride.
• Wrong measurement. 
• Playing follow the leader. 
• Not raising your hand.
• Not asking questions. 
• Not speaking up.

Is your firm full of waste?

What can YOU do today to help your company or clients reduce waste?

Is your life full of waste?

What can you do today to live more fully? 

the Villain of State Taxation

Who is the 'villain' of state taxation? 

Unfortunately, there isn't just one villain. The villain is made up of several items. Here are a few:

• unintended consequences of 'grey' legislation
• regulations that alter the intention of statutes
• computer generated notices that cause corporations to pay instead of challenge
• retroactive law changes to allow states to avoid paying refunds
• state budgets that can't balance without imposing unconstitutional taxes
• wasteful government programs that make it necessary to raise taxes
• companies not paying what they may legally owe because of bad tax policy and legislation
• companies being penalized for legally lowering their taxes

If there is a 'villain,' who is the hero? 

We are the hero. By working together (corporate tax departments, state tax consultants and government officials / employees), we can create acceptable tax policy and legislation that balances state budgets in a constitutional manner, and causes corporations to pay what they legally owe without overreaching or unintended consequences.

When we don't work together, the villain gets stronger. The complexity grows. The unintended consequences of our actions go deeper. Being the hero requires cooperation. Do we have what it takes?

State Tax 'Think Tankers'

Who will be the next generation of state tax 'think tankers'? 

We have had great leaders in the SALT profession, you know the group of thought leaders, national tax office prognosticators, prolific professors that tell us what each case means, that tell us the impact proposed legislation will have. They are the ones that tell us what legislation is 'good' and what legislation is 'bad.' They speak at every seminar. They write the articles we read. They handle the big cases. They provide advice to the largest corporations. They are the ones we look up to. 

We have enjoyed their leadership for decades. My question is, who is next? Who will lead us in the future? Will it be you? Will it be someone else?

Those of you who work tirelessly in large corporate tax departments, are you holding onto a wealth of knowledge that needs to be released? Are you looking for an outlet? Are you wanting the opportunity to raise your hand and voice?

Those of you who are learning the ropes in a large firm. Are you looking for an opportunity to speak your mind? To share your thoughts? To express what you are learning?

We all have visions of the future. Aspirations. Dreams. To make those dreams come true, we all have the same requirement - we must start where we are. 

We don't know who will be the next state tax 'think tankers.' But one thing we do know, it could be you.

When Will Your State Make Tax Law Changes?

If you are looking for some insight into 'when' your state will make tax law changes in 2016, I have provided a link to Multistate Associates schedule of state legislative session dates, and a Map of Current Legislative Sessions.

Let me know if you have any questions or any insights into what changes your state may make. Some of the hot topics or possibilities seem to be a continuation of prior years, depending on what your state has enacted in the past:

1. Imposing nexus on remote retailers for sales tax collection purposes
2. Market-Based Sourcing for apportionment of services
3. Combined Reporting
4. Single-Sales Factor apportionment
5. Tax Haven legislation
6. Transfer Pricing 
7. Addback legislation for related party expenses
8. Sales taxation of services
9. Credits and Incentives

Building the Innovation Nation

I provided a link to this site (govtech.com) yesterday in the LEVERAGE SALT LinkedIn group and got feedback that it was an interesting site. To help ensure you didn't miss it, I thought I would post a link via this blog as well.

State Tax Haven Legislation Got you Down? Read COST Report.

The State Tax Research Institute (STRI), a foundation affiliated with the Council On State Taxation (COST) released a study on state “tax haven” legislation. The report, “State Tax Haven Legislation: A Misguided Approach to a Global Issue,” provides an in-depth analysis of the problems, fallacies, and risks associated with adopting tax haven legislation.  

States have been attempting to reach income that they perceive is escaping taxation through sophisticated tax planning for the past 20+ years. To that end, states have enacted economic nexus, addback rules for related party transactions, worldwide combined reporting and scrutinized transfer pricing studies. Over the past couple of years, tax haven legislation has gained some traction as a new tool to combat unintended consequences created by state tax policy.

If tax haven legislation is impacting or could impact your company, read the COST report for a detailed analysis. It may help you defend your company or lobby against such legislation.