DBP66 Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 As companies give bonuses, prospect of pay gains still hazy Christopher Rugaber and Josh Boak, AP Economics Writers 16 hours ago WASHINGTON (AP) -- American Airlines is handing out $1,000 bonuses to its employees. So are AT&T, Bank of America and Nationwide Insurance. The same for Comcast, JetBlue Airways and US Bancorp. Such announcements , coming from dozens of companies, have followed the passage of the Republican tax plan that President Donald Trump signed into law last month. The plan slashed the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. The companies say the bonuses they've announced are a way to share some of their bounty with their workers. The bonuses are one-time payouts, not the permanent pay raises that Trump and congressional Republicans have said will eventually result from the corporate tax cuts. Over time, bonuses are far less valuable to employees than wage increases. So far, most companies haven't said whether any permanent pay increases are in the works. Economists caution that the corporate income tax cut's effect on average pay, if any, might not become apparent for several years. "As a worker, it's great to get a one-off bonus, but that doesn't guarantee anything for the next year," said Stephen Stanley, chief economist at Amherst Pierpont. "You'd rather have the raise, because next year you're working off the higher base." Eventually, Stanley thinks the lower corporate tax rates will lead to worker pay raises. He expects companies over the next several years to use some of their windfalls to invest in equipment that would make workers more productive and lead to higher wages. Other economists remain skeptical that workers stand to receive sharp wage increases. They note that the corporate tax cut will overwhelmingly benefit shareholders and company owners. That sentiment is one reason stock market indexes are setting new highs almost daily. "The bulk of the corporate tax cuts should accrue to people who hold stock in companies," said Ethan Harris, chief economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. "Workers benefit much more from a cut in taxes on ordinary income. In other words, better to get a direct cut than a spillover from cuts to others." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
concha Posted January 11, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 Here's just a few under "A" https://www.atr.org/list Advance Financial – increase in 401(k) match; increase in profit sharing; increase in charitable donations. Aflac – increase 401(k) match from 50% to 100% on the first 4% of compensation plus one-time $500 contribution to every employee’s 401(k); $250 million increase in overall U.S. investment. "We are pleased that these tax reforms provide Aflac with an opportunity to increase our investments in initiatives that reflect our company values; providing for our employees in the long and short term, ensuring future growth for our company and giving back to the community." -- Aflac Chairman and CEO Dan Amos Anfinson Farm Store (Cushing, Iowa) -- $1,000 bonuses and 5% pay raises for employees Anfinson Farm Store, a family business in Cushing, Iowa (population 223), has awarded $1,000 bonuses and raised wages 5% for all full-time employees as a result of tax reform. AT&T -- $1,000 bonuses to 200,000 employees; $1 billion increase in capital expenditures. “Congress, working closely with the President, took a monumental step to bring taxes paid by U.S. businesses in line with the rest of the industrialized world. Tax reform will drive economic growth and create good-paying jobs. In fact, we will increase our U.S. investment and pay a special bonus to our U.S. employees.” – Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson American Savings Bank – $1,000 bonuses to 1,150 employees; base wage increase from $12.21 to $15.25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBP66 Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 It's all about the American worker huh.... After Becoming President, Trump Has Reportedly Sold Millions in Real Estate In Secret Deals Grace Guarnieri,Newsweek 22 hours ago President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg in the East Room of the White House, Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2018, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci) Even after taking office, President Donald Trump has sold more than $35 million worth of real estate last year to secretive buyers. Trump sold 41 luxury condo units in Las Vegas last year to people who used limited liability companies (LLCs), which allow them to hide their identities, a USA Todayreport found. The president can withdraw profits from these sales at any time using a trust that names him as the sole beneficiary but is managed by sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. Before Trump signed the GOP tax bill into law in December 2017, a last-minute tax break was added for real estate investors who use LLCs, partnerships and S corporations to make deals. The number of buyers using LLCs to purchase property from Trump climbed even before the tax break was announced last year. A mere 4 percent of buyers used the secretive shell companies in the two years before Trump became the Republican nominee. A year later, the number dramatically increased to nearly 70 percent, according to USA Today. A Chicago neurosurgeon, Ramis Ghaly, told the paper that he used an LLC to purchase a Trump condo in Las Vegas on the advice of his financial consultant. Ghaly said the advantages of owning the property outweighed his concerns about being associated with president's politics. But with a majority of buyers choosing to remain anonymous, liberal watchdog groups, including the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, have raised questions about the transparency of Trump's foreign deals. The sale of Trump's Palm Beach mansion to Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev in 2008 resurfaced last year amid speculation that the Trump campaign had colluded with Russia during his 2016 presidential race. