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The ESOP Association

ESOP Association Resources

Dec. 29
The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 (P.L. 117-328) includes the Worker Opportunity, Readiness and Knowledge (WORK) Act, sponsored by Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Jerry Moran (R-KS), which creates the Employee Ownership Initiative at the DOL to promote employee ownership and directs the DOL to provide formal guidance on the vital issue of properly valuing shares of company stock to be bought by an ESOP– a key rule long missing from the ESOP regulatory landscape. The law included new provisions allowing S corporation ESOPs limited use of section 1042 tax deferral.
Dec. 21
Happy Holidays from Your Friends at The ESOP Association!
The ESOP Report will return in early January 2023 with all the news, content, and announcements you expect from The ESOP Association.
Dec. 20
Congressional negotiators early this morning released the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 which includes numerous top priority provisions sought by The ESOP Association on behalf of its membership.
Dec. 14
The ESOP Association released the following statement on the unexpected passing of Will Raap, a visionary leader in employee ownership, organic gardening, and locally sourced and sustainable food.
Dec. 07
The ESOP Association has been working with Congress during this congressional session on bipartisan retirement security legislation.  That important legislation – which includes provisions that affect every ESOP and employee ownership in general – is being considered in the final days of the current Congress.  If this bill, which was painstakingly negotiated and enjoys broad bipartisan support, doesn’t pass now, the entire legislative process must start over next year. 
Employee Owned
Dec. 02
Thank you to the more than 2,000 employee owners and ESOP professionals who attended Employee Owned 2022 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas!
ESOP Blog, Resource
Feb. 28
In this, our final installment on common criticisms of ESOPs—and why they are wrong—we’ll look at the assertion that ESOPs are not real ownership.
According to cynics, ESOPs are “fake” ownership plans. In “real” ownership, they argue, the owners control their assets by determining such things as who runs the company, who sits on the Board of Directors, when major corporate decisions are made that might impact the future of the company, and so on.
But ESOPs are true ownership.
ESOP Blog, Resource
Feb. 14
I often hear three criticisms about ESOPs: The second criticism is that ESOPs are a waste of taxpayers’ money.
Cynics say the tax breaks provided to ESOPs are money losers because the majority of American taxpayers pay higher rates to make up for the cost of ESOP tax benefits.
But anyone who says that must not have done very well in elementary school when they learned basic math. ESOPs offer great returns on tax incentives.
Resource, ESOP Report, Legal Update, Ownership Advantage, Washington Report, President's Page, Valuation, Beneficiary Designation
Feb. 01
The Impact of Tax Reform on ESOP C and S Corporation Business Valuations.