Business and Law

Before getting involved into any business deductions, one should first have a good understanding of the business tax law. The business tax law involves the taxation of income and property acquired through professional efforts. In addition to income tax, there is sales tax, capital gains tax, property tax, and other areas of tax. Every business liable for income tax must keep a record of all transactions made so that the total amount of the gross income can be estimated. The interesting thing about business tax law are the changes made by the Bush administration with the ‘Tax Increase Preven-tion and Reconcilia-tion Act of 2005.’ This act includes several important business tax changes that will examine.

The new business tax law allows small business to deduct up to $100,000 of investments in qualifying depreciable assets through 2007. Also, under current law, the domestic manufacturing deduction is also limited to 50% of a taxpayer’s total W-2 wages. The new law modifies the wage limitation so that taxpayers may only include W-2 wages that are deducted in arriving at qualified production activities income.

For all you business owners out there, there are some advices that you can use in respect to those business tax law changes. First of all, you can continue to treat dividend payments at the lower rate.

The main business tax increases in the new law consists of – limiting the foreign earned income exclusion for housing expenses; repealing the foreign sales corporation and extraterritorial income exclusion benefits for certain “grandfathered” contracts; denying tax-free treatment to certain “cash-rich” spin-off transactions; and requiring withholding after 2010 on government contract payments.

The act also modifies certain corporate estimated tax payment requirements for large corporations (those with a minimum of $1 billion in assets), requires reporting of interest on tax-exempt bonds, and applies the earnings-stripping rules to corporate partners. Other business revenue-raisers affect foreign investors in U.S. real estate, major integrated oil companies and pooled financing bonds. Find out more about tax law and tools at http://www.localtaxabatement.com

According to the new business tax law, the self-employed tax contribution base is increased from $94,200 to about $102,000 in 2008. The self-employment tax rate continues to be 15.3%. The full rate applies to the first $102,000 of self-employment income; after that only the 2.9% Medicare tax applies.

Keep in mind that US business are taxed on their worldwide income. In other words, no matter where your business earns money from (in terms of geographic locations), it’s still treated as income taxable in the US. There is just one exception to this rule and it’s only if your business is located outside of the US and you reside there for most of the year.

Talking about business laws in microscopic detail would need a couple of months of your time! There is indeed a plethora of legislation that governs small businesses, ranging from state to county laws. Some are relevant to your business even today whereas others are outdated and have not been enforced since the early part of the last century!

It is not possible for any single entity, including your local law enforcement department to know them all. Yet, it is vital that you are familiar with at least the most important laws that pertain to your business. As usual we’re here to help.

Business laws fall into certain categories as listed below:

o Business formation laws – these laws pertain to the structure of the business. For example a sole proprietorship is regulated very differently from a corporation.

o Tax laws comprise laws pertaining to all taxation issues, whether it is the filing of returns or the payment of sales tax, corporate tax and other similar levies.

o Employment laws – these govern recruitment and retrenchment of employees, wages & workers’ compensation, unemployment benefits, workers’ rights and related issues.

o Trademark and patent laws – these laws pertaining to ownership of intellectual property such as inventions, trademarks and patents.

o Environmental laws – Companies engaged in the recycling of material and the discharge of hazardous waste must comply with environmental regulations.

o Consumer protection laws – these protect the consumer from fraud or unfair business or advertising practices.

Headache, already? Here are a few tips to help you deal with it.

One size doesn’t fit all. We just talked about some of the important legal categories under which you will find regulations that affect most businesses. In addition, specific laws may apply depending on the type of activity involved. If, for example, you are selling company stocks you will need to adhere to the Securities Law, but for a medical practice, there’s an entirely different set of rules that come into play. State laws may also dictate how contracts and legal documents are to be written and enforced.

Start at the beginning. Just as you craft a business plan in stages, look at the whole legal puzzle bit by bit. Begin with the laws pertaining to the basics of starting a business. Do you need a business license or a special permit? Are you planning to hire employees or will you go it alone? If your business sells goods, it will need to pay sales tax. Look at each business aspect carefully to understand which category of laws apply to it.

Know only what you need to. If you are in business by yourself, for example, you won’t need to bother with laws governing workers and staff until you are ready to hire additional people. Likewise, if you are in a service business, you typically won’t need to bother yourself with removal of hazardous waste.

See the bigger picture. As your business grows, so will the number of applicable laws. Always examine the legal angle when you plan new projects and initiatives. Also, discuss all potential significant legal matters with your advisor.

Ensure compliance. Be unafraid to ask questions of your legal advisor and do not assume something is legal just because it is a common trade practice. Also talk to the local Chamber of Commerce or other business owners to make sure you are on the right side of the law.

Make amends. Finally, should you find that you’ve contravened a law without intending to, take remedial measures. The law is quite lenient with first time offenders – of course, it also depends on the nature of the violation.

Having to deal with laws and legislation may seem a drag, but there’s no denying their importance. Taking adequate steps to ensure that you have to run into them only as much as you need to!