by eclewis | Aug 14, 2014 | Business News
New businesses and entrepreneurship are on the rise in the Centennial State. The Quarterly Business and Economic Indicators Report from the Secretary of State’s office, covering the second quarter of this year, has shown that new business entity filings have increased 4 percent compared to second quarter of 2013. This also represents a 4.8 percent increase overall for the past 12 months, when compared to the previous 12 month period.
Other positive trends for the second quarter include higher employment levels in Colorado and nationwide, as well as an increased rate of renewal filings of existing entities. Renewal filings increased 3.9 percent in the second quarter from the first quarter of this year. These and other economic indicators led to the predictions within the report for continued employment and economic growth for the next two quarters of this year thanks to new jobs from startups and growing businesses.
The report specifically projected more increases in filings over the third quarter of this year as well. While these filings are projected to slow down some during the fourth quarter of the year, as they typically do, they are nevertheless expected to be higher this year than last year’s final quarter.
Business Insider also recently ranked all 50 state economies growth rate by comparing them across eight economic indicators like unemployment, gross domestic product, average wages, and size of the working age population. Colorado earned the top spot on their list at #1 due to being within the top fifteen states in all eight of their metrics, as well as having a highly diversified economy. This further signals a growing economy for Colorado.
On June 9th, the Secretary of State announced a filing fee holiday for new business entity filings, which reduces the fees from $50 to $1. The holiday was prompted by budgetary surpluses with the Secretary of State’s Office and it will continue through the rest of the summer. After the summer, the fee will be reevaluated on a monthly basis. This holiday, when combined with the already positive economic trends that are being forecasted for the state, may help spark additional business formation and growth here in Colorado.
Now is a great time to consider starting or expanding your own business with the positive outlook of Colorado’s economy behind you, as well as reduced new business filing fees. In order to get started, be sure to reach out to the Law Office of E.C. Lewis PC, home of your Denver Business Lawyer, Elizabeth Lewis, 720-258-6647 or email her at Elizabeth.Lewis@eclewis.com.
by eclewis | Aug 7, 2014 | Business News
Colorado was actually one of the first states to pioneer economic competition through the use of tax credits by being the second state to adopt a tax credit program for historic preservation back in 1991, but the law remained largely unchanged until recently.
House Bill 14-1311, the Colorado Job Creation and Main Street Revitalization Act, was signed into law on May 14th and it offers tax credits designed to help bring more economic development back to historic commercial buildings and main streets. This bill was also enacted to update Colorado’s preexisting tax credit program to be more competitive for development against other states, which already had similar programs.
These tax credits are available for qualified expenses beginning in July of 2015 and will discontinue in 2020. They are also divided into Large and Small categories, but first let us look at the requirements for either kind of project.
General Requirements
- Only properties designated as historic at the local, state, or national level are eligible
- All projects must be certified by the State Historic Preservation Office
- A minimum expenditure of 25% of the original purchase price of the property (minus the value of the land) must be made
- Projects with Qualified Rehabilitation Expenses over $250k require third party audits
- Projects located in state/federal disaster designations will get an additional 5% state tax credit if in service within 8 years following such designation.
Now let us take a look at some specifics depending on the category.
Small Historic Rehabilitation Projects
- Less than $1 million tax credit
- Projects below $500k in Qualified Rehabilitation Expenses get a 30% state tax credit on those expenses
- Projects between $500k-$1million in Qualified Rehabilitation Expenses get a 25% state tax credit on those expenses
Large Historic Rehabilitation Projects
- More than $1 million tax credit anticipated
- Projects will receive a 20% state tax credit for all Qualified Rehabilitation Expenses
With these tax credit opportunities in mind, now is a great time to plan or think about starting or expanding your business into the revitalizing historic buildings and main streets of Colorado. To get started, contact the Law Office of E.C. Lewis PC, home of your Denver Business Lawyer, Elizabeth Lewis, 720-258-6647 or email her at Elizabeth.Lewis@eclewis.com.
by eclewis | Jul 31, 2014 | Internet Law
Did you know that if you do business with someone or sell to consumers in the European Union, that you must comply with EU law, even if your business is located in the United States? This post will review both EU and Canadian Privacy Policy Laws and what it means for US businesses.
In the EU, organizations that collect personal data must do so in accordance with the Data Protection Directive. US businesses must also provide an “adequate level of protection” if they do business with the EU. Personal data can only be gathered under strict conditions and for a legitimate purpose. Further, this information must be managed by the organization in a way that protects certain rights and prevents misuse.
If you are a US company, you can comply with the requirements by joining the US-EU Safe Harbor Program. To do so, you must adhere to the following seven Safe Harbor Privacy Principles:
- Notice-Organizations must notify individuals about the purpose for which they collect and use information about them, contact information of the organization, the means the organization provides for limiting its use and disclosure, and the kind of third parties that the organization discloses your information to if any.
- Choice-Organizations must provide the opportunity to opt out (and if the information is sensitive like health information, it must be in the form of an opt in) of the collection of personal information that will be disclosed to a third party or used for any purpose beyond that of its original collection.
- Onward Transfer-In order to disclose to a third party, an organization must comply with the above Notice and Choice principles.
- Access-Individuals must be able to view, correct, amend, or delete their personal information, with some exceptions.
