WebEd: Tax Reform’s Impact on Your Construction Business & Market

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Description:

Tax Reform’s Impact on Your Construction Business & Market

Congress recently passed the most far-reaching tax reform legislation since 1986. No matter what your construction market—public or private—or construction firm—C-corporation, S-corporation, LLC, LLP, or partnership—the new tax reform law will have an impact on you.

During this webinar, you will hear tax and accounting firm CBIZ’s Cord Armstrong—a CPA and leader in the firm’s National Construction Industry Practice Group—AGC’s lead infrastructure and tax lobbyists and policy experts on Capitol Hill and with the U.S. Department of the Treasury—Sean O’Neill and Matt Turkstra, respectively— and Chief Economist Ken Simonson discuss:

• The impact of the new law on your construction business—no matter the type, C-corp, S-corp, LLC, partnership or so forth;
• Things your business should consider before converting to a C-corp, such as the 20 percent pass-through deduction and how it works;
• Changes to tax incentives for public and private construction, including but not limited to private activity bonds and the historic tax credit;
• Ambiguities in the law to be aware of and the chances of this Congress enacting “technical corrections” to address them;
• What’s next for the Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service when it comes to issuing guidance and regulations to help you understand how to comply; and
• How AGC advocated for your construction business throughout this process and continues to do so. 

Speakers: 

Cord D. Armstrong 
Managing Director
CBIZ

Cord Armstrong is a Managing Director in the company’s tax division. His involvement spans all aspects of Federal and State taxation, including compliance, planning and research for businesses and high net worth individuals.

Cord has more than 25 years of experience in public accounting and is responsible for the supervision of staff in various tax compliance and research matters for individuals, businesses, trusts and estates. His duties also include review of federal and state corporate returns for the company’s audit clients as well as significant year-end tax planning and consulting. Cord specializes in the construction industry and is a member of the company's National Construction Industry Practice Group. He also has a specialty in estate and gift tax matters and has represented corporate and individual clients before the Internal Revenue Service and other state and local tax authorities.

Sean O'Neill
Vice President, Congressional Relations & Infrastructure Advancement
Associate General Contractors of America

Sean O’Neill is AGC’s Senior Director of Congressional Relations and Infrastructure Advancement. In this position, Sean is AGC’s lead lobbyist on infrastructure policy, funding and financing issues on Capitol Hill and at federal agencies. His infrastructure portfolio includes, but is not limited to, surface transportation, water infrastructure, innovative financing, air quality issues, energy and federal construction programs.

Prior to joining AGC, Sean served in both the Executive Branch and on Capitol Hill at high levels. During the George W. Bush administration, Sean served as Special Assistant to then-U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, who today serves as the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation under President Trump. In that role, Sean was the senior strategic advisor and liaison to organized labor for Secretary Chao. He also worked in the House of Representatives as Chief of Staff to Rep. John Sweeney (R-NY). Sean is a graduate of State University of New York at Cortland. 

Ken Simonson
Chief Economist 
Associated General Contractors of America

Ken Simonson has been the chief economist of the Associated General Contractors of America, the leading trade association for the construction industry, since 2001. His weekly summary of economic news relevant to construction, The Data DIGest, goes to 47,000 subscribers. He is a Fellow and past president of the National Association for Business Economics, the professional organization for individuals who use economics in their work. Currently, he serves as an appointed member of the Census Scientific Advisory Committee and the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Data Users Advisory Committee. Ken has 40 years of experience analyzing, advocating and communicating about economic and tax issues. He received a BA in economics from the University of Chicago and an MA in economics from Northwestern University.

Matt Turkstra
Director, Congressional Relations, Tax, Fiscal Affairs, & Accounting
Associated General Contractors of America

Matthew Turkstra is AGC’s Director of Congressional Relations, Tax, Fiscal Affairs and Accounting. In this role, he oversees AGC’s tax and finance advocacy efforts on Capitol Hill and in the Executive Branch.  He analyzes tax legislation and other legislation with revenue-raising provisions and routinely meets with members of Congress and their staff, the administration, and regulatory agencies to promote AGC’s policy priorities. Turkstra also has extensive background on federal tax, health care budget, and financial services policy, as well as experience with education, and labor issues. 

Previously, Matt worked for the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) as Manager of Legislative affairs focusing on tax and fiscal issues. There, among other things, Matt led the Family Business Estate Tax Coalition, a coalition of over 60 trade associations representing family-owned businesses committed to reducing, and eventually eliminating the estate tax.

He additionally has served on Capitol Hill as the Legislative Director for Representative Nan Hayworth(R-NY), overseeing the Congresswoman’s legislative agenda and focusing on her tax and health care initiatives.  Prior to his time with Rep. Hayworth, he was the Senior Legislative Assistant for Representative Scott Garrett (R-NJ) where he was the Congressman’s primary staffer for the Budget Committee.  Before that, Matt served as the Senior Committee Clerk at the House Committee on Ways & Means, overseeing the Committee’s hearings and markups.

A proud native of New Jersey, Matt graduated from Gettysburg College in 2002, and has worked in Washington, D.C. since 2004.

WebEd Recording: