Lamar Whitman Posts

In April, we noted that legislation had been introduced in the House to require a distinct physical presence as a prerequisite for the taxation of interstate business activities.  If this legislation is not enacted, businesses could be subjected to conflicting income tax requirements of competing states on the same transaction, and this will result in increased compliance costs.So now that this legislation has been introduced, how do we move it along?  The key is to show a broad base of support ...

Even as discussions about tax reform are continuing in D.C., the reality that reform might not be accomplished soon is beginning to set in.  Sure, we need a simpler and more efficient tax system, and we also need additional tax revenues that can be gained from closing loopholes.  However, considering the ongoing impasse in Congress, how do we get there?Part of the answer might be forced by the negotiations on increasing the nation’s debt limit, which will/must be addressed by the end of July.  H ...

As a member of The Government Withholding Relief Coalition, we urge you to add your name to the National Sign-on Letter calling for repeal of the new 3% federal tax withholding requirement on payments made by most government entities. Scheduled to go into effect in 2012, this law would require all federal, state and local government entities and instrumentalities to withhold three percent of payments made for goods and services.  The bottom line here is:  This withholding will result in decrease ...

By a vote of 387 – 33, the House voted yesterday to extend the popular SBIR/STTR programs which were set to expire on the same day, May 31. The Senate already had passed the extension on May 26 by unanimous consent.  The extension is only for four months and will expire after September 30.  All anticipate that the President will sign this extension into law.In an earlier post, we noted that legislation, which would have both extended and enhanced these programs, was stymied by controversy surro ...

Just a month ago, the SBIR/STTR reauthorization legislation seemed poised for passage in the Senate, then something happened:  Amendments. One of the biggest controversies involved how to attach an amendment that would repeal the 1099 repeal provision; that controversy was solved when the 1099 repeal provision was introduced as stand-alone legislation, which ultimately passed.  It seemed at the time that removing the 1099 amendment from the SBIR/STTR legislation removed some of the urgency for m ...

This week the IRS issued final regulations to implement the three-percent federal income tax withholding requirement on government contract payments.  Enacted into law in 2006, this provision requires all federal, state and local government entities and instrumentalities to withhold three percent of payments made for goods and services.  Initially set to go into effect in 2010, legislative extensions had pushed the effective date to January 1, 2012.  And, in an unexpected twist, the IRS regulati ...

Legislation remains pending in both the House and Senate that would re-authorize the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Program.  Both programs are set to expire on May 31st.   The Senate legislation would extend the program through 2019, while the House legislation would extend through 2014.Even though the core of this legislation is bi-partisan, dealing with proposed amendments has bogged down action, especially in the Senate, wh ...

SBA Advocacy recently released an important report, “An Examination of the 2001 IRS Tax Gap Estimates’ Effects on Small Businesses.”  The “tax gap” is the difference between the tax that is collected and the tax that should be collected.   In the current budgetary climate, this term is becoming more important. In 2007, the IRS released a report on the estimated 2001 tax gap.  That report found over a third ($109B out of $290B) of the estimated non-collected tax gap was due to underreporting of b ...

For years now, Congress has kicked the subject of tax reform down the road.  Even so, most everyone is in agreement that the tax laws and regulations are too complex, that the system is inefficient, and that compliance costs are too high. The last major tax reform occurred in the 1980s.  Lessons to draw from that exercise are that any industry – including technology – must be prepared to analyze and advocate when major legislative proposals are being developed. Last year, the President’s Commiss ...

The House introduced a new version of Business Activity tax legislation this week, H.R. 1439, the Business Activity Tax Simplification Act of 2011.  During the last Congress, CompTIA urged passage of similar legislation, which would have provided distinct physical presence requirements as a prerequisite for the taxation of interstate business activities.  On Wednesday, April 13, the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law held a hearing on this new legislation for which ...