Geoff Lane Posts

France has enacted a digital services tax in an effort to hamper the growth of innovative companies based in the United States. Under the plan, those companies with at least $851 million in global revenue – of which at least $28 million is generated in France –would be slapped with a 3% tax, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2019.

The end of 2017 brought a slew of changes to our tax code. In December, Congress passed a package of reforms that overhauled much of the U.S. tax code for individuals and corporations. Many of these changes were enacted in January, leaving businesses wondering how the updated tax code will impact their operations.

As tax reform deliberations begin in Washington D.C., CompTIA members had an opportunity earlier this month to sit down with key Congressional staff to discuss the issue. The hour-long roundtable gave members the chance to share their corporate tax priorities with staff, and learn more about forthcoming legislation that will reform our tax code.

This week, key Republican policymakers in Washington unveiled a framework outlining their proposed tax reform goals. While the framework is light on details – this isn’t legislative text, after all – it does provide some insight into what the bill’s writers are thinking. For instance, on corporate reforms the framework would lower the tax rate on corporations to 20%, and tax passthroughs at 25%. It would allow businesses to “write off” or expense investment costs – so long as those investments aren’t structures – for at least five years.

Earlier this year, CompTIA published an eye-opening report on the skills gap. Titled “Assessing the IT Skills Gap,” CompTIA’s stellar research team surveyed 600 professionals to better understand the gap and its effects on the IT industry and the U.S. economy. Among the findings, CompTIA found that there is a widespread belief that the skills gap is growing, and that between now and 2024, approximately 800,000 IT workers will retire. Couple this with the more than 600,000 IT jobs that went unfilled in Q4 2016, and you see the problem – absent a big change, our economy might not have the human capital it needs to grow.

As the key driver of the Championing New Careers and Employees in Technology (“CHANCE in TECH”) Act, CompTIA recently convened a webinar to discuss this and other workforce issues important to the technology industry. Joining CompTIA’s Randi Parker and Geoff Lane, who serve as CompTIA’s policy experts on workforce issues, was Otto Katt, a key congressional staff member to Representative Phil Roe (R-TN).

CompTIA is deeply engaged in arming students and workers with the skills today’s economy demands. For instance, we support schools that are making STEM subjects the fundamental building blocks of their curriculum, mentorships that can give students the confidence to excel in IT careers, as well as job training and work-based learning programs.

One of the great things about the American political system is the chance to hit the reset button. For better or worse, every two years a new Congress is sworn in. New members come to Washington with new ideas –some more sensible than others– but nevertheless, this biennial tradition brings with it renewed hope. That’s why we’re so excited for 2017 and the soon-to-be-sworn-in 115th Congress.