Mel Schwartz, a senior partner at Grant Thornton LLP, shared his thoughts on what kind of tax situation dealmakers should expect to see in 2009 and beyond at The Deal's M&A Outlook 2009 conference. "Taxes having been such a vocal part of the presidential campaign was both good and bad," Schwartz commented.
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"It will be much easier for the Democratic Congress to move the changes
they advocated in the new session next year," he continued. "Up in the
air is whether the rate on dividends and the top incomes will go back
up to where they were in 2001. By no means is that certain to happen
early, but increases are going to be on the table, and they will be on
the table early in the year. It seems to be that they will happen
eventually, but a hard and fast date is difficult to determine at this
date.
"The Obama people have made it clear they are interested in exploring
the big issues in a different way than we've seen them explored over
the last eight years," Schwartz commented. "Things like a favorable tax
rate for return on capital as opposed to that of labor is something to
look for changes in.
"With regard to tax benefits, a consciousness of what tax rules do for employment is going to be a much bigger
consideration for this administration," he said. "The question of how tax affects
domestic employment, and not just competitiveness, is going to be a much
bigger consideration for an Obama administration." -
George WhiteSee all M&A Outlook 2009 posts
