Talking Shop Blog

From the 1986 comedy Back to School  . . .

          English Professor:   How would you characterize “The Great Gatsby”?

          Thornton Melon:     He was… uh… great!

Rodney Dangerfield never got any respect. And his movie character, Thornton Melon, never had the benefit of a sales tax holiday.

Illinois’ first ever Back-to-School Sales Tax Holiday starts today. It runs for 10 days through Sunday, August 15.

The state enacted the holiday to provide “tax relief” to parents and families buying clothes and supplies for the upcoming school year.

Federal and state governments provide tax relief and tax incentives all the time.

But what’s viewed as a tax incentive to some may be viewed as a tax loophole to others.

The home mortgage interest deduction is a tax incentive to encourage home ownership. But renters might view it as a tax loophole.

You can find out more on the sales tax “loophole” at http://www.revenue.state.il.us/SalesTaxHoliday.htm

Or should we say sales tax “relief”?

Real estate values are down and interest rates are low.

So is now the time to invest?

Some promoters say yes and their pitch is foreclosures, flips and fix ups.

And they’ll do it all for you, if you want. Find the property, handle the financing and fix it up.

You just invest some money and they do all the rest.

Reminds me of those tax shelter real estate deals from the 70s and early 80s.

You just invest some money and the syndicator does all the rest.

Of course, here’s what really happened with a lot of those deals.

In the beginning, the promoter had the experience and the investors had the money.

But in the end, the promoter had the money, and the investors had ”the experience”.    

Caveat emptor. Let the buyer beware.

This morning ADP released its July National Employment Report.

ADP reports that non-farm private sector jobs increased by 42,000 from June to July on a seasonally adjusted basis.

Service sector jobs increased by 63,000. But jobs in the goods-producing sector declined 21,000, including a 6,000 decrease in manufacturing jobs. 

As we’ve noted before, economic growth is driven by consumer spending and private sector jobs. So analysts and economists closely follow the monthly ADP report.

You can find the full ADP report at http://www.adpemploymentreport.com/

The website also has some excellent additional resources and links on the economy, business conditions and employment information.

The Department of Labor releases its July jobs report on Friday.