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Published: 04 Nov 2008 04:43:14 PST

United States

Business Environment

Business practices

For further information: Business.gov
For further information: USA.gov
For further information: Doing Business
For further information: Doing Business In the USA
Closed hours and days: From Monday to Friday, 8:30 /9:00 am to 5:00/6:00 pm.

Public holidays

New Year's day	1 January
Martin Luther King 's Birthday	18 January
President 's Day	15 February
Memorial Day	31 May
Independence Day	4 July*
Labor Day	6 September
Columbus Day	11 October
Veteran 's Day	11 November
Thanksgiving	Last friday of November
Christmas Day	25 December**

Compensation day

Public Holiday on 5 July if it falls on a Monday

Public Holiday on 24 December if it falls on a Friday.

Periods when companies usually close

New Year's day	1 January
Memorial Day	31 May
Independence Day	4 July
Labor Day	6 September
Thanksgiving	25 November
Christmas Day	25 December

Standards

National standards organizations

American National Standards Institute
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Integration in the international standards network

The ANSI is a member of:
- The International Standard organization (ISO);
- The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC);
- The International Accreditation Forum (IAF)
- The U.S. member of the Pacific Area Standards Congress (PASC)
- The Pan American Standards Commission (COPANT)
- The Pacific Accreditation Cooperation (PAC)
- Via the ANSI-ASQ National Accreditation Board (ANAB), a member of the Inter American Accreditation Cooperation (IAAC).

Classification of standards

- Five Standards Panel manage by the American National Standards Institute:

- the ANSI Biofuels Standards Panel (ANSI-BSP),

- the Healthcare Information Technology Standards Panel,

- the ANSI Homeland Security Standards Panel,

- the ANSI Nanotechnology Standards Panel,

- the Identity Theft Prevention and Identity Management Standards Panel,

- the classification code is: ANSI + 1 letter showing the technical area + digit number and the year.

Online consultation of standards

The ANSI webstore or the search engine NSSN.

Certification organizations

Directory of ANSI Accredited Certification Programs for Product Certifiers
Directory of Accredited Telecommunication Certification Body Programs
Directory of ANSI Accredited Certification Programs for SQF Standards
Directory of ANSI Accredited Certification Programs for SFI and PEFC Standards

Legal framework

Independence of justice: Independent.
Equal treatment of nationals and foreigners: Foreign nationals can expect an impartial trial from the country judicial system.
The language of justice: English.
Having recourse to an interpreter: Each federal court is required to provide, at judiciary expense, a certified or otherwise qualified interpreter in judicial proceedings instituted by the United States for a party who speaks only or primarily a language other than English.
Sources of the law and legal similarities: The main source of the law is the constitution of 1787. The country legal system is based on federal court system influenced by English common law and judicial reviews of various legislative acts. Each state has its own unique legal system with its own supreme court. A case may be appealed from a state supreme court to the federal Supreme Court only if it is related to federal issues like U.S. Constitution or laws/treaties of the United States.
Consulting national laws online: Office of the Law Revision Council

Intellectual Property

National organizations

United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Regional organizations

UNECA (UN Economic Commission for Africa)
APEC (Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation)
UNECE (UN Economic Commission for Europe )
ECLAC (UN Ecomomic Commission for Latin America & the Carribean)
ESCWA (UN Ecomomic and Social Commission for Western Asia)

International membership

Member of the WIPO
Signatory to the Paris Convention
Membership to TRIPS

National regulation and international agreements

Type of property	Law	Validity	International agreements signed
Patent	United States Code Title 35	20 years	Patent Cooperation Treaty Strasbourg agreement concerning the International Patent Classification
Trademark	US trademarl law	20 years , renewed for periods of ten years, unless previously cancelled or surrendered.	Trademark law treaty Nice agreement concerning the International classification of goods and Services for the Purposes of the registration of Marks Protocol relating to the Madrid Agreement concerning the International Registration of Marks
Design	WIPO
Copyright	Copyright Law	During the life of the author plus either 50 or 70 years	Berne convention for the protection of Literary and Artistic Works Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms against unauthorized duplication of their phonograms Rome convention for the protection of performers, producers of phonograms and Broadcasting organizations WIPO copyright treaty WIPO performances and Phonograms treaty
Industrial Models	United States Code Title 35

Tax rates

Consumption taxes

Nature of the tax: Sales Tax.
Tax rate: Varies by State (around 5% and 6%).
Reduced tax rate: Varies by State. Click here for more information.
Other consumption taxes: Other consumption taxes are levied at the local level. Click here for more information about other consumption taxes by states.

Corporate taxes

Tax rate

Taxes levied by States and municipalities vary. Click here for more information about corporate tax rate.

Between 0% and 12%

Tax rate for foreign companies

Corporate income is taxed at the federal, state and sometimes at the municipal levels. Income is taxed during the year that it is earned and again when it is distributed to the shareholders.

The income of a Corporation is taxed twice, once at the level of the corporation as a separate entity, and a second time at the shareholder level when profits are distributed by means of dividends.

Capital gains taxation

Capital gains are combined with ordinary income, and taxed at the same rates as corporate income

Main allowable deductions and tax credit

- An exemption amount for the taxpayer, the spouse, each child, and any other qualified dependents, and certain disabilities,

- Mortgage interest paid on one's primary residence or other residence,

- Equity loan or Line of Credit interest,

- Charitable contributions to eligible entities,

- Business deductions, such as mileage, related to an individual's expenses regarding their employment,

- Business startup and operation, and farming expenses (including travel, meals), not to exceed business income,

- Union and professional dues,

- Medical expenses above a certain percentage of the individual's Adjusted Gross Income (AGI),

- The cost of tax advice, software, and books,

- Moving expenses, in some cases,

- Job search expenses as one searches for work in the same industry,

- Educational expense (but only if it does not prepare one for a new career).

Other corporate taxes

In addition to Federal taxes, States and municipal taxes varies from a state or community to another.

Individual taxes

Tax rate

Different scales depending on the family status (married couples under a joint system, married couples under a separate assets system, single and head of the family), limited to six rates.	:	10%, 15%, 25%, 28% and 33%
High incomes are subjected to an additional tax .	:	35%

Allowable deductions and tax credit

Depend on the State of residence.

Special expatriate tax regime

An expatriate's US source income may be exempt from US tax. For further information consult the website www.usa-international-offshore-expatriate-tax.com.

Double taxation treaties

Countries with whom a double taxation treaty have been signed: 54 countries have signed a double taxation treaty with the USA
Whithholding taxes
Bilateral agreement

Sources of fiscal information

Tax Authorities: For further information, please contact the IRS (Internal Revenue Service).
Other domestic resources: White House.gov

Accounting rules

Tax year

The Financial year begins on January 1 and ends on December 31 of the same year.

Accounting standards

Accounting in the USA is based on domestic standards defined by:

- The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)

- The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB)

- The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB)

- The Federal Accounting Standards Advisory Board (FASAB)

Accounting regulation bodies

The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA)
The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB)

Accounting reports

Annual report including income of statement, the balance sheet along with supporting CPA notes. The report must be filed on a Quarterly basis (10 K) with the SEC company.

Publication

According to the S-X rule emitted by the SEC, all companies which make a public appeal for saving have to present annually to the SEC an information file called "10 K" for the American companies and "20 F" for the foreign companies.
Companies quoted in the stock-exchange have to publish their accounts.

Professional accountancy bodies