Returning Value Blog

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.

Forecasting key business metrics — such as sales demand, receivables, payables, and working capital — can help you reduce excess inventory and other overhead, offer competitive prices, and keep your business on solid financial footing. Although historical financial statements are often the starting point for forecasts, you’ll need to do more than just multiply last year’s numbers by a projected growth rate, especially in today’s uncertain marketplace.

Forecasting how your company is likely to perform over the next year can be challenging, especially when it’s unclear where the markets are heading. But accurate forecasts are critical when managing a business. For example, they may be used to order inventory, hire additional workers, apply for loans and credit lines, and evaluate investment alternatives.

With the increasing cost of employee health care benefits, your business may be interested in providing some of these benefits through an employer-sponsored Health Savings Account (HSA). For eligible individuals, an HSA offers a tax-advantaged way to set aside funds (or have their employers do so) to meet future medical needs. Here are the important tax benefits:

The IRS has issued guidance to employers on year-end reporting for sick and family leave wages that were paid in 2021 to eligible employees under recent federal legislation.

Many companies have resumed some level of business-related travel and entertainment (T&E) activities — or they plan to do so this fall. Unfortunately, these expense categories may be susceptible to incomplete recordkeeping and even fraud. So, it’s important for companies to implement formal T&E policies to ensure reporting is detailed and legitimate.

Since late 2017, taxpayers have been implementing the congeries of changes wrought by the most significant revisions to the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) in a generation, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). The interpretation and implementation of certain provisions of the TCJA are ongoing, as the Treasury and IRS continue to draft and finalize much-needed guidance.

• Infrastructure plan is an opportunity for the industry to improve its reputation
• Construction firms are entering into joint ventures to bid on large projects
• Data analytics can identify labor overages: case study

President Biden’s infrastructure plan is set to improve failing infrastructure, rebuild the economy and create new jobs. As of this writing, the plan, which Biden originally released on March 31 as a $2 trillion capital injection over 10 years, is a $579 billion proposal that has bipartisan agreement, though Democrats have signaled the bill may only move through Congress in tandem with a larger spending and tax increase package, which they may try to pass via the reconciliation process.

State and local governments are revisiting taxpayer compliance with nexus rules and other tax policies, considering new taxes on digital services, and reconsidering conformity with federal tax rules and legislation in an effort to rebuild their economies. The following is an in-depth look at five key state tax issues that taxpayers should begin considering now.