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The
Republican business tax reform plan, also known as the House GOP Blueprint or
the Ryan-Brady plan, features a type of border-adjustable tax (BAT). Border
adjustability means that different tax rates apply within and outside the U.S.
It is a potentially new feature in U.S. taxation that is attracting controversy
and confusion. Border-adjustability has split both the Republican Party
and the business community, with some supporting it, some bitterly opposing it,
and some just trying to understand what it is. [more...]
Is the wall only to keep illegals out, or is it also to
keep the rich in? The Internal Revenue Service, which many hope Mr. Trump will
rein in, on January 25 asserted its power to revoke the passports of those the
IRS says owe taxes. In our latest book, Money,
Morality & The Machine, Craig R. Smith and I warned of this. This
new Progressive rule declares that citizens who owe taxes would not be
permitted to leave the United States. These citizens would be required to pay
the demanded tax and penalties to exit, or live out their lives without leaving
the United States under a kind of nationwide house arrest. [more...]
Big
news over the weekend came from states, organizations, and public and private
companies speaking out against President Trump’s immigration restrictions.
Moreover, the long-awaited Super Bowl commercials took their 30-second to
1-minute ad space to fuel the controversy. It seems that the heavyweights are
trying to warn the country that this action could hurt our economy. On Sunday,
major U.S. tech companies such as Alphabet (Google), Apple, Facebook, and
nearly 100 others, argued in a letter to the President that banning visitors
would hurt their businesses. [more...]
President
Trump signed a memorandum on February 3, 2017 which directs the Department of
Labor to undertake a new “economic and legal analysis” of a pending piece of
Dodd-Frank legislation - the new Department of Labor Fiduciary Rule - which was
to be implemented in April. The memorandum seeks to determine whether investors
and the financial industry have been and will be harmed by the directive, in
the areas of access to financial advice, access to investment products, job
loss within the financial industry, changes in investment costs and increased
litigation. Many news outlets misreported that the President issued an
executive order that halted implementation of the Fiduciary rule, but that was
not the case. “To the extent that the new analysis reveals problems, the Labor
secretary is directed to ‘publish for notice and comment a [new] proposed rule
rescinding or revising the rule.’” [more...]
With many expecting 2017 to be a promising year for businesses,
it is important to be knowledgeable on the changing landscape of the
professional world. Business trends which have taken shape over the last few
years are now becoming mainstream. 30-year-old brick and mortar businesses and
2-week-old startups are increasingly approaching the workplace with similar
strategies. Here are a few trends to look out for in 2017... [more...]
Uber
and Lyft represent freedom, capitalism, competition and the efficiency and
quality of the private sector vs. government.
I’m a business traveler. I’m away on business 25 or more times a year.
That’s at least 50 taxi rides to and from airports to my hotel. Plus another
100-plus taxi rides from my hotel to business meetings or conventions where I’m
giving a speech. That’s means I’ve taken 150 or more taxi rides a year for the
past 25 years. No more. I haven’t even gotten into a taxi once in the past
three years. I’ve replaced all those taxi rides with Uber. Taxis are as
obsolete as dinosaurs. This is the same reason so many people voted for Donald
Trump... because Trump is the Uber of politics. He represents freedom and
competition and the marvelous quality and efficiency of the private sector. [more...]
Last
week, Alaska Air Group finalized its $4 billion acquisition of Virgin America.
The merger brings together two beloved airlines which in some ways are similar
and other ways very different. Both carriers have loyal customer bases and
award-winning resumes. Alaska has always emphasized its customer service and
performance and has been awarded “Highest in Customer Satisfaction Among
Traditional Carriers in North America” by J.D. Power, nine years in a row.
Virgin America is revered by travelers for its innovative and high quality
in-flight experience, and has been named top airline in the country in Conde
Nast’s reader’s choice awards. The merged airline is surely positioned to
compete with the traditional “Big 4” U.S. airlines. [more...]
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