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Alpha-Mail                                               logo web sm 12mb
 A Tax Professional's Guide to Credits and Incentives, Courtesy of Alpharesults
 Vol. X No. 6 June 2016
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In this issue
It's So Easy to Give Up on Tax Credits
Spotlight on Massachusetts Credits and Incentives

Hello!

Welcome to Alpha-Mail, the monthly newsletter about tax credits and incentives for tax professionals.

This month, learn how you can keep your clients from giving up on tax credits!   Also, some of you may have clients who own businesses in Massachusetts, so be sure to see our overview of Massachusetts credits and incentives. We hope you can use this information to strengthen your client relationships! 
 
Thank you for reading Alpha-Mail -- please click reply to tell us what you think.
 
All the best, 
Dale&JimSigsSM1     
 Dale Stapler    Jim Tinsley
     Alpharesults, LLC 
 
 
 

It's So Easy to Give Up on Tax Credits                           
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You'll have to admit that sometimes your clients are just not interested in tax credits. They think that obtaining credits will require too many resources, are not worth the $$ benefits, or may be too risky. Not digging into the details is often the path of least resistance -- it's so easy to give up on tax credits.
 
Your clients complain about paying taxes, and they certainly let you know it loud and clear, yet they often don't want to investigate if they can benefit from the available credits and incentives.

There are two sides of the tax credit coin -- costs and benefits:
  • Costs -It may take your time (maybe non-billable?) and your client's time to uncover the potential benefits.
     
  • Benefits - If you take that time to find out, your clients will save $$ in taxes, you will be viewed as a better trusted advisor, and your client's relationship with you ("stickiness") will be strengthened.
But before you bring up tax credit ideas to your clients, you may need to check your reliable resources. These resources may be others in your CPA firm, independent tax credit providers, your firm's alliance/affiliated network, tax research databases (such as Thompson Reuters), or other sources of expertise. Try to leverage these resources to develop an estimate of $$ benefits and costs, and then review with your client.
 
Of course, make sure your clients can benefit from tax credits before you start the process! Having reliable resources for each tax credit opportunity will help. And then it won't be so easy to give up on tax credits -- for you or your clients!  

 
JimSig  

Massachusetts Credits and Incentives            
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As we've mentioned before, our Georgia clients frequently ask us to investigate potential credits and incentives in other states where they have operations, potential acquisitions or strong relationships with customers or vendors. In addition, private equity groups ask us about potential $$ for their portfolio companies.
 
We were recently asked about credits and incentives in Massachusetts, and their state economic development professionals gave us some details (mass.gov ecdev site click here).
 
Massachusetts offers a selection of credits and incentives for new and existing businesses, mainly geared toward larger projects.  CNBC ranked Massachusetts #20 in their 2015 America's Top States for Business survey (Georgia was #5 in the same survey).    
 
Incentives and Credits include:  

The Economic Development Incentive Program (EDIP) -- Includes the categories of Certified Expansion Project (EP), Enhanced Expansion Project (EEP), and Manufacturing Retention Project (MRP).  Involves up to a 10% EDIP- Investment Tax Credit (ITC) and local incentives.  Massively complex process, and   pre-approval is always required, of course.

Job Creation Incentive Program -- Qualifying biotechnology and medical device manufacturing companies are eligible to receive incentive payments for new job creation.  Create 10 or more eligible jobs in the Commonwealth during a single calendar year.

Other Tax Credits -- Credits for Investment (manufacturing, research, some others), Research and Development (similar to other states), and other special and assorted incentive programs.
 
Compared to Georgia, Massachusetts has:
  • Much higher corporate and higher personal income tax rates.
  • Higher combined state and local tax burden
  • A narrower range of incentives.
  • Pre-approval required for all incentives
To summarize, Massachusetts is below average for business tax incentives, but they do enjoy a prime Northeast location. 
 
 
DaleSig
   
 

About Us
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Alpharesults has assembled a team with the specialized knowledge and approach required to obtain Georgia income tax credits.  We are not a public accounting firm.  Rather, our services complement those of public accounting firms and do not create conflicted loyalties, because our professionals do not perform attestation work or other external audit functions.  

We focus on small to medium-sized businesses and work exclusively in Georgia with a wide variety of in-state and out-of-state accounting firms.  For more information on our services, follow this link. 

 
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Contact Information
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email:  alpha-mail@alpharesults.com                   phone: 770-667-1332
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