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBlockIsHot Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sams-club-closings-take-place-nationwide/ @concha doesn't even touch on the fact that the same day that WalMart announces bonuses and raises, they announce the closure of hundreds of stores! LMFAO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zulu1128 Posted January 11, 2018 Report Share Posted January 11, 2018 Foolsom has a serious boner for concha. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBlockIsHot Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 4 minutes ago, zulu1128 said: Foolsom has a serious boner for concha. He loves me more. Looks like you do too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zulu1128 Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 1 minute ago, TheBlockIsHot said: He loves me more. Looks like you do too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBP66 Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 More GAINS for the American people....brought to you by Donny and the RepubliCONS... Corporations may dodge billions in U.S. taxes through new loophole: experts By David Morgan,Reuters 2 hours 20 minutes ago The Apple logo is pictured on the front of a retail store in the Marina neighborhood in San Francisco, California April 23, 2014. The company is set to announce its first quarter earnings. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith (UNITED STATES - Tags: BUSINESS SCIENCE TECHNOLOGY) - GM1EA4O09ZH01 By David Morgan WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A loophole in the new U.S. tax law could allow multinational corporations like Apple Inc to avoid paying billions of dollars in taxes on profits stashed overseas, according to experts. Stemming from a Republican overhaul of international business taxes, the loophole involves the tax rates - 15.5 percent or 8 percent - that companies must pay on $2.6 trillion in profits they are holding abroad. By manipulating their foreign cash positions, a determining factor under the new law, a U.S. multinational could potentially save money by shifting profits to the lower rate from the higher one, according to Stephen Shay, a senior lecturer at Harvard Law School. The savings could amount to more than $4 billion in Apple's case alone, he said. An Apple spokesman declined to speak on the record about Shay's analysis. U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service officials did not respond to Reuters' queries seeking comment. "This is clearly the result of rushed legislation," said Shay, formerly a top Treasury Department tax official. The sweeping Republican tax law was President Donald Trump's first major legislative triumph since he took office almost a year ago. Rushed through Congress, and approved over the unanimous opposition of Democrats, it took effect this month, delivering tax cuts and tax code changes that large, U.S.-based multinationals had sought for years. One of those changes was a one-time tax break on about $2.6 trillion in profits that multinationals have socked away overseas in recent years under a "deferral" rule that let companies hold profits offshore tax-free, as long as the money was not brought into the United States, or repatriated. There is no such deferral under the new law and accumulated overseas profits will now be taxed at either 15.5 percent for cash holdings or at 8 percent for more illiquid investments. Both rates are far below the 35 percent rate that would have been charged on repatriated foreign profits before the law was passed, and below a new 21 percent corporate income tax rate. To knock their taxes even lower, experts said, multinationals could have leeway to shift foreign earnings into the 8 percent tax bracket and out of the 15.5 percent bracket. "Even before the legislation was unveiled in November, multinationals were planning to convert cash to non-cash assets, although it wasn't entirely clear what would constitute cash for this purpose," said Reuven Avi-Yonah, a leading tax expert at the University of Michigan Law School. The loophole that makes the bracket-shifting possible involves a formula for calculating how much foreign earnings are subject to the higher tax rate. The benchmark is a company's foreign cash position, calculated as the greater of either the average of the past two tax years, or the cash balance at the end of the last tax year begun before Jan. 1, 2018. Companies would pay the 15.5 percent rate on sums up to the calculated foreign cash position. Anything over that would get the 8 percent rate. Shay said some multinationals could reduce their cash positions, and the amount of money subject to the higher rate, through legitimate distributions including dividend payments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noonereal Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 9 hours ago, DBP66 said: "This is clearly the result of rushed legislation," wink wink Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noonereal Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 19 hours ago, concha said: Here's just a few under "A" https://www.atr.org/list Advance Financial – increase in 401(k) match; increase in profit sharing; increase in charitable donations. Aflac – increase 401(k) match from 50% to 100% on the first 4% of compensation plus one-time $500 contribution to every employee’s 401(k); $250 million increase in