This quiz was designed to test your knowledge of basic tax forms every small business owner should know. Are you ready to put your knowledge to the test?
Tax Form Challenge: How Well Do You Know Your Basic Small Business Tax Forms? Read More »
Business licensing is one of the most confusing aspects when starting a new small business since it varies so much from state to state and from industry to industry.
How to Know If You Need a Business License Read More »
Being Self-Employed Is Not in The Economic Interest of the IRS. They Get Paid Less Frequently, Earn Less, And Expend More Effort to Process
4 Reasons the IRS Really Does Not Want You to Be Self-Employed Read More »
When it Comes To Raising the Minimum Wage, the Real Winner is the Government and the Real Losers are Workers. Here is What You Need To Know.
The Truth About Why A National Minimum Wage Is A Devastating Idea Read More »
Why politics and calls for more taxes paid by the rich will hollow out the small business community that creates 1.5 million jobs annually and account for 64% of new jobs created in the United States
Taxes – How New “Tax The Rich” Policies Will Destroy Small Business Read More »
By the 1980s, businesses had declared victory and backed off. However, as I write this we are in the midst of a Presidential election. The current Republican administration has rolled back many of the previous administration regulations. However, the prospect of a Democratic White House and Senate after the election would create a whiplash effect as their goals are to usher in unpredicted levels of new regulations as they commit to climate change initiatives. Moreover, polarizing politicians and the media continues is fanned the flames of discontent among the working class and minorities to rise up. The table is potentially getting set just like it was in 1970 before Powell wrote his now-famous memo.
How to Spark a Business Revolution – The Powell Letter Read More »
It Is Always A Good Idea To Review Your Risk Exposure From Time To Time And Develop A Plan To Deal With Things Before You Are Forced To Deal With Them During A Crisis.
How to Determine Your Financial and Governmental Business Risk Read More »
Misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor can prove to be a very expensive mistake for a business.
How to Avoid Misclassifying an Employee as an Independent Contractor Read More »
While being self-employed, a freelancer, a jobber, and even having a side-hustle technically make you a business owner, you’re are not a small business in the eyes of the government or lenders.
You are not a Small Business in the Eyes of the Government Read More »
The changing landscape of the US tax code continues to create tailwinds for the business owner. Today, when it comes to earned income, the amount you make may matter less as compared to how you make it giving rise to more small businesses. With the massive surge toward small business ownership will be an increased need for qualified small business knowledge.
Epic Tax Code Changes to Increase Interest in Entrepreneurship Read More »
while the government may understand the importance of small business in the overall economy, its definition often differs from the way most entrepreneurs may define them. As a result, the methods in which the government can inject money are primarily limited to guaranteeing loans and creating projects for a narrow slice of the business community.
The Feeble Role of Government to Stimulate Small Business Read More »
Understanding monetary policy is critical to understanding why our lives are the way they are. Unfortunately, economics is often viewed by the vast majority of citizens with confusion and boredom. Financial jargon coupled with intimidating mathematics quickly deters people from any attempt at understanding it. That said, our established monetary system exists as one of
Our Fragile Monetary System Read More »
Each time we embark on a new election season, I can’t help noticing that red vs. blue has given way to establishment vs. outsiders. In recent years, during their campaigns, politicians have marketed themselves as the candidate who will bring change to Washington, or in other words, the establishment. Yet once they are elected, they
Red vs. Blue → Establishment vs. Outsider Read More »
As I write this article, we are in the midst of the political season. Candidates continue to talk about the fact that the middle class in the last decade is not making any progress. They are calling for minimum wage increases to improve their standard of living. I, however, believe they are looking at the
Are You Better Off? Read More »
Some would say that Google has a monopoly on the search engine market with over 2/3 of all search traffic. Microsoft’s Bing is a distant number two with less than 1/5 of the search engine market. Is Google a monopoly that needs to be busted up like AT&T or Standard Oil for the good of
Monopoly Is a Matter of Perspective Read More »
The federal government killed the Industrial Revolution by squelching successful entrepreneurs such as JP Morgan, JD Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie and spinning a story for its own political gain
How to Stop the American Industrial Revolution Read More »
As the federal government grows, it creates incredible drag in the economy. Federal agencies were initially enacted to protect the consumer from bad actors but has expanded its reach to protect the consumer from the consumer. Each time some undesirable event occurs, it creates an imperative to create yet another federal agency. Once created, these
Federal Government Overreach Read More »
We all know that schools exist to teach our kids. However, what they teach may not be what you think. The first schools in America were created in New England and primarily taught religion. However, while schools have evolved to teach reading, writing, math, and science, they still teach values to our children. Classrooms have
Public Schools Are Broken Read More »
