(Translated from Legalese to English)

We are officially into the 4th quarter and it's time to start thinking about year-end.  Be sure to meet with your CPA about tax prep and read below to learn more about DETR audits.

One of the more important occurrences this quarter will be the statewide vote on the Margin Tax or the "Education Initiative."  It's important that you and your family understand the impact this tax will have on your company if it passes.  I'd encourage you to educate yourself and vote NO on this tax.

Finally, as a 2014 graduate of Leadership Las Vegas, I'm requesting your financial assistance with our class project H2O Grow. We're installing hydroponic gardens in an at-risk elementary school to teach disadvantaged students about food, where it comes from, and how to grow it themselves.  We're very close to our fundraising goal and just need a little bit more to put us over the top.  Thanks in advance for your help!

Nevada DETR Audits - What You Need To Know

Have you received an audit notice from the Nevada Department of Employment, Training, and Rehabilitation (DETR)?  Try not to panic.  

Here's what you should know:

The primary purpose of the audit is to verify that the numbers reported to DETR match the numbers in your books.  The letter you received lists a bunch of documents the auditor wants to see at the audit meeting.  The auditor will check your numbers against the ones you reported to DETR and make sure they match.

 Read more...

What's Wrong with the Margin Tax?

Lots.  Especially for small businesses like you and me. 

The Margin Tax is an initiative proposed by the teacher's union to raise funds for Nevada schools.  That sounds all well and good on the surface; after all, who doesn't want to provide for our schoolkids?  However, this initiative is NOT the way to do it, for a laundry list of reasons I'll attempt to tackle within the bounds of a blog.

1. No guarantee the money will actually go to schools.

The language of the initiative does not require the funds to go to schools.  In reality, politicians can divert the funds any way they see fit, with no accountability or oversight.

2.  From Business-Friendliest to Business-UNfriendliest

As many of you know, Nevada is one of the most business-friendly states in the union. I speak to at least three companies a week who are looking to relocate to Nevada from somewhere else because of our lack of state income tax and NO MARGIN TAX.  If this initiative succeeds, we will plummet to the bottom of the list for business-friendly states, even behind Texas and California. 

Read More...