Linda McMahon Confirmed By Senate as SBA Administrator

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Senate confirmed on Tuesday President Donald Trump’s nomination of Linda E. McMahon as the 25th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration.
“Small businesses are the engine of our national economy,” McMahon said upon her confirmation. “I will work to revitalize a spirit of entrepreneurship in America.  Small businesses want to feel they can take a risk on an expansion or a new hire without fearing onerous new regulations or unexpected taxes, fees and fines that will make such growth unaffordable.  We want to renew optimism in our economy.”

“I want to thank President Trump for this opportunity to join his Administration and to advocate for our nation’s small business owners and entrepreneurs,” McMahon said. “I would also like to express my appreciation to Joe Loddo for his leadership as Acting Administrator during this transition, along with everyone at the SBA for the hard work they are doing to support America’s small businesses.”
In testimony on January 24 before the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, McMahon discussed her hands-on experience managing and helping to grow small businesses.

“As an entrepreneur myself, I have shared the experiences of our nation’s small business owners.  My husband and I built our business from scratch. We started out sharing a desk. Over decades of hard work and strategic growth, we built it into a publicly traded global enterprise with more than 800 employees. I am proud of our success – I know every bit of the hard work it took to create that success.”

“I believe in leadership by example. As a CEO, I never expect employees to do anything I am not willing to do myself.  I believe in setting expectations and holding people accountable, but trusting them to do the job for which they were hired. I look forward to working with the SBA staff. I am eager to learn from their experience and expertise. I will listen, and their ideas, concerns and recommendations will be taken seriously.”

As Administrator of the SBA, McMahon will direct a federal agency with more than 2,000 full-time employees, with a leading role in helping small business owners and entrepreneurs secure financing, technical assistance and training, and federal contracts. SBA also plays a leading role in disaster recovery by making low interest loans.

McMahon is the co-founder and chief executive officer of Women’s Leadership LIVE, as well as the co-founder and former CEO of WWE.  She was the Republican nominee to represent Connecticut in the U.S. Senate in 2010 and 2012.  McMahon is an advocate for small business and continues to promote entrepreneurship, particularly among women.

McMahon is a graduate of East Carolina University. She and her husband, Vince, have two adult children and six grandchildren.

Link to McMahon’s Statement to the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship:
http://www.sbc.senate.gov/public/?a=Files.Serve&File_id=B60A5A7D-A28A-497A-A834-456E7108AE01

5 Great Things about Being a Paralegal

A career as paralegal (also known as a legal assistant) can be a wonderfully fulfilling profession. Paralegals perform legal­, regulatory­ and business­-related research for lawyers working at their organization. Most of the time paralegals work for law offices, corporations' legal departments or courts. These professionals also provide legal support services to attorneys. They assist lawyers in filing materials such as motions, memoranda, pleadings and briefs in various court systems, as well as accompany lawyers to see clients and/or to go to court. Here are 5 great things about being a paralegal:

1. Rise In Pay
Paralegal compensation has risen steadily in the past decade, despite a bump in the road in the depths of the 2009-2010 recession. As paralegals perform a broader and more complex range of tasks (paralegals even represent clients in court in certain countries and administrative tribunals), paralegal earnings continue to rise. The average paralegal salary hovers at around $50,000 per year but paralegals often make more through bonuses. Overtime hours can also add significant cash to a paralegal's paycheck.

2. Explosive Employment Outlook
The paralegal field is one of the fastest-growing professions on the globe. The U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, predicts the employment of paralegals and legal assistants to grow 28 percent between 2008 and 2018, much faster than the average for all occupations. Among the factors driving this growth is client demand for cheaper, more efficient delivery of legal services. Since hourly rates charged by attorneys are typically double or triple the rates of paralegals for the same task, law firm economics mandates the increased use of paralegals to minimize costs. As a result, a paralegal career is one of the hottest non-lawyer jobs in the legal industry.

3. Easy Career Entry
Unlike lawyers who must complete seven years of formal education and pass the bar exam to practice law, you can become a paralegal in as little as a few months of study.

4. Intellectual Challenge
Paralegal work is intellectually challenging and involves a range of high-level skills. The most successful paralegals are problem-solvers and innovative thinkers. Paralegals must become subject matter experts in their specialty area and master legal procedure, research, drafting and other skills. They must stay on top of ever-changing laws and new legal trends and developments while interfacing with attorneys, opposing counsel, vendors, staff members, clients and others. The work is varied and each day brings new challenges.

