Waypoints: Ideas and Insights to Navigate Enterprise Complexity

In the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017, Congress established an Opportunity Zones program to increase long-term investment in community development programs. Congress hoped by designating the low-income communities as qualified opportunity zones that capital would flow to the communities to develop property and expand business in these areas, which would reduce poverty and increase employment. There are roughly 8,700 opportunity zones throughout the United States.

The Research & Development (R&D) Credit may be one of the most misunderstood and underused incentives in the federal tax code. There are a lot of myths about the credit that cause businesses to think that it doesn’t apply to them or that, if it does apply, the value is so limited that it doesn’t deliver a significant benefit. Here’s a look at a few of the misconceptions that have cost businesses millions in missed tax credits over the years.

Are you a small- or medium-sized company that exports its USA-made products to foreign countries? If so, are you taking advantage of a tax incentive known as an "interest charge-domestic international sales company" or IC-DISC?

The use of an IC-DISC allows you to significantly increase your company’s after-tax income. For example, profits are taxed at the dividend rate, as opposed to ordinary income tax rates that currently top out at 35 percent.

Last month, the City of Detroit demolished the 10,000^th vacant home in Mayor Mike Duggan's massive plan to eliminate blight in the city. Detroit was hit hard by the recession of 2008 and the corresponding drop in residential property values. As home values declined, homeowners couldn’t afford their mortgage payments and went into foreclosure. Currently, Detroit lists almost 140,000 homes in the foreclosure process with more foreclosures on the way.