Returning Value Blog

The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (H.R. 3684) will inject approximately $3 trillion into upgrading and expanding U.S. infrastructure, presenting a long horizon of opportunity for the construction industry.

Financial statements tell only part of the story. Investors, lenders, and other stakeholders who know how to identify red flags of impending problems can protect their own financial interests. Additional due diligence may be needed to uncover these issues. For instance, stakeholders might need to talk to management, visit the company’s website and compute financial benchmarks using the company’s most recent financial statement. Here’s what to look for.

The Biden administration, on March 28, issued its fiscal year 2023 budget, which would reduce the national deficit by approximately $1 trillion over 10 years primarily by increasing the corporate tax rate to 28% and introducing a minimum tax on billionaires.

Convergence of the Industry

The automotive industry is experiencing a convergence of disruptions unlike any seen since 1910. Autonomous, connectivity, electrification, mobility, and subscription business models are reshaping the automotive industry and creating a frenzy of activity.

2021 was the first full year that the global economy cycled through the pandemic. What were the predictions going into 2021, and where did we actually end up? Here we take a look at how the real estate and construction industries fared last year and where they’re headed in 2022.

Inflation vs. Inflationary Pressure

Concerns about the elevated inflationary environment continue to persist. There are numerous contributing factors, such as a rapid increase in wages, energy prices, and an imbalanced global supply chain with demand vs. supply for many goods and services far from equilibrium. To better understand these factors, it is essential to first distinguish inflation from inflationary pressure. Inflation is typified by a sustained increase in the general price levels in an economy, while inflationary pressure is described as either a leading indicator of actual inflation or temporary pricing increases due to isolated or short-term events.

As the U.S. entered 2021, many assumed that newly elected President Joe Biden, along with Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, would swiftly enact tax increases on both corporations and individuals to pay for the cost of proposed new infrastructure and social spending plans, potentially using the budget reconciliation process to do so. Since then, various versions of tax and spending measures have been negotiated and debated by members of Congress and the White House. As 2021 heads to a close, tax increases are still expected, but the timing and content of final changes are still not certain. 

A version of H.R. 5376 (the Build Back Better Act), released on October 28, 2021, by the House Budget Committee, eliminates many of the previously proposed tax increases that would have impacted individuals.

The Social Security Administration recently announced that the wage base for computing Social Security tax will increase to $147,000 for 2022 (up from $142,800 for 2021). Wages and self-employment income above this threshold aren’t subject to Social Security tax.

On September 13, 2021, the House Ways and Means Committee released draft legislation that proposes a series of tax increases and tax cuts, which will undergo a round of markups by the committee over the next few days. Most tax proposals were anticipated; however, the House provided a few surprises.