Your McCarthy Update 

Marty McCarthy, CPA, CCIFP
Focused on You. Dedicated to Your Success.
July 19, 2021

Construction and Real Estate News
(Construction Executive) Construction Executive's 2021 Mid-Year Construction Economic Update and Forecast. Anirban Basu, chief economist for Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), presented the Construction Executive’s “2021 Mid-Year Construction Economic Update and Forecast” webinar on July 14. Most of the conclusions were positive. While the price of lumber peaked in May, it had fallen below $700 per board feet as of July 12, along with other materials slowly steadying in the market. Nonresidential is up year-over-year in every U.S. region, from 1.9% in the Midwest to 5.3% in the Northeast. Contractors, overall, have gone from a rapidly depleting or no backlog to 8.5 months of backlog on average, per ABC’s Construction Backlog Indicator. Employment, construction spending and ABC’s Construction Confidence Index all show similar indications of improvement. Watch the webinar and read about the highlights.
 
(GlobeSt.com) Here’s what all that WFH uncertainty means for retail and housing. Even a partial return to the office could revive demand for retail in the urban core. Learn why.
 
Accounting & Tax News
(Accounting Today) IRS offers guidance on troubled pension plans. New rules have been posted for multiemployer qualified retirement plans that have run into funding problems and need extra financial help from the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Learn more.
 
(Microsoft News) The child tax payments are here. Do you have to pay them back? Per CNBC, the advanced payments are based on estimates from the IRS, which uses its records to determine your income, marital status and number of children. However, if any of your information is outdated or changes, you may have to pay it back. Discover why.

(IRS.gov) Treasury, IRS extend safe harbor for renewable energy projects. Notice 2021-41 provides that the period of the Continuity Safe Harbor is extended for projects for which construction began in 2016 through 2020. Read more.
 
(SmallBizAhead) 5 secrets hidden in your financial statements. By understanding these 5 secrets, business owners are better able to manage their cash flow and interpret the numbers necessary to make profitable decisions. Learn more.
 
(Tax Foundation) State and local sales tax rates, midyear 2021. Read more.
 
Business & Economic News
(CNBC) America’s top states for business 2021. See how your state is ranked.
 
(Reuters) Work from home is fueling cyberattacks. The Financial Stability Board (FSB) found there were fewer than 5,000 cyberattacks a week in February 2020, but that number soared to more than 200,000 per week at the end of April this year. Learn more.
 
(Reuters) U.S. producer prices post biggest annual gain in more than 10-1/2 years. This suggests that inflation could remain high as robust demand fueled by the economy's recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic strains the supply chain. Read more.
 
(SmallBizAhead) How to build business credit as a small business owner. Even with perfect credit, it may be difficult to secure credit Learn what you can do.
 
(SmartBrief) To cope with labor shortages, raise emotional compensation. A recent survey found more than 40% of people are considering leaving their current job this year. The pandemic has caused many people to re-evaluate their work lives and what they are willing to accept. Read more.
 
(The Hill) Investors are more pessimistic about inflation. Investors’ 12-month outlook for inflation grew worse between the first quarter of 2021 and second quarter of 2021, according to the Gallup Investor Optimism Index. The net optimism score for inflation dropped to -43 in the second quarter, down 15 points from -28 in the first quarter. Read more.

(The New York Times) A key measure of inflation rose sharply in June, the biggest increase since 2008. The Consumer Price Index (CPI) climbed by 5.4% in the year through June, the Labor Department said. Prices for used cars and trucks accelerated rapidly and accounted for more than a third of the surge. Read more.

COVID Related News
(Journal of Accountancy) Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF) recipients revealed. The SBA released the RRF information on July 9 in a downloadable file. Read the article.
 
(NJBIA) Businesses can work with the State of New Jersey to temporarily turn their physical site into a one-day vaccination clinic to vaccinate their employees and their families. Interested employers must complete a short survey, then the Department of Health will follow-up directly. Find out how to promote the COVID-19 vaccine with your employees. Learn more.
 
(NJBIA) Small Business Emergency Assistance Loan Program (Phase 2) Opens July 20th, 2021 The program provides up to $100,000 in financing to New Jersey small businesses and nonprofits with a physical commercial space in New Jersey, among other eligibility requirements. All applicants must pre-register to be eligible to apply. Pre-registration opens July 20th, 2021 at 9 a.m. Learn more.
 
Best Practices
Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill. These 7 principles can help you achieve mental, spiritual, and physical freedom:
  1. Definiteness of purpose. Decide on your purpose… a grand aspiration, a monster goal, and move towards it with ruthless abandonment.
  2. Mastery over self. Discipline equals freedom. If you’re driven by impulse all your life, you’ll go nowhere, like a drifter.
  3. Learning from adversity. Failures are just failures. Whether you learn from them or let them stop you… is up to you.
  4. Controlling environmental influence. Who you spend time with matters. What your room looks like matters. What your car looks like matters.
  5. Time. Time can make drifting and negativity permanent. But it can also make positivity and wisdom permanent.
  6. Harmony. For you to balance mental, spiritual, and physical aspects of your life, you must be the main actor.
  7. Caution. Always act. But always think before you act.
Feel free to contact any member of our team at (610) 828-1900 (PA) or (732) 341-3893 (NJ) with questions. Rich Higgins, CPA, managing principal – New Jersey office can be contacted at [email protected]. I can be reached at [email protected]. As always, we are happy to help.

Stay safe,

Marty McCarthy, CPA, CCIFP
Managing Partner
McCarthy & Company

Disclaimer: This alert is for informational purposes only and does not constitute professional advice. Information contained in this communication is not intended or written to be used as tax advice, and cannot be used by the recipient to avoid penalties that may be imposed under the Internal Revenue Code. We strongly advise you to seek professional assistance with respect to your specific issue(s).