Connelly vs. United States Decision: What It Is After Michael Connelly died, his family got an unexpected bill from the IRS for $889,914. Why? An auditor reviewing Michael’s estate tax return disagreed with the stated value of the shares in Crown C Supply, the company he owned with his brother. Although his estate was bought [...] The post Will Your Buy-Sell Agreement Demolish Your Estate Plan? appeared first on Florida Surety Bonds ..read more

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Construction Input Costs and Overall Inflation on the Rise: With fiscal stimulus checks hitting bank accounts across the United States this month and tax refunds rolling in, we have our eyes on construction input inflation, as well as inflation in the broader economy.  Earlier this month, Associated Builders and Contractors reported that nonresidential construction input prices increased 2.1% for the month of February 2021.  Nonresidential construction inputs have increased 7.1% since last February.  Construction input inflation shows no signs of slowing.  On a macroeconomi ..read more

The latest from our Florida Legislature by Carol Bowen, JD I Chief Lobbyist Associated Builders and Contractors of Florida & Vice President of Government Affairs Associated Builders and Contractors Florida East Coast Chapter. What Happened In Tallahassee This Week?The Legislature returned to Tallahassee this week with the sole purpose of addressing the current situation and circumstances of the residential property market in Florida. An additional item was added “to the call” for discussion and deliberation midway through Tuesday, May 24th when the Senate and House both agreed to ..read more

It is the “Golden Age of Funding for the Corps” and Emily Golecki and Sarah O’Linn were honored to support the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers New Orleans Industry Day and hear about the unprecedented infrastructure opportunities first hand. Mississippi Valley District is exceeding their small business set-aside contracting goals and Dave Willis (pictured, center) and the New Orleans district have already contracted out 56% of their opportunities to small business for the year.  Reach out to Emily or Sarah if you want to learn more or get connected. The post U.S. Army Co ..read more

BY DAVID V. JEAN WHEN TAX TIME rolls around, contractors often feel like the deck is automatically stacked against them. But the right tax planning strategy helps to ensure the House, in this case the IRS, doesn’t catch you off guard. These tax benefits could help you save a substantial amount of money. Contractors should consider several tax credits and deductions as they build their 2021 tax planning strategies. Work Opportunity Tax Credit The work opportunity tax credit (WOTC) is a federal general business tax credit obtainable by employers for hiring employees from certain target ..read more

Don’t let the Public Owners hold your money! Don’t let the Public Owners hold your money! Some Florida Municipalities may not know that the amount of the allowable retainage was changed effective October 1, 2020.  The links to the appropriate statutes are listed as a Resource on the Florida Surety Bonds website.  Retainage being held now can’t be more than 5%.  The Statute pertaining to Public Construction Retainage (FL Statute 255.078) and the Local Government Prompt Payment act, FS 218.735, was also amended . The Retainage rule change does not apply to contracts with Florida ..read more

We recently learned from Withum, CPA’s that the Financial Accounting Standards Board long anticipated new accounting rules for leases is now in effect for nonpublic companies whose fiscal year began after December 31, 2021. In simple terms, most every lease for lessees will no appear on a company’s balance sheet. The present value of all future minimum payments under a lease over one year in duration must be reported as a liability, with a corresponding offset to a newly created “right of use” asset. Beware of your debt covenants! With this new liability, debt covenants can be in jeopardy of n ..read more