Beyond High Tech Survival: Turning Government Policy into International Profits. - book reviews

Tax Executive, The, March-April, 1998 by Larry R. Langdon

I reviewed Cliff Jernigan's book High Tech Survival in the November-December 1996 issue of The Tax Executive. In that review, I commented that Cliff Jernigan had produced a highly readable book for TEI members, their staffs, and their bosses outside the tax department. The new edition of the book, scheduled for release on May 1, 1998, is even better.

Called Beyond High Tech Survival - Turning Government Policy into International Profits, this book provides sophisticated guidance in an easy-to-read fashion to companies beleaguered by government regulations, tax laws, international rules, employee demands, and the unpleasant surprises that can maim a growing company's sales and profit margins. The book's careful organization and concise style make this information accessible to executives with crowded calendars. Business executives in any industry -- lawyers, accountants, lobbyists, legislators, academics, or anyone trying to cope with complicated public policy issues -- can greatly benefit from Cliff's expertise.

Beyond High Tech Survival translates arcane issues of public policy and international trade into simple language, providing both information and advice on how to negotiate the murky trail through the regulatory jungle. The chapters on taxation, for instance, range from international and federal tax law to a state-by-state assessment of tax incentives and international plant site selection analyses. His coverage includes depreciation, tax credits for research and development, capital gains, state income taxes, property taxes, sales taxes, tax treaties, foreign tax credits, and foreign sales corporations.

Sections on international trade can keep you and your CEO from stumbling over startling trade restrictions. Although the Cold War is over, for instance, the United States still carefully regulates overseas sales of encryption products that help guarantee computer privacy. As the book notes, "the U.S. export control laws classify most encryption products as `munitions,' placing them in roughly the same category as bombs."

Cliff is a tax lawyer with national and international experience in government affairs, corporate tax planning, international trade, intellectual property issues, and public policy. He is a long