The straight line

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division (WHD) has announced that the minimum wage rate for federal contractors will increase from $10.20 per hour to $10.35 per hour, effective January 1, 2018. Background Information On February 12, 2014, President Obama signed Executive Order 13658 which established a minimum wage rate for federal contractors. The...

Establishing a winning position in the marketplace is obviously critical to your company’s success. The position, however, must be based on a sustainable competitive advantage. What constitutes an unbeatable advantage? There are two choices: You have consistently lower costs than your rivals. As long as your product or service maintains an acceptable quality level, this advantage...

Not that long ago, it was considered distasteful to mention a competitor’s name or show its trademark in ads. Instead the advertising industry came up with phrases like “Brand X” and “The Leading Brand.” Today, many ads go right for the gut: You can’t go a day without seeing bar graphs, taste tests and surveys directly...

The reporting requirements for claiming charitable contributions of cash on your tax return can be strict. If you don’t follow them, your deductions may be disallowed by the IRS. You should also be aware that stringent rules also apply to donations of non-cash property. Let’s review the key tax rules. Cash gifts: You cannot claim an itemized...

If you use part of your home as an office and take deductions for related expenses on your annual tax return, can you claim a valuable federal tax break when you sell? Specifically, can you claim the home sale gain exclusion of up to $250,000 for single taxpayers ($500,000 for married couples filing jointly)? In many cases,...

The IRS recently announced special tax relief for leave-based donation programs set up by employers to assist victims of Hurricane Harvey and Tropical Storm Harvey. Basics of Employer Programs Under a leave-based donation program, an employer can allow its employees to forgo their vacation, sick, or personal time off in exchange for cash payments made by...