5. Rising Prestige
As paralegals perform more complex and challenging work, paralegal prestige is rising. Paralegals are no longer simply lawyer's assistants; they are assuming management roles in corporations, leadership roles in law firms and entrepreneurial roles in independent paralegal businesses. Over the years, paralegals have transcended the image of glorified legal secretary to become respected members of the legal team.

A career as a paralegal can be rewarding professionally and personally. A  career as a paralegal offers a unique opportunity to help others. These opportunities vary, depending on the paralegal's practice area.Paralegals in the public interest sector help poor and disadvantaged segments of the population with legal issues ranging from protection from domestic abuse to assistance preparing wills Ready to take the leap? Visit www.freeparalegal.org

Unpaid Taxes? The IRS Moves to Revocation or Denial of Passports

If you have seriously delinquent tax debt, IRC § 7345 authorizes the IRS to certify that to the State Department. The department generally will not issue or renew a passport to you after receiving certification from the IRS.  

Upon receiving certification, the State Department may revoke your passport. If the department decides to revoke it, prior to revocation, the department may limit your passport to return travel to the U.S.

Certification Of Individuals With Seriously Delinquent Tax Debt

Seriously delinquent tax debt is an individual's unpaid, legally enforceable federal tax debt totaling more than $50,000 (including interest and penalties) for which a:

• Notice of federal tax lien has been filed and all administrative remedies under IRC § 6320 have lapsed or been exhausted or
• Levy has been issued

Some tax debt is not included in determining seriously delinquent tax debt even if it meets the above criteria. It includes tax debt:

• Being paid in a timely manner under  an installment agreement entered into with the IRS
• Being paid in a timely manner under an offer in compromise accepted by the IRS or a settlement agreement entered into with the Justice Department
• For which a collection due process hearing is timely requested in connection with a levy to collect the debt
• For which collection has been suspended because a request for innocent spouse relief under IRC § 6015 has been made

Before denying a passport, the State Department will hold your application for 90 days to allow you to:

• Resolve any erroneous certification issues
• Make full payment of the tax debt
• Enter into a satisfactory payment alternative with the IRS

There is no grace period for resolving the debt before the State Department revokes a passport.

Payment Of Taxes

If you can’t pay the full amount you owe, you can make alternative payment arrangements such as an installment agreement or an offer in compromise and still keep your U.S. passport.
If you disagree with the tax amount or the certification was made in error, you should contact the phone number listed on Notice CP 508C. If you’ve already paid the tax debt, please send proof of that payment to the address on the Notice CP 508C.
If you recently filed your tax return for the current year and expect a refund , the IRS will apply the refund to the debt and if the refund is sufficient to satisfy your seriously delinquent tax debt, the account is considered fully paid.

In Trouble with the IRS?
You don't have to go it alone. There's help. There's hope: the Professional Tax Law Firm og Figeroux & Associates. Call us now at 855-6taxguy or 855-682-9489.

 

Government Contracting: Do You Qualify as a Small Business?

You may take it for granted that your company is a "small business." The distinction is important if you wish to register for government contracting as a small business. To be a small business, you must adhere to industry size standards established by the U.S. Small Business Administration. As you register as a government contractor in the System for Award Management (SAM), you will also self-certify your business as small.

The SBA, for most industries, defines a "small business" either in terms of the average number of employees over the past 12 months, or average annual receipts over the past three years. In addition, SBA defines a U.S. small business as a concern that:

    Is organized for profit

    Has a place of business in the US

    Operates primarily within the U.S. or makes a significant contribution to the U.S. economy through    
    payment of taxes or use of American products, materials or labor

    Is independently owned and operated

    Is not dominant in its field on a national basis

The business may be a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation, or any other legal form. In determining what constitutes a small business, the definition will vary to reflect industry differences, such as size standards.

Size Standards

Because all federal agencies must use SBA size standards for contracts identified as small business, you need to select NAICS codes that best describe your business and then determine if the business meet size standards for the selected NAICS codes. Once you have determined you are indeed a small business, you can then certify your business as small by registering as a government contractor.

Want to learn more? Attend our seminar: Doing Business with the Federal Government: An Introduction.

Register at: http://mynacc.chambermaster.com/events/details/doing-business-with-the-federal-government-an-introduction-3118