NACS works on a variety of issues on behalf of the convenience and petroleum retailing industry. The association strives to provide consistent, proactive government affairs solutions that impact the industry's bottom line. Some of these issues include:
LIFO, an abbreviation for “last-in-first-out,” is a textbook accounting method used to determine both book income and tax liability. The term refers to the assumption made by a business in establishing the value of its inventories. This is opposed to the other common inventory accounting convention that is FIFO for “first-in-first-out.” LIFO came into the tax law in 1939.
The estate tax relief provided by Congress in their tax cutting legislation of 2001 will end in 2010. Unless Congress acts, in 2011 the estate tax exemption will drop to $1 million per person and the maximum estate tax rate will increase to 55 percent.
The topic of rest area commercialization will likely come up during the reauthorization of our nation’s surface transportation programs, which will begin this summer. NACS will be working with other businesses that have location just off the highway system to help reserve this competitive market that has proven beneficial for both consumers and businesses.
The Obama administration has put forward a proposal to authorize the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) to impose fees on companies that produce, import and sell alcohol beverages. The president’s budget for FY2010 currently provides for TTB to collect fees to fund a substantial portion of its budget ($84 million of a total budget of $109 million).
With the Federal Debt growing at an unprecedented rate, Congress is considering legislation that would legalize online gambling including the sale of lottery tickets as a means to increase tax revenue.
Estate taxes hurt small family businesses, such as those within the convenience and petroleum retailing industry. The estate tax also destroys the ability of a family-owned business to remain within the family and be passed on from one generation to the next.