Over the weekend a client emailed me an article about Connecticut’s Borgeson Universal Co. It produces steering components and has operated in Torrington, Connecticut since 1914. It is leaving Connecticut for South Carolina because business is no longer doable or wanted in Connecticut. Here is the article: With the Litchfield hills and Connecticut in our rear-view mirror as we move our 101-year-old manufacturing company to South Carolina, we are nostalgic, excited, and disappointed. We love Torrington and Connecticut but not all the things the General Assembly and the governor have done to … [Read more...]
What We’re Reading 11-23-2015
Elizabeth Warren's Tax Warning - WSJ Argentina Shifts Right - The Guardian Why Housing Hasn't Lifted the Economy Much - WSJ Reining in a Sprawling Federal Reserve - WSJ The Downside of Stock Buybacks - Reuters The Best Year-end Tax Moves - Fortune … [Read more...]
These are America’s Most Competitive States
The Tax Foundation has released its 2016 State Business Tax Climate Index. Here are the 10 best and the 10 worst states according to the index. The 10 best states in this year’s Index are: 1. Wyoming 2. South Dakota 3. Alaska 4. Florida 5. Nevada 6. Montana 7. New Hampshire 8. Indiana 9. Utah 10. Texas The 10 lowest ranked, or worst, states in this year’s Index are: 41. Maryland 42. Ohio 43. Wisconsin 44. Connecticut 45. Rhode Island 46. Vermont 47. Minnesota 48. California 49. New York 50. New Jersey Read the full report here: [gview … [Read more...]
How High are Your State’s Corporate Income Taxes?
Do you live in a bustling corporate tax paradise like Texas? Or are enduring a confiscatory nightmare like the small business owners of Washington D.C.? This map from The Tax Foundation lays out the details on where in America you can go to find the most favorable tax rates for your small business. … [Read more...]
Top 5 Loser States
You don’t want to be stuck in a loser state. In 2013 more than 200,000 people left states with Democrat governors for ones with Republicans according to Americans for Tax Reform. "People move away from high tax states to low tax states. Every tax refugee is sending a powerful message to politicians," said ATR President Grover Norquist. "They are voting with their feet. Leaders in Texas and Florida are listening. New York and California are not." From ATR: Top 5 loser states for Democrat governors in 2013: New York (114,929 people with $5.7 billion in AGI) Illinois (68,943 people … [Read more...]
Is Your State Welcoming Businesses?
The Tax Foundation's great research shows businesses the best places in the country for setting up shop. A state with a failing grade should be a warning to local politicians that they're doing something wrong when it comes to stimulating the job creators and entrepreneurs. First take a look at The Tax Foundation's 2015 State Business Tax Climate map. Is your state failing or succeeding in creating a welcoming climate for business? Now spend some time leafing through The Tax Foundation's Location Matters report. You'll see differences in the treatment of new and mature businesses, … [Read more...]
Has Warren Buffett Lost His Mind?
Leave it to good ole' Warren Buffett to create a stir. In a recent op-ed in The Wall Street Journal, he calls for an expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to help low-income workers. How about a reduction in the size of government instead Mr. Buffett? Let workers keep more of what they make and this economy would be much better off. If government is such a great wealth transmission system, why not donate your money to the Treasury rather than the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation? Elite businessmen like Buffett do nothing to help this economy when they forget about the successful … [Read more...]
Tax Day: Top 20% Pay 80%
As if April 15th wasn't depressing enough the WSJ reminds us that the top 20% of earners pay 84% of the income tax. The bottom 20% get's paid by Uncle Sam. Who pays what in income taxes? With April 15 just around the corner, filers may be curious about where they fit into the system as a whole. The individual income tax remains the most important levy in the U.S., providing nearly half of federal revenue. This is unusual: On average, developed nations get only one-third of their revenue from income taxes. Typically they also impose national consumption taxes, such as a value-added tax, … [Read more...]
Is a 28% Investment Tax in Your Future?
I didn't catch President Obama’s state of the Union Address this week as I am sure many of you didn't either. There more pressing issues to address (like scrubbing the grout on my kitchen floor) than listening to a lame duck president boxed in on policy by an opposition Congress. I read about Obama’s speech though. His message was predictable—tax more and spend more. But the president did catch my attention with his proposal to raise the capital gains tax rate. He wants to hike the capital gains rate to 28%, as if 24% isn't high enough already. Raising the capital gains tax rate is … [Read more...]
Obama’s Motives for Raising the Capital Gains Tax
All you need to know about Obama’s motives for wanting to raise the capital gains tax in a one minute video. This is from the 2008 campaign. Does it sound as half-baked to you as it does to me? … [Read more...]