Community leaders are always interested in creating a vibrant economy to provide prosperity for their citizens. Promoting entrepreneurship is often at the heart of any economic development initiative. However, entrepreneurship comes in many different flavors from technology start-ups to micro-enterprises. Moreover, small business enterprises run the gambit from high growth companies to more static main
Make Entrepreneurship Easier Read More »
Recessions and depressions cause citizens to demand action from the government, providing the spark and the fuel to drive bigger government. Take for instance the Great Depression, which started in October 1929 and lasted through most of the 1930s. In June 1928 the Federal Reserve thought that the booming stock market would cause inflation, so
The Answer is Always More Government Read More »
No matter where you look, someone, is talking about the Affordable Care Act, aka ObamaCare. What frustrates me in all these discussions is that healthcare insurance has taken on a life of its own. By my definition, it is out of control because it is no longer insurance. Insurance, such as auto insurance or homeowners
The New Super Insurance Read More »
Social Security is a major component of payroll in any business. Social Security is essentially a federally administered fixed annuity. A fixed annuity is a readily available commercial insurance product where a person makes periodic deposits in return for fixed future payouts. With a fixed annuity the issuer (the insurance company or the government) assumes
Do We Need Social Security? Read More »
My grandparents legally immigrated to the US from Germany after WWI. With an identified sponsor and a trade, the path to legal immigration was open to them. Today this is not the case, so what is different today? The answer is robust social welfare programs paid for by citizens, who often make more than new
Illegal Immigration is Good Read More »
That got me thinking about the role licensing plays in business. A common belief is that state licensing is necessary to protect the public from bad actors. The reality could not be further from the truth. Can you imagine a group of people getting together and spending their time and money to create a petition
Is Licensing Really Necessary? Read More »
I recently read an article about Uber Taxi that got me thinking about the role the government plays in creating monopolies. For those not familiar, taxis are licensed and are given a medallion to prove they are licensed. Uber Taxi is a ride-sharing mobile application where any car owner can list their location and make
Monopolies Require Government Assistance Read More »
Wealth can be defined as a measure of one’s assets in the form of cash and equivalents as well as the market value of ones physical and intangible assets. These assets are accumulated during one’s lifetime with after-tax income. Therefore, the current use of graduated income tax rates, which applies to ones earned income, interest
Graduated Income Tax Accelerates Wealth Divide Read More »
In the news, you often see that the US accuses China of being a currency manipulator by artificially keeping their currency low. If their currency were allowed to rise, goods produced in China would get more expensive in the US and we would buy less of them. Higher prices would mean that Americans would have
How to Leverage China’s Currency Manipulation to Your Advantage Read More »
A trade deficient or a trade surplus unto themselves are not necessarily bad things. A trade deficit simply means that you buy more from your trading partner than he buys from you. The opposite is true with a trade surplus. You have a trade deficit with Wal-Mart, but a trade surplus with your employer. If
Understanding the Trade Deficit for American Business Read More »
Taxing the rich reduces the relative incentives and encourages more coasters. In school, smarter people should not get a harder test simply by the virtue that they work harder than the slackers that do not study. We should reward people for risking their personal capital to start a business that creates employment. Rewarding lucky risk
Is Taxing The Rich Sound Economic Policy? Read More »
Economies grow through incentives or the lack of disincentives for business investment. In pro-business countries like the US, the cost to lay off an employee can range from two weeks to six months of the person’s salary. In pro-labor countries, like many in the Europe Union, the cost to lay off an employee can exceed
Pro-Labor or Pro-Business? Read More »
When I hear politicians say that we need to bring more offshore manufacturing jobs back to the US, to me it is like saying that we need to move more employment back to the farms. Often the dialog related to manufacturing jobs includes references to more skilled jobs with higher wages. There is one very
Manufacturing is Not The Answer Read More »
With the federal deficit out of control, at some point, the government will need to raise tax revenues through tax increases or tariffs if for no other purpose but to pay off the interest of the debt. Levying more taxes on individuals, or more accurately voters directly is political suicide. Perhaps politicians will get more
Get Ahead of Tax Legislation Read More »
The events playing out in the news over the past month, with Secretary of State John Kerry trying to broker peace talks between Israel and Palestine, got me thinking about how much national economic conditions affect a country’s bargaining position.  More specifically, I was thinking about the role a nation’s attitude toward business creation
The Currency of National Wealth Read More »
To get elected Politicians need both money to campaign and, ultimately, votes. Â Massaging the tax code is a favored way of getting both money and votes. Offering tax credits to an industry gets you money from lobbyists to fund your campaign. Â Providing tax credits related to mortgages, childcare, or education to the voting public buys
Taxes Are The Currency Of Politics Read More »
