Autonomous Ride-Hailing Will Displace Industry Incumbents

As posted to the ARK Invest YouTube Channel on 5/19/22 (Run Time: 16 min, 20 sec) ARK Invest believes that autonomous ride-hailing will reduce the cost of mobility to one-eighth the average cost of ride-hail today, spurring widespread adoption and unleashing unprecedented economic productivity.  ARK believes that this could be "one of the most meaningful economic productivity delivering innovations of all time" and the GDP contribution from autonomous ride-hail systems could total around $26 trillion by 2030. Originally aired on 1/25/22, Big Ideas Summit 2022 features in-depth presentations from ARK's research team and seeks to educate attendees on the impact of breakthrough technologies and the investment opportunities they could create. (This is Blog Post #1209) ARK Invest ARK is an investment manager focused solely on disruptive innovation. Rooted in over...

How to Qualify for - and keep - Cyber Insurance Coverage

These days, it’s common for businesses to purchase cyber insurance to help mitigate financial losses from network breaches. According to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the proportion of businesses adding cyber coverage increased from 26% in 2016 to 47% in 2020. But in the event of a loss, processing such claims can be expensive, and insurers are becoming more selective about the companies they agree to insure and for how much. In response to mounting losses from cybercrime, insurers are also raising premiums. If your company wants to qualify for cyber insurance at an affordable price, we recommend the following five steps: 1. Spend time with the application.  Insurers ask applicants to complete a security questionnaire to help them understand the risks facing the companies. Answering the...

Thinking About Converting Your Home into a Rental Property?

In some cases, homeowners decide to move to new residences, but keep their present homes and rent them out. If you’re thinking of doing this, you’re probably aware of the financial risks and rewards. However, you also should know that renting out your home carries potential tax benefits and pitfalls. You’re generally treated as a regular real estate landlord once you begin renting your home. That means you must report rental income on your tax return, but also are entitled to offsetting landlord deductions for the money you spend on utilities, operating expenses, incidental repairs and maintenance (for example, fixing a leak in the roof). Additionally, you can claim depreciation deductions for the home. You can fully offset rental income with otherwise allowable landlord deductions. Passive activity...

Tax Considerations When Adding a New Partner at Your Business

Adding a new partner in a partnership has several financial and legal implications. Let’s say you and your partners are planning to admit a new partner. The new partner will acquire a one-third interest in the partnership by making a cash contribution to it. Let’s further assume that your bases in your partnership interests are sufficient so that the decrease in your portions of the partnership’s liabilities because of the new partner’s entry won’t reduce your bases to zero. Not as simple as it seems Although the entry of a new partner appears to be a simple matter, it’s necessary to plan the new person’s entry properly in order to avoid various tax problems. Here are two issues to consider: First, if there’s a change in the partners’...

Taking a Red Pen to Financials for Valuation Purposes

Financial statements are an important source of data for valuing a business. But they tell only part of the story. An accurate business valuation hinges on a comprehensive understanding of the subject company’s relative performance and its future earnings power. To help clarify matters, experts often make various adjustments to the financials. Here are some examples. Non-recurring adjustments From a valuator’s perspective, an obvious shortcoming of financial statements is that they demonstrate historic results, not expected performance. Historical data is less relevant if operations are expected to change in the future. For example, a valuator might remove extraordinary or unusual items — such as proceeds from a legal settlement or short-term effects of hurricane damage — from a company’s income statement. Similarly, to better reflect future earnings potential,...

Issues to Consider After You File Your Tax Return

The tax filing deadline for 2021 has passed. Now that your tax return has been successfully filed with the IRS, there may still be some issues to bear in mind. Here are three considerations: 1. You can throw some tax records away now You should hang onto tax records related to your return for as long as the IRS can audit your return or assess additional taxes. The statute of limitations is generally three years after you file your return (four years for California). So you can generally get rid of most records related to tax returns for 2018 and earlier years. (If you filed an extension for your 2018 return, hold on to your records until at least three years from when you filed the extended...

Keep Cybercriminals from Stealing Your Businesss Brand

When criminals steal an individual’s identity, the victim can take steps to minimize potential damage by, for example, notifying credit agencies and freezing bank accounts. But what happens if a cybercrook steals a company’s identity and uses it to engage in fraud? This situation can be more complicated — and expensive — to resolve. Fraudsters who use your business’s digital assets for their benefit are known as brandjackers. Brandjacking schemes may involve copying websites, social media accounts, logos and email domains to lure your customers, suppliers and other stakeholders and defraud them. But you can fight back. Consider taking these seven steps: 1. Monitor social media chatter.  Maintaining control of your brand and its digital assets is critical to detecting brandjacking. A big part of this is monitoring...

Tax Issues to Assess When Converting from a C to an S Corporation

Operating as an S corporation may help reduce federal employment taxes for small businesses in the right circumstances. Although S corporations may provide tax advantages over C corporations, there are some potentially costly tax issues that you should assess before making a decision to switch. Here’s a quick rundown of the most important issues to consider when converting from a C corporation to an S corporation: Built-in gains tax Although S corporations generally aren’t subject to tax, those that were formerly C corporations are taxed on built-in gains (such as appreciated property) that the C corporation has when the S election becomes effective, if those gains are recognized within 5 years after the corporation becomes an S corporation. This is generally unfavorable, although there are situations where the S election...

Tax Implications of Selling Mutual Fund Shares

If you’re an investor in mutual funds or you’re interested in putting some money into them, you’re not alone. According to the Investment Company Institute, a survey found 58.7 million households owned mutual funds in mid-2020. But despite their popularity, the tax rules involved in selling mutual fund shares can be complex. What are the basic tax rules? Let’s say you sell appreciated mutual fund shares that you’ve owned for more than one year, the resulting profit will be a long-term capital gain. As such, the maximum federal income tax rate will be 20%, and you may also owe the 3.8% net investment income tax. However, most taxpayers will pay a tax rate of only 15%. When a mutual fund investor sells shares, gain or loss is measured...