| 2003 Legislative Update No. 2 for Business Owners: Narrowing the Field The Red River Run by the Dems definitely impacted the 2003 legislation coming out of Austin. In short, it killed it. The substantial majority of the bills we were watching are dead. Now it’s time to focus on what’s left and see where that leaves the business owner. Franchise Taxes: First and foremost in the hearts of most, is the desire to pay less, as opposed to more, taxes. All franchise tax bills originated in the House are dead. I think we’ll have to wait until the special session to see anything here, but for now, your Family Limited Partnerships and other business limited partnerships are safe. If you pay any franchise tax in any given year, you need to ask yourself “why?” when you can convert your business to a limited partnership and escape this tax altogether. For more information on this, contact your CPA or lawyer. If you don’t have one or want a new one, call us, we’d love to help. If you lease property as lessor or lessee, there will be no significant changes; all of the landlord/tenant bills on our list are dead. HB 4, the huge tort reform bill, looks poised to pass the Senate. It’s already gone through the House, and the Governor is salivating to sign it. More info on this later. The 800 page “business organizations code” (HB 1156) has passed the House and Senate, so it’s off to the Gov’s desk. Much more info on this bill later once I’ve had the chance to read an 800+ page bill........time for some Vivarin. This bill phases in over time, and in the meantime, several other bills progressed that will affect the governance of business entities. If you have a business entity, I suggest you take your records to your local lawyer (again, if you don’t have one or want a new one, we’d love to help) for a review and discussion of how the new changes will affect you. This conversation will differ from business to business, depending on how you operate it in the real world. The Uniform Commercial Code, which applies to financing, and the sale of goods/products, looks like a sure thing to be modified fairly substantially. More on HB 1394 later, too. This will be a critical change should it pass. Browse through our 2003 Legislative Tracking Center to get a more complete update on where we’re at. The dead bills are easily identified (hint: they say “DEAD” in the Status box). We update our Legislative Tracking Center daily, so bookmark this page and keep it handy for the next 2 weeks as we wind up the lunacy in Austin, and watch for our next Special Legislative Email Alert right after June 2, the last legislative day. www.mctexlaw.com/2003legislation.asp. Close
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