overall U.S. investment. "We are pleased that these tax reforms provide Aflac with an opportunity to increase our investments in initiatives that reflect our company values; providing for our employees in the long and short term, ensuring future growth for our company and giving back to the community." -- Aflac Chairman and CEO Dan Amos Anfinson Farm Store (Cushing, Iowa) -- $1,000 bonuses and 5% pay raises for employees Anfinson Farm Store, a family business in Cushing, Iowa (population 223), has awarded $1,000 bonuses and raised wages 5% for all full-time employees as a result of tax reform. AT&T -- $1,000 bonuses to 200,000 employees; $1 billion increase in capital expenditures. “Congress, working closely with the President, took a monumental step to bring taxes paid by U.S. businesses in line with the rest of the industrialized world. Tax reform will drive economic growth and create good-paying jobs. In fact, we will increase our U.S. investment and pay a special bonus to our U.S. employees.” – Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson American Savings Bank – $1,000 bonuses to 1,150 employees; base wage increase from $12.21 to $15.25 You figure this PR will improve the life of the destitute in Alabama, the most impoverished people in the 1st world? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
concha Posted January 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 2 hours ago, noonereal said: You figure this PR will improve the life of the destitute in Alabama, the most impoverished people in the 1st world? Some of them. And also in California, the state with the highest poverty rate when you count cost of living. The cynicism and negativity displayed by many here is truly nauseating. We're early on in the process and we have millions of workers (and their families) benefiting from either bonuses or pay increases or benefits improvements or some combination (with more added to the list every day), and all we see here in these threads is folks bending over backwards to dismiss these positive events completely. And this doesn't even include help just from the tax cuts alone. I guess it sucks for you seeing Trump get results and knowing people vote with their wallets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noonereal Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 4 minutes ago, concha said: I guess it sucks for you seeing Trump get results you mean blowing up the deficit? I acknowledge that he has. Sucks for you too, porky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
concha Posted January 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 http://boston.cbslocal.com/2018/01/12/paycheck-changes-new-tax-law-more-money/ the Treasury estimates that 90% of people who get a paycheck are likely to see more in take-home pay, as soon as February. Employers will have until Feb. 15 to incorporate the changes in their payroll systems. Queue the liberal clown car to comment on how much this sucks. Have at it, Ladies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DBP66 Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 8 minutes ago, concha said: http://boston.cbslocal.com/2018/01/12/paycheck-changes-new-tax-law-more-money/ the Treasury estimates that 90% of people who get a paycheck are likely to see more in take-home pay, as soon as February. Employers will have until Feb. 15 to incorporate the changes in their payroll systems. Queue the liberal clown car to comment on how much this sucks. Have at it, Ladies. it's estimated that 100% of the millionaires who just got their Estate Tax repealed are laughing all the way to the bank.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanscript Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 6 hours ago, concha said: Some of them. And also in California, the state with the highest poverty rate when you count cost of living. The cynicism and negativity displayed by many here is truly nauseating. We're early on in the process and we have millions of workers (and their families) benefiting from either bonuses or pay increases or benefits improvements or some combination (with more added to the list every day), and all we see here in these threads is folks bending over backwards to dismiss these positive events completely. And this doesn't even include help just from the tax cuts alone. I guess it sucks for you seeing Trump get results and knowing people vote with their wallets. Concha.....you are too funny. When it's not so good news, it's too early to tell. When it seems to be good news, you are leading the trump parade while twirling your baton. You are such a tool. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
concha Posted January 12, 2018 Author Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 4 minutes ago, stanscript said: Concha.....you are too funny. When it's not so good news, it's too early to tell. When it seems to be good news, you are leading the trump parade while twirling your baton. You are such a tool. No. Just smarter than you. Working people having more of their own money to spend or save for themselves and their families is good. "Tools" are those - like you - who bend themselves like pretzels trying to avoid admitting it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheBlockIsHot Posted January 12, 2018 Report Share Posted January 12, 2018 24 minutes ago, stanscript said: Concha.....you are too funny. When it's not so good news, it's too early to tell. When it seems to be good news, you are leading the trump parade while twirling your baton. You are such a tool. Biggest tool/troll on this site by far. Huge TrumpTard. You can't even take someone that uneducated, seriously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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