What the SECURE Act Means for You

In May 2019, with a 417-3 vote, the House of Representatives passed the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE). SECURE is a bipartisan bill designed to aid Americans' ability to save for retirement and improve the country's retirement prospects. What’s in the bill that could get both parties to agree?  Most would think nothing of interest considering the sharp divide between parties right now,but there is good news: There are some actual items of significance! 

Below are some highlights of the ways this Act impacts individuals and businesses. 

Individuals

• Raising the required minimum distribution age to 72 from 70 ½

• Allowing penalty-free withdrawals (up to $5,000) from retirement plans for the birth or adoption of a child

• Removing maximum age limits on retirement contributions, formerly capped at age 70 ½

• Allowing penalty-free withdrawals (up to $10,000) from 529 education-savings plans for the repayment of certain student loans

• Decreasing the distribution period of an inherited IRA from the lifetime of the beneficiary to a period of just 10 years

 

Businesses

• Allowing retirement benefits for long-term, part-time employees (E.g. an employee that works at least 500 hours over three consecutive years)

• Offering employers a tax credit (up to $5,000) if they are a small business and start a retirement plan, plus an additional $500 if their employees are automatically enrolled in the plan

• Simplifying rules and notice requirements related to qualified non-elective contributions in safe harbor 401(k) plans

The House of Representatives produced a six-page summaryof all proposed revisions. We consider those outlined above to be the most pertinent and impactful. If the Senate passes the bill and it is signed into law, changes will be made that impact you. 

Our team of experts is ready to speak with you about your options and help you navigate the new Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act. Give us a call to schedule a meeting. 

Written by

Jason Berry, CPA

Tax Manager

berry@bermanhopkins.com

Give Your Construction Company the Credit It Deserves

Recently there has been a steady increase in utilization of the Research & Development (R&D) credit within the construction industry. While the R&D credit has not been a slam dunk for all contractors, it makes sense to take another look at this increasingly applicable tax savings opportunity.

LEVERAGING R&D FOR YOUR BUSINESS

The R&D credit can be a powerful tax incentive worth the investment to evaluate its applicability to your business. Our goal is to help you identify the types of activities that qualify and be positioned to take full advantage of this potentially generous incentive.  Projects that push boundaries can frequently qualify for R&D tax credits, but it is important that the qualified activities and expenses are correctly identified and properly documented to support the credit. The overarching fact is that a broad range of increasingly common construction industry practices will qualify for the credit under the Internal Revenue Code’s definition of R&D.

HOW DOES IT WORK

These credits may be available to you based on the work that your teams are doing each day to design new projects, implement new construction processes or improve existing ones. The following are examples of activities performed by contractors that could be considered qualifying activities for the R&D credit:

• Designing LEED/green initiatives

• Analysis of structure and facility design for constructability

• Exploring, developing and improving construction techniques and equipment

• Research and design new electrical system designs or HVAC systems

• Utilizing Building Information Modeling (BIM)

• Analyzing designs to improve performance, efficiency, reliability, quality, safety or lifecycle costs

• Improving mechanical equipment sizing

BEGIN WITH AN EVALUATION 

The R&D tax credit allows companies to realize tax savings, increase cash flow and stay competitive in the marketplace. If your company performs activities and services similar to those noted above, there is a strong chance that you could benefit from an R&D tax credit evaluation. Berman Hopkins partners with consultants that specialize in performing these highly technical evaluations and studies to help navigate through the substantiation and documentation process, ultimately maximizing the available credits for your business.  Our team of experts are here to help and welcome the opportunity to discuss this topic with you further.

Written by

Ron Longman, CPA

Tax partner

longman@bermanhopkins.com

Jack Cheng, CEO of AA Metals, Inc. Named EY’s Entrepreneur Of The Year (Florida)

The Berman Hopkins team sends our most sincere congratulations to our valued friend and EY’s Entrepreneur Of The Year (Florida)

Jack Cheng, CEO of AA Metals, Inc. 

Jack Cheng (center), CEO of AA Metals, Inc. with Chris McDirmit (right), Partner at Berman Hopkins

In 2003, Jack started AA Metals in a small home office in Lexington, Kentucky and in just over a decade Jack’s vision and leadership has created one of America’s premier distributors of non-ferrous metals and steel. AA Metals has twice been recognized by Inc. magazine as one of the fastest growing companies in the United States, and serves 500+ customers with over 200 million pounds of aluminum and steel from dozens of mills located in Asia, South America, Europe and the Middle East.

The Entrepreneur Of The Year program, founded by EY, has recognized the endeavors of exceptional men and women who create the products and services that keep our worldwide economy moving forward. Since its inception, Entrepreneur Of The Year has grown dramatically and now includes programs in more than 145 cities and more than 60 countries worldwide. The Entrepreneur Of The Year US Awards gala is the culminating event of the Strategic Growth Forum®, the largest gathering of entrepreneurs in America.

Jack and other outstanding business leaders around the country were selected as finalists by a panel of independent judges, and the winners will move on to compete on the national stage this November in Palm Springs, CA. 

We’re wishing you all the best today and always, Jack. Congratulations on this recognition that is so well-deserved!

Written by

Alycia J. Pollock

Marketing Strategist

pollock@bermanhopkins.com

ESOPs - "Wow, that's really smart!"

I recently had the nerdy pleasure of a family member asking about how an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) works and I was so excited to explain!  After I was done, it was a great reminder of how great of a tool an ESOP is for business succession, especially when it comes to the tax advantages!

My daughter recently started a job with Publix, a large regional grocery chain in the Southeast that also happens to be an employee owned company. ESOPs have been around forever but are widely under-utilized, are complicated, so explaining how they work to a non-nerd was an interesting challenge.  The truth is, the more I talked about how an ESOP works, the easier I found it was able to explain the advantages of this type of ownership structure.  I knew I had done a good job of explaining when I got the reaction of “Wow, that’s really smart”!

As a new employee for the company, she is excited for the opportunity to grow her interest in the company and it has already motivated her to look forward to her future with Publix. After hearing her say this, it’s no surprise to me that the National Center for Employee Ownership has found in multiple studies that employee owned businesses find increased growth after transitioning to an ESOP.

It also helped renew my excitement in my role as an advisor to my clients about how ESOPs work and how they can benefit from this type of succession vehicle.  I know I’m a nerd, but I think helping clients successfully pass along their business to the next generation of business owners is really smart.

Written by

Katie Hardin, CPA

Senior Audit Manager

hardin@bermanhopkins.com