Returning Value Blog

There’s little doubt that the economy as a whole closed out 2016 on a particularly high note as the Dow Jones Industrial Average nearly reached the unprecedented 20,000 mark. But despite that broad performance, did the manufacturing sector in particular fare similarly well during this past year?

Many manufacturers aren’t aware that activities they perform in the daily course of their work fall under the classification of research and development activities and could, therefore, be eligible for valuable federal and state tax credits. In 1981, the federal government implemented the Research and Experimentation tax credits to create jobs and spur technological innovation. Familiarly known as research and development (R&D) tax credits, the program was intended as a temporary measure that lawmakers hoped would give the economy a boost.

Perhaps you’ve heard of the Last In, First Out (LIFO) method, but were uncertain what it means, what it’s used for, and why it may be important.

Divide interest into these categories

Are interest expenses deductible? The answer is a complicated “yes and no.” Essentially, it depends on the type of interest expense incurred. Although there are technically other types, interest expenses can be lumped into four main baskets for tax purposes. 

Should auld tax rulings be forgot, and new ones take their place, we’ll give a cup of good advice, to help our clients keep pace.

Designed to encourage investment in innovation, R&D tax credits can sometimes be overlooked by fabricated metals products manufacturers, when in fact they are accessible to many small- and medium-sized manufacturers in the sector. It’s important to note that a company need not necessarily be producing an end product to qualify. Often, fabricated metals producers are engaging in projects aimed at implementing design, manufacturing or process improvement at the parts level. While many may not feel that such projects fall under the scope of R&D, many of the investments in improvement made by fabricated metals manufacturers to stay competitive in fact qualify as R&D from the government’s perspective.

As another year draws to a close, the tax moves you make or don’t make, can have a significant impact on your 2015 tax return. Fortunately, there are plenty of tax-saving opportunities available to individual taxpayers, even if certain tax provisions are not resolved until the waning days of the year. Here are seven ways you may be able to reduce your tax bill for 2015.

The summer is not just the season for recreation and relaxation. It can also be the time to reduce your 2015 tax liability. Here are eight prime examples for individuals and small-business owners:

The U.S. manufacturing industry is in the midst of a comeback. Manufacturers are gladly shifting from securing demand to meeting demand. However, reworking the U.S. transportation infrastructure is essential to the success of this progress.

What to Look For

If you’re the owner of a profitable operating business selling into foreign countries, and most of your production costs are in the U.S., you may have an opportunity to gain considerable tax savings.

The Opportunity

Since the passage of the Jobs Act of 2004, any U.S. company that directly exports goods it manufactures here may create an Interest Charge (IC) Domestic International Sales Corporation (DISC), or IC-DISC, to act as the “selling agent” for your operating business. What does this mean? An IC-DISC is an underutilized tax incentive that is “the bucket of money in the parking lot.”