- Security-Reasonable precautions must be made by organizations to protect personal information.
- Data Integrity-Personal information collected must be relevant to all the purposes it will be used for.
- Enforcement-Organizations must have accessible independent recourse mechanisms for complaints to be resolved and have damages awarded if applicable. They must also have procedures for verifying the adherence to all principles, and to correct problems from any failures to comply.
In Canada, the applicable law is the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act or “PIPEDA.” It applies to any organization that collects, uses, or discloses personal information in the course of commercial activities. As a US company, you will still fall within the scope of PIPEDA if you have operations in Canada. Also, even if you do not have any Canadian operations but are collecting the personal information of Canadian citizens, you may be found to be within the scope of the law.
Any collection, use, or disclosure of personal information under this law can only be for purposes that a reasonable person would consider appropriate under the circumstances. In addition to this, there are ten principles that are to be followed to comply.
- Accountability-There must be people responsible for your organization’s compliance with the ten principles, protect all personal information, and implement personal information policies and practices.
- Identifying Purposes-The organization must identify, document, and inform the user the reasons for collecting personal information at the time of collection or beforehand.
- Consent-The user must be meaningfully informed of the purposes for collection and use or disclosure of the personal information and then consent to them.
- Limiting Collection-An organization cannot deceive, mislead, or be indiscriminate with their collection of personal information or statements of reasons for collecting it.
- Limiting Use, Disclosure, and Retention-Personal information cannot be used beyond its original purpose for collection or kept longer than is necessary. There must also be procedures in place for retention, destruction, and the resolution of grievances in relation to the data.
- Accuracy-The possibility of disclosing or making a decision based on personal information that is incorrect must be minimized.
- Safeguards-The personal information must be protected from loss, theft, unauthorized access, disclosure, copying, use, or modification, regardless of the information’s form.
- Openness-The organization must have understandable policies for the management of personal information that are readily available to users.
- Individual Access-Users should generally be given the opportunity to access the personal information that the organization possesses.
- Challenging Compliance-The organization must provide simple and easily understandable complaint procedures that inform of all avenues of recourse, investigate all complaints, and take appropriate corrective measures.
If you need help creating or updating the privacy policy for your business’ website, please contact the Law Office of E.C. Lewis PC, home of your Denver Business Lawyer, Elizabeth Lewis at 720-258-6647 or email her at Elizabeth.Lewis@eclewis.com.
by eclewis | Jul 1, 2014 | Business News
The results from CNBC’s ranking of America’s Top States for Business are in. After analyzing and comparing each state across fifty-six different business metrics, each state was assigned points in ten major categories to determine their ultimate ranking. Colorado came out with a ranking of #8 in the nation overall. You can take a look at the full report here.
Looking at some of the ten primary ranking categories, Colorado received the following rankings. Colorado ranked first for Access to Capital, which looks at the availability of venture capital and small business loans. For Workforce, which accounts for the quality and availability of workers, it came in 5th. Colorado ranked 8th for Economy, which examined the growth, job creation, and health of the real estate market. Colorado also came in at 9th in Technology & Innovation, which factored in the number of new ideas and capacity to support them within the state, and 12th in Quality of Life, which was scored by looking at crime, healthcare, and recreational considerations.
Colorado was specifically described in CNBC’s report as being “focused on innovation,” having a workforce that is “dynamic” and that capital for businesses was “abundant.” The Centennial State’s strong business performance evidenced by this report shows that there is no better time than the present to start or grow your business right here in Colorado.
If you are ready to get started, you can contact the Law Office of E.C. Lewis, PC, home of your Denver Small Business Lawyer, Elizabeth Lewis at 720-258-6647 or email her at elizabeth.lewis@eclewis.com.
by eclewis | Jun 17, 2014 | Business News
Does My Business Need an Employer Identification Number (EIN)?
There are a few questions that you can ask yourself right away regarding your business that can indicate to you immediately whether or not it is time to apply for an Employer Identification Number (EIN) from the IRS.
Does your business have employees or plan on hiring employees? It is important to note that even if your business is using contractors to get work done, they may be more accurately characterized as an employee under the law, which will require an EIN to be established and additional changes regarding such workers to be made.
Does your business operate as a partnership or a corporation? This includes all types of partnerships, corporations, and will likely include your LLC, unless it is a single-member LLC with no employees (and does not plan on hiring any) that does not fall under any other specific conditions.
Is your business involved with any of the following types of organizations? Non-Profits, Trusts (except certain grantor-owned revocable trusts), Estates, Plan Administrators, Individual Retirement Accounts, Exempt Organization Business Income Tax Returns, Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduits, or Farmers’ Cooperatives.
Does your business withhold taxes on income, besides wages, that are paid to a non-resident alien?
Does your business file any of the following tax returns: Employment, Excise, or Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearm?
Does your business have a Keogh plan? Keogh plans are a particular kind of retirement plan that may require an EIN.
If you answered yes to any of the above questions, are unsure about your answer, or have other questions of your own, do not hesitate to reach out to the Law Office of E.C. Lewis, PC, home of your Denver Business Lawyer, Elizabeth Lewis at 720-258-6647 or email her at elizabeth.lewis@eclewis.com.
