Setting up a startup in Arkansas

No. Arkansas does not allow bonus depreciation; it follows IRC sections 167 and 168 as in effect on January 1, 2019, with its own Section 179 conformity date. Every asset a startup bonus-depreciates federally has a separate, slower Arkansas schedule, and the difference is a state deferred tax item.

Generally no. Arkansas taxes tangible goods, specified digital products (e-books, digital music and video), digital codes and a list of services. Hosted software accessed remotely is not on that list. A company that sells downloadable media or digital codes is in a different position.

Yes. Arkansas asks for the state copies of 1099s, along with a photocopy of the federal Form 1096, by January 31 — the same date as the W-2s and ARW-3. Bulk files go through ATAP.

$11.00 an hour, set by the 2018 ballot initiative, for employers with four or more employees. It is well above the federal $7.25, and Arkansas has no scheduled increases beyond it.

Yes. Arkansas corporations, including qualified foreign corporations, file an annual franchise tax report with the Secretary of State by May 1. It is measured on capital stock, not income, so it is owed in loss years. The Secretary of State publishes the rate, the minimum and the late-filing penalty.

Arkansas research incentives are administered by the Arkansas Economic Development Commission, which certifies the project or the business before the credit can be claimed. They are not a line a company computes on its return alone, so the time to ask is before the research spending, not at year end.