PROVIDE REAL VALUE. NOT NOISE.

If you've been paying attention, which I'm sure you have, I am constantly changing my website and thinking of ways to market, re-market, re-package or change the way I present my services and myself. This is the life of a solo state tax consultant. I am always thinking. Always learning. AND I can implement changes whenever I want - maybe sometimes hastily, but I would rather be innovative and try things, then to be stuck in the trap of 'that's the way we have always done it,' or changes take time to get approved by layers of bureaucracy and by the time they get approved all momentum and enthusiasm about the change is long gone.

Life is too short to be the same as everybody else, and that is exactly what we have in the public accounting and law firm world. Everybody is the same. The same boring websites. The same descriptions. The same strategic visions. The same services. The same message. The same hot topics. Every firm is trying to be the first to write about a hot topic, or the first to go in-depth about a topic. I should know. I spend my days daily reviewing state tax developments and writing about them. I also conduct research for clients and attempt to provide insight and actionable, innovative, intelligence (I just made that term up, you can feel free to use it). 

There is so much 'noise' in the world. So much knowledge and information being spewed on the internet and social media, while you are just trying to do your job. The question is - what do you need to know to do your job? How can you best help your company or your client? Are you going deep enough into the details of the law, cases, etc. to find true value? Or are you just scratching the surface, going from meeting to meeting, running around with your head cut-off, waiting for lightning to strike? 

Life is too short to be boring. Too short to not take the risk to be creative. 

BE AUTHENTIC. BE REAL. DON'T TRY TO BE SOMETHING YOUR NOT.

What is your firm good at? What are you good at? How can you be different? How ARE you different? 

Be different. Be creative. Provide REAL VALUE, NOT NOISE.

27 State Tax & Business Developments You May Want to Know - August 9, 2017

The following are state tax and business developments I have curated since August 2nd, and posted in the LEVERAGE SALT LinkedIn group:

1. Michigan enacts Good Jobs for Michigan incentive program

2. California extends partial sales and use tax exemption for manufacturing and research and development equipment

3. Finishing SALT: Inside SALT’s Monthly Recap

4. Strategies for Managing State Debt

5. State Rundown 8/2: Legislative Tax Debates Wind Down as Ballot Initiative Efforts Ramp Up

6. Where States Get Their Money

7. Marketplace Seller Past Taxes Potentially Pardoned Under Plan

8. Board of Tax Appeals Decision a Real CATastrophe for Georgia-Based Wholesaler

9. California Appellate Court – Stock in a company that was integral to taxpayer’s business may be converted to nonbusiness investment prior to its sale

10. Texas Comptroller Revises Its Policy on Business Loss Carryforwards

11. New York City Tax on Rents Causing Trouble

12. Delaware Department of Finance Issues a Revised Proposed Reporting and Examination Manual

13. Minnesota Supreme Court - Disregarded foreign entity included in domestic owner’s combined group for pre-2013 years

14. CORPORATE CLOSE-UP: WHEN IS OWNERSHIP OF A SUBSIDIARY’S STOCK INTEGRAL TO A TAXPAYER’S TRADE OR BUSINESS?

15. Rhode Island Adds Requirements for Remote Retailers

16. Rhode Island Authorizes Tax Amnesty Program

17. Oregon Repeals Functional Test for Apportioned Income

18. Oklahoma Tax Amnesty Rules Issued

19. Ohio’s Commercial Activity Tax Applies to Forward Contracts

20. August 04, 2017 Illinois Appellate Court Issues Decision on Temporary Storage Exemption

21. Eversheds Sutherland SALT Shaker: July 2017 Digest

22. Finishing SALT: Inside SALT’s Monthly Recap

23. MTC Offers 16 State Marketplace Seller Amnesty Initiative

24. Pennsylvania Letter Ruling Holds Information Retrieval Products (online research services) Subject to Sales Tax

25. Rhode Island Issues Sales Tax Notice to "Retail Facilitators"

26. Check out Rhode Island's Site for Various Sales Tax Notices to Remote/Online Retailers/ Facilitators/Referrers, etc.

27. State sourcing income rules and considerations for hedge and private equity funds

The above represents 'general curating' of state tax developments into one spot. If you still feel overwhelmed by the volume of state tax developments, please consider my 'custom curating' service. Meaning, clients hire LS to daily curate state tax developments relating to a specific industry, state(s), tax type and issue. You can make it as granular as you prefer. This allows you to reduce information overload, and only get the information you need to help your clients or company. This service is provided on a fixed-fee or subscription basis. Contact me at strahle@leveragesalt.com.

25th Anniversary, 22 Year Career, High School Senior, 4 Year Old Firm, Building Something New

My wife and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary tomorrow (August 8th). We celebrated it over the weekend with a little get away in downtown Nashville. I set up the whole weekend to surprise my wife. We stayed in a fancy hotel and had a nice dinner. I had 25 long-stem red roses delivered to the room. It was a great weekend. 

In addition to being married for 25 years, I have been doing state taxes for 22 years. That sounds crazy. I used to look at people who had been in their career long and be like, "wow," you must really know your stuff. Now I am one of those. Crazy how time flies. Speaking of time, my oldest daughter will be a senior in high school which starts this week. We are busy talking about college options and whether college is still a good investment. I have lots of opinions on this, but will hold that for another day. 

As far as LEVERAGE SALT, LLC goes. If you have been following along, I started the LEVERAGE SALT blog in 2009. I started the LEVERAGE SALT LinkedIn group in 2012 and LEVERAGE SALT, LLC in 2013. Consequently, I have been on my own for 4 years. That even sounds like a long time to me. Needless to say, I have been more successful than I could have thought when I started LS, LLC. I have made more money and had more freedom than ever before. During that time, my family and I moved ourselves from Richmond, Virginia to Nashville, Tennessee and totally renovated a house on 16 acres. We built my wife's dream home. Crazy stuff. I don't say this stuff to brag. I say this stuff to tell you my story and let you know that life is too short to not go for what you want. What are you waiting for? Permission? 

Running your own firm, especially by yourself, can be lonely at times. I find myself wanting to work at a firm again just to have more interaction. However, once you have the money, the freedom is something you can't put a price on. 

One of the things I love about having my own firm is that I can implement ideas quickly. Perhaps sometimes too quickly. Regardless, I am continually thinking of new ideas, opportunities, ways to help state tax professionals do more, get more done, etc. without the bureaucracy of large firms. 

At my core, I love analyzing court cases, rulings, daily developments and writing about them. I also love handling controversy - I call it, "research with a purpose." You may have noticed that I am attempting to build a state tax controversy innovation center. The goal of the Center is to serve and promote state tax controversy professionals across the country by building a mastermind network, knowledge sharing publication, CPE, and various tools. 

I want to thank you for reading my blog. Following along on my crazy story. I hope you find my blog useful and my story helpful. 

Please connect with me on LinkedIn. Send me an e-mail. Subscribe to the blog. Join the LinkedIn group. I would love to hear your story. I may start promoting and sharing stories of other tax professionals on my blog in the near future. Lots of ideas. Lots of plans. 

Have a great week!

30 State Tax & Business Developments You May Want to Know - August 2, 2017

The following are state tax and business developments I have curated since July 27th, and posted in the LEVERAGE SALT LinkedIn group:

1. If you are not using checklists, what are you waiting for?

2. New York Petitioner asks whether its "Cloud Collaboration Service" is subject to sales tax and whether it owes any sales or use tax on its purchase of hardware and software.

3. YOUR SOURCE FOR ILLINOIS INCOME TAX GENERAL INFORMATION LETTER RULINGS

4. YOUR SOURCE FOR ILLINOIS SALES TAX GENERAL INFORMATION LETTER RULINGS

5. YOUR SOURCE FOR TENNESSEE TAX RULINGS

6. Comments on Today’s Joint Statement on Tax Reform

7. Testimony: The Role of Congress in State Taxation

8. Hawaii Hikes Income Taxes to Pay for Earned Income Credit

9. Governor Signed 2017–2019 Washington State Operating Budget and Compromise Legislation

10. MTC Nexus Committee Considering Voluntary Disclosure Proposal for Online Sellers with Inventory

11. New Hampshire Releases Reference Guide for Changes to Business Profits Tax and Business Enterprise Tax

12. DC Emergency Legislation Codifies Unincorporated Business & Franchise Tax Rate Reductions

13. Subcommittee within House Judiciary Committee Discusses Proposed Legislation that Would Codify a Physical Presence Nexus Standard

14. Colorado DOR Issues Proposed Amended Remote Seller Notice and Reporting Regulation

15. Virginia Department of Taxation Rulings Reflect New Law Requiring Remote Sellers with In-State Inventory to Register and Collect Tax on In-State Sales

16. New Hampshire DOR Administration Holds Proposed Merger Involving LLCs is Not Exempt from Transfer Tax

17. Washington DOR Explains How Credit Card Processors Measure Gross Income from Processing Credit Card Transactions for Business and Occupation Tax Purposes

18. California FTB Issues Guidance on Eligibility for OSTC when Filing a Composite Return in a Reverse Credit State

19. Director’s Update on Nexus Law Developments since December 13, 2016

20. Nexus Program Director’s Update on Significant Nexus Law Developments Since March 9, 2017

21. Consideration and possible action on Report (including draft agreement form) from closed session teleconference meetings held on April 18, May 16, June 20, and July 18, 2017 regarding time-limited vol

22. National Nexus Program (NNP) Director’s Report for FY 2017

23. Implications of Federal Partnership Audit Rules for State and Local Taxation

24. SALT Alert! 2017-14: Washington State: Sales and Use Tax Economic Nexus/Use Tax Notice Bill Enacted

25. California: Additional Guidance on California Competes Tax Credit and Market-Based Sourcing

26. INDIVIDUAL INCOME TAX INSIGHTS: DOMICILE IS IN THE DETAILS

27. CORPORATE CLOSE-UP: FEDERAL TAX REFORM PROPOSALS MAKE STATES LOOK IN THE MIRROR

28. Unfair Apportionment: Consider the Alternatives

29. Procedural State Tax Issues: Part I Finding the Best Forum

30. Procedural State Tax Issues: Part II Coordinating Multistate Litigation

The above represents 'general curating' of state tax developments into one spot. If you still feel overwhelmed by the volume of state tax developments, please consider my 'custom curating' service. Meaning, clients hire LS to daily curate state tax developments relating to a specific industry, state(s), tax type and issue. You can make it as granular as you prefer. This allows you to reduce information overload, and only get the information you need to help your clients or company. This service is provided on a subscription basis. Contact me at strahle@leveragesalt.com.

13 Books You Should Read & Saturday Musings (INNOVATION)

Good morning. It's Saturday. I have multiple 'land chores' on the schedule for today. If you don't know, we bought 16 acres near Nashville last year. Totally gutted the house and completed a 6 month renovation last December. It's awesome having no one around us. First time I have lived in the country. The only challenge is the land. Getting it and keeping it the way you want it. 12 acres are trees, so I have approximately 4 acres or so of mowing, weed killing, tree cutting, etc., etc., etc. 

In any case, back to state taxes.

If you have noticed, over the past couple of weeks I have started to curate state tax AND business developments into the LEVERAGE SALT LinkedIn group. I think this is a good way to put multiple pieces of important information into one place. I hope you are liking the format. 

In regards to my practice, I am constantly looking for new ways, new services, changing my website, changing my marketing, contacting new people, developing new relationships - trying to change the state tax world for the better. I don't want to just do what everyone else is doing. I want to create and innovate. Do something new. Develop a new angle. A fresh approach. A better way.

Contact me with your ideas. Your passions.

How would you change the state tax profession?

How can you better serve your clients?

What does your tax department really need from your state tax consultant and why aren't you getting it?

I am a state tax partner and writer. In addition to the 40+ articles with my name on it, I have ghost-written several articles for firms. Let me know if you are interested in learning more to help your firm grow its practice.

Some of my favorite books I have read are:

1. Tribes by Seth Godin
2. 10X Rule by Grant Cardone
3. Be Obsessed or Be Average by Grant Cardone
4. Essentialism by Greg McKeown
5. One Thing by Gary Keller
6. Crush IT! by Gary Vaynerchuk
7. Start with Why by Simon Sinek
8. REWORK by Jason Fried
9. The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy
10. Make Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky
11. Deep Work by Cal Newport
12. So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport
13. The Freaks Shall Inherit the Earth by Chris Brogan 

Have a great weekend!

20 State Tax & Business Developments You May Want to Know - July 27, 2017

The following are state tax and business developments I have curated since July 25th, and posted in the LEVERAGE SALT LinkedIn group:

1. UPCOMING WEBINAR: Indirect tax and the Internet of Things: Where could convergence impact your organization?

2. New bill would stymie state taxation of online sales

3. California Supreme Court Increases the Cost of M&A Deals in Expansive Real Estate Transfer Tax Decision

4. Pa. Senate could revisit budget Wednesday

5. Georgia Senators Reviewing Corporate, Personal Tax Breaks

6. Is your firm filled with open-minded people?

7. Vanilla. Tastes good, but it’s a bad way to market.

8. Oregon Passes First-in-Nation Statewide "Predictive Scheduling" Law

9. Key Property Tax Appeal Dates: July, August, and September Deadlines

10. States Clear Path for Truck Platooning: First Step to Fully Autonomous Vehicles

11. The Middle Market Reports Solid Growth in Q2 2017

12. The New Age of Cyber Crime

13. Circle of Outsiders

14. 2017 WORLD'S MOST COMPETITIVE CITIES

15. Texas - Economic Development Guide

16. COST Issues Letter of Amicus Curiae in North Ardmore v. County of Los Angeles (Real Estate Transfer Tax

17. THE STATE OF FEDERALISM TODAY

18. State Legislatures Magazine - check out this site (interesting)

19. State Rundown 7/27: State Legislative Debates Winding Down but Tax Talk Continues

20. Trump Administration, Republican Congressional leaders release statement on tax reform goals

The above represents 'general curating' of state tax developments into one spot. If you still feel overwhelmed by the volume of state tax developments, please consider my 'custom curating' service. Meaning, clients hire LS to daily curate state tax developments relating to a specific industry, state(s), tax type and issue. You can make it as granular as you prefer. This allows you to reduce information overload, and only get the information you need to help your clients or company. This service is provided on a subscription basis. Contact me at strahle@leveragesalt.com.