Accounting
Trump and Harris presidential debate touched on taxes
The debate Tuesday night between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump in Philadelphia included little discussion about taxes, but pointed to at least some of their economic policies.
“So, I was raised as a middle-class kid,” said Harris early in the debate, according to a
“And I intend on extending a tax cut for those families of $6,000, which is the largest child tax credit that we have given in a long time,” said Harris. “So that those young families can afford to buy a crib, buy a car seat, buy clothes for their children.
“My passion, one of them, is small businesses,” Harris continued. “I was actually — my mother raised my sister and me but there was a woman who helped raise us. We call her our second mother. She was a small business owner. I love our small businesses. My plan is to give a $50,000 tax deduction to start-up small businesses, knowing they are part of the backbone of America’s economy. My opponent, on the other hand, his plan is to do what he has done before, which is to provide a tax cut for billionaires and big corporations, which will result in $5 trillion to America’s deficit. My opponent has a plan that I call the Trump sales tax, which would be a 20% tax on everyday goods that you rely on to get through the month. Economists have said that Trump’s sales tax would actually result for middle-class families in about $4,000 more a year because of his policies and his ideas about what should be the backs of middle-class people paying for tax cuts for billionaires.”
Trump responded that his plan did not include a sales tax, but a tariff. “First of all, I have no sales tax,” he said. “That’s an incorrect statement. She knows that. We’re doing tariffs on other countries. Other countries are going to finally, after 75 years, pay us back for all that we’ve done for the world. And the tariff will be substantial in some cases. I took in billions and billions of dollars, as you know, from China. In fact, they never took the tariff off because it was so much money, they can’t. It would totally destroy everything that they’ve set out to do. They’ve taken in billions of dollars from China and other places. They’ve left the tariffs on. When I had it, I had tariffs and yet I had no inflation.”
Trump later alluded to his tax cut plans. “Everybody knows what I’m going to do,” he said. “Cut taxes very substantially, and create a great economy like I did before.”
Doug Mills/The New York Times/Bloomberg
The limited tax discussion attracted some reactions. “While certainly not front and center during last night’s debate, taxes did come up,” said Marc Kushner, a tax attorney with MAK Tax Law Group in New York. “There was former President Trump extolling his proposed tariffs masquerading as taxes paid by China and other countries, rather than, as the Vice President correctly countered, a sales tax on middle class — and, lower middle class, working class, upper middle class, and all — American families. The Vice President also made some passing references to President Trump’s tax plan being a tax cut for billionaires and big corporations, and to her $6,000 child tax credit proposal. And the Vice President did use the debate to bring up her previously proposed $50,000 deduction for start-up businesses.”
“The Vice President previously described this deduction as designed to ‘help more small business and innovators get off the ground.’ The $50,000 deduction is largely tied to the $40,000 average cost to start a new business previously cited by the Vice President,” Kushner added. “Current tax law allows a maximum $5,000 deduction for start-up costs. For new businesses with $50,000 or less of start-up costs, this proposal can provide a financial boost to their creators. However, it is not yet known whether this enhanced deduction would be whittled down for new businesses with start-up costs exceeding $50,000 (and eliminated entirely if these costs exceeded $100,000), as current tax law would provide. To further the effectiveness of this proposal in the formation of small businesses – including small businesses whose creators want to accelerate these businesses becoming larger businesses through enhanced start-up investment. The proposal should also address this part of the current law.”
Michael Bernard, chief tax officer at the sales tax software company Vertex, also had some thoughts on the corporate tax. “Before the passage of the Tax Cuts and Job Act in 2017, the U.S. had one of the highest corporate tax rates globally,” he said. “The reduction from 35% to 21% was intended to encourage manufacturing within the U.S., both for U.S.-based multinationals and non-U.S.-based multinationals with a significant market in the U.S. (such as the automotive industry). Proposals to raise the corporate tax rate from the current 21% to a higher rate could potentially lead to companies moving manufacturing outside the U.S., which might impact job growth and investment. Additionally, higher corporate tax rates could be indirectly borne by consumers through increased prices, lower wages, and reduced valuations of corporate equities.”
Aprio, a Top 25 Firm based in Atlanta, has acquired JMS Advisory Group, a firm that specializes in unclaimed property compliance and escheat process development, also based in Atlanta
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. Aprio ranked No. 24 on Accounting Today’s just released
JMS was founded in 2006 and helps clients mitigate risk and capitalize on opportunities through managed unclaimed property compliance. The team includes attorneys, CPAs, CFEs and others.
JMS has a wide range of clients, including enterprise companies, financial institutions, credit unions, insurance companies, hospitality and health care organizations.
“As Aprio continues its rapid growth, we are committed to expanding our services to meet the evolving needs of our clients,” said Aprio CEO Richard Kopelman in a statement Tuesday. “The addition of JMS gives us the opportunity to continue strengthening our position as a future-focused advisory firm. JMS’s focus on escheat management and asset recovery not only enhances our current capabilities but also allows us to deliver even more impactful solutions to help businesses navigate complex compliance challenges.”
JMS president and CEO James Santivanez is joining Aprio as a partner and provides guidance to clients on unclaimed property and state and local tax issues.
“We created JMS to make an impact nationally in the unclaimed property consulting industry, and I’m proud of our nearly 20-year history of helping clients mitigate risk and capitalize on opportunities resulting from accurate and properly managed unclaimed property compliance,” Santivanez said in a statement. “Joining with Aprio takes us to the next level, allowing us to build upon our success while providing even greater value to our clients. This is an exciting next step in our journey.”
JMS founder and director Sherridan Santivanez is also joining Aprio as a partner. He specializes in representing clients before state enforcement authorities and managing complex audits and voluntary disclosures for some of the world’s largest companies. She provides strategic guidance on audit preparation and navigates interactions with state and third-party auditors.
Aprio received a
The American Institute of CPAs and the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy are asking for comments on their proposal for an additional pathway to CPA licensure through
The AICPA and NASBA proposed the
The UAA changes would:
- Enable states to adopt a third licensure pathway that requires earning a baccalaureate degree with an accounting concentration, completing two years of professional experience as defined by Board rule, and passing the Uniform CPA Examination;
- Shift to an “individual-based” mobility model, which allows CPAs to practice in other states with just one license; and
- Add safe harbor language to ensure CPAs who meet existing licensure requirements preserve practice privileges.
The proposals come as several states are already moving forward with their own changes, including
The updates reflect feedback gathered during a late 2024 exposure draft period and forward-looking solutions being advanced by state CPA societies and boards of accountancy to increase flexibility for licensure candidates while maintaining the integrity of the CPA license.
The AICPA and NASBA are asking for comments on the proposed changes by May 3, 2025. They can be submitted through this
The UAA offers state legislatures and boards of accountancy a national model they can adopt in full or in part to meet the licensure needs of each jurisdiction.
The proposal would maintain the current two pathways to CPA licensure:
- Earning a post baccalaureate degree with an accounting concentration, completing one year of professional experience as defined by Board rule, and passing the CPA exam; and,
- Earning a baccalaureate degree with an accounting concentration, plus an additional 30 semester credit hours , completing one year of professional experience as defined by Board rule, and passing the CPA exam.
Small business employment held steady last month, according to payroll company Paychex, while wage growth continued below 3%
The
“Our employment data continues to show moderate job growth and wage growth below three percent,” said Paychex president and CEO John Gibson in a statement Tuesday. “The consistent long-term trend we’re seeing is a small business labor market that is resilient and stable with little job movement among workers. At the same time, small business owners are optimistic about future business conditions despite uncertainty about how to adapt to a rapidly evolving legislative and regulatory landscape.”
The Midwest remained the top region in the country for the ninth consecutive month with a jobs index level of 100.54. Seven of the 20 states analyzed gained more than one percentage point in February, led by Texas (up 2.11 percentage points).
Phoenix (101.92) increased its rate of small business job growth for the fourth month in a row in February to rank first among the largest U.S. metros.
Construction (3.29%) regained its top spot among industries in terms of hourly earnings growth in February, followed closely by “other services” (3.27%) and manufacturing (3.21%).
The pace of job growth in manufacturing gained 2.39 percentage points to 99.52 in February, the industry’s biggest one-month increase since April 2021.
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