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The Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, pleaded not guilty to tax crimes on Thursday. Experts say the illegal practices the government alleges occurred may be more common among certain types of companies.
The indictment says the Trump Organization and Weisselberg skirted IRS rules by failing to report so-called “fringe benefits,” a form of employee compensation. READ MORE
On June 21, the Supreme Court ruled against the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) by declaring the organization is violating antitrust laws, a move that will heavily influence college sports for years to come.
In The National College Athletic Association vs. Alston, the justices voted 9-0 to uphold the lower courts’ ruling that the NCAA can no longer dictate limits on education-related compensation. READ MORE
Goldman Sachs is considering whether to raise salaries for junior investment bankers to compete with rivals on Wall Street, as younger staffers have complained of experiencing burnout from long hours worked during the pandemic, when financial markets were exceptionally busy. READ MORE
On June 16, 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 1187 (the “Corporate Governance Improvement and Investor Protection Act”), which would require the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) to establish rules requiring public companies to disclose certain ESG metrics, including metrics related to climate, board diversity, and employee management and welfare practices. READ MORE
The current labor shortage and employee retention struggles are concerning issues for organizations. Many leaders are scrambling to attract and retain the workers they need.
A combination of factors has resulted in an insufficient number of workers to meet available jobs: job quits hitting historic highs, declining immigration, and fewer individuals who are of working age (ages 16-64). This labor shortage started before the COVID-19 pandemic and is expected to persist for some time. READ MORE
As many General Electric Company ( NYSE: GE ) shareholders are aware, they have not profited in the past three years. Once the most valuable company in the world, General Electric looks like a shadow of itself. However, what is unusual is that EPS growth has been positive, suggesting that the share price has diverged from fundamentals. READ MORE
Beginning in March 2020 and stretching into 2021, employers made drastic changes to employee pay as business dried up and uncertainty reigned.
A survey of 2,800 senior managers at U.S. companies, conducted by staffing firm Robert Half during the second half of 2020, found that 57 percent of respondents had suspended salary increases as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the situation settled and companies began to feel more confident about their prospects, they reconsidered: READ MORE
If you’ve paid much attention to financial markets or news in the past year, then you’re at least acutely aware of the cryptocurrency craze that’s taken place in the early stages of 2021.
Bitcoin, the original and most mainstream cryptocurrency, began 2020 at a value of $7,194.89 and surged at the tail end of the year and the first quarter of 2021, reaching a high-water mark of $64,863 in April. Likewise, ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrency, skyrocketed in value during this time frame, going from around $130 in value to begin 2020 to its current price of $2,119. While ethereum is still around its all-time high, bitcoin has since settled back to $33,475 as of July 1, but both coins’ extreme rise vaulted them into the mainstream conscience, which has since lent itself to many intriguing developments in the space. READ MORE
The top sliver of U.S. households could see their tax bill climb substantially under the spending plan introduced earlier this year by President Biden.
That's according to a new analysis published by the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center, which found that the wealthiest 0.1% of Americans – who earn at least $3.6 million – would pay an additional $1.56 million in federal taxes each year if Congress approves Biden's sweeping tax and spending proposal. Their after-tax income would plunge by about 16.8%, the study said. READ MORE
Minimum wage increases went into effect in several states on July 1 as states take it upon themselves to increase pay for low-wage workers to keep up with the growing cost of living.
The federal minimum wage sits at $7.25 an hour, a number that has been in place since 2009. (Democrats tried and failed to raise the federal minimum wage as part of stimulus negotiations earlier this year.) In a majority of states, the state minimum wage is now higher than the federal minimum. READ MORE
In April, the sudden death of Lee Delaney, the CEO of BJ’s Warehouse Club, set into motion a chain of executive moves in which former Controller Laura Felice replaced CFO Bob Eddy, who took over as CEO. With all due respect to the difficulties and grief involved, I couldn’t help noticing the salaries being offered to the newly named executives. The new CEO received the same $1.2 million that Delaney had earned, but Felice’s salary was set at $600,000, nearly $200,000 less than what Eddy had been making. READ MORE
While governance in the context of ESG considerations is generally focused on how a company is managed by its executives, directors, and management team, investors more focused on governance often look beyond the tone-setting thought leadership and dissect the internal system of practices, controls, and procedures companies adopt in order to govern themselves, make effective and conscious decisions, comply with the law, and meet the needs of internal and external stakeholders from the broader sustainable economy perspective. In essence, to excel in governance requires corporate behavior and leadership to master not only the letter of the law, but also the spirit of it. READ MORE
One of the most important decisions a board determines is what constitutes reasonable compensation. The rules for this determination are robust and so are the taxes imposed for violations of the Internal Revenue Code and the corresponding Treasury Regulations. In this 2-Part series, we examine the taxes imposed for unreasonable compensation and explain the steps for determining reasonable compensation. In this Part 1, we introduce the persons potentially subject to the taxes and the taxes themselves. READ MORE
Who are the highest-paid people in President Biden's White House?
That question was answered on Thursday with the release of an annual report with staffers' salaries, which max out at $180,000. READ MORE
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday chose not to wade into the issue of one state taxing another state’s residents while they work from home.
New Hampshire wanted permission to sue Massachusetts for continuing to tax a number of New Hampshire residents who had been working in Massachusetts when the pandemic hit, but then switched to work at home back in New Hampshire. READ MORE
The past few years have seen increasing awareness of how inequality is in the very structure of our society. Despite decades of campaigning and some welcome steps in the right direction, there is still a long way to go. One measure that has come to prominence is the gender pay gap, which has managed to persist despite many laws intended to address the issue. While society clearly must move on this, what can women, or anyone who feels they deserve more, do while they wait for the world to catch up? READ MORE
Salary transparency is intended to help address inequities. But making the number public doesn’t seem to move the needle. READ MORE
Americans are enjoying outsized pay boosts this year from desperate employers, but the raises are failing to keep pace with surging prices for everyday goods. U.S. wages likely posted a third strong monthly gain to fuel a 3.6% increase in June from a year earlier, according to economists’ forecasts ahead of the Labor Department’s jobs report due Friday. Companies including FedEx Corp. and Olive Garden owner Darden Restaurants Inc. are raising wages to attract staff. READ MORE
President Biden traveled to La Crosse, Wisconsin Tuesday to drum up support for a bipartisan infrastructure deal reached last week that he touted will only raise taxes on those earning more than $400,000.
"We’re going to get it all done without raising taxes on a single American making less than $400,000," Biden said. "Now all of you making over $400,000, I love you. But I don’t mind a little bit if your taxes go up a little bit." READ MORE
New York prosecutors investigating the Trump Organization are scrutinizing cash bonuses as part of their focus on whether the company failed to pay taxes on benefits provided to some of its employees, people familiar with the matter say.
The interest in cash payments, which has not been previously reported, is part of investigators' look at whether executives and the company failed to pay appropriate taxes on benefits, including school tuition, cars and rent-free apartments, the people said. READ MORE