Category: Tax
Increased Charitable Giving in the Time of COVID: Philanthropic or Tax-Driven?
Even before the global COVID-19 pandemic hit, retailers across the country were already prioritizing charitable giving despite the existing downward trend in sales and revenue. With the recent global COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdowns, closures, and bankruptcies, retail revenue has further decreased. Still, some companies took this opportunity...
REIT Issues for Retail Leasing Professionals
As retail leasing continues to evolve, real estate investment trust (REIT) landlords, retail tenants and the business / advisory teams on both sides will want to ensure that REIT issues are surfaced and negotiated before the lease is signed, averting unpleasant surprises and renegotiations down the road. With proper...
All Eyes on G-20 as Additional Tariffs Loom
Last week, Bloomberg reported that Toys “R” Us is in the early stages of a comeback, led by former executive and Tru Kids Inc. CEO Richard Barry, with designs on opening about a half-dozen stores in time for the 2019 holiday season. You can bet they’ll be keeping a...
‘Tis Always the Season for a Pop-up
With Tax Day just around the corner, there is a good chance that you find yourself (along with millions of other Americans) scrambling to get your taxes filed at the last minute. You also might notice the temporary tax service shops that seem to pop up at the local...
Opportunity Zones Steal the Show
ICSC's 2019 Mid-Atlantic Conference and Deal MakingThe Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center played host to the ICSC's 2019 Mid-Atlantic Conference and Deal Making event last week. After being snowed out last year, the conference rebounded with high attendance and spectacular views of the Potomac River. The overall mood of attendees was surprisingly upbeat given the...
Technology Shifts the Retail Landscape for Open Air Centers
ICSC's OAC Summit 2019I just returned from ICSC's OAC Summit, which was held in Austin last week. For those how have not yet attended this conference, the OAC is not a deal making conference like many other ICSC conferences. Rather, the OAC is a relationship building and information sharing event, attended largely by...
Sales Tax Holidays: Serious Savings or Serious Stunt?
This past Friday, consumers across Massachusetts were pleasantly surprised with news of the last-minute approval by the Baker administration of a weekend sales tax holiday. Despite local retailers griping about the eleventh hour prep involved with planning, stocking, staffing and marketing such an event, consumers were rewarded with savings...
A Changed World: The Supreme Court Permits State and Local Taxation of Online Sales by Retailers with No State Presence
A Changed View of Online Sales Tax for Out-of-State RetailersWith the growing and evolving retail world, which we have discussed before , one thing had remained constant: retailers did not have to collect sales tax for online sales to states in which they had no physical presence. Thanks to the Supreme Court, that principle had remained a...
What Does Tax Reform Mean for Retail?
We all know now that the federal corporate tax rate for many retailers is dropping this year from an industry effective average rate of 32.9% to 21%, as a result of changes implemented by the so-called “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” which was signed into law on December 22...
To Tax or Not to Tax Internet Retailers, that is the Question
Since the dawn of the age of e-commerce, brick-and-mortar retailers have championed “the level playing field”. Their battle cry: Internet retailers should be subject to sales tax just like us! This disparity is largely the result of a 1992 US Supreme Court decision, Quill Corp. v. North Dakota...
The (Border) Adjustment Bureau: Hold On to Your (Imported) Hats
Retailers would be wise to pay close attention to the upcoming tax-plan deliberations of the 115th U.S. Congress. A proposal currently being considered would adjust the U.S. corporate tax by making imports a non-deductible expense. This adjustment is intended to create incentives for domestic production, as companies would no...
New Lease Accounting Rules Are Final: Retailers and, Ultimately, Landlords Can Expect Changes
We recently wrote about expected changes to the rules governing the way leases are accounted for on balance sheets and suggested the changes would have major implications for retailer tenants and longer term implications for landlords. Late last week, as expected, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued a suite...
Change in Lease Accounting Rules to Have Major Impact for Retailers, and Ultimately, Landlords Too
Rules governing the way leases are accounted for on balance sheet rules are expected to change in the first quarter of 2016 with major implications for retailer tenants and longer term implications for landlords. Today, real estate leases are generally not accounted for on most tenants’ balance sheets. That is...
Uber Drivers: Employees or Independent Contractors?
Since its founding in 2009, Uber has gained both praise and notoriety for shaking up the taxi industry by allowing individuals who meet minimum requirements to provide an on-demand car service via the Uber mobile app. In December 2014, there were 162,037 active Uber drivers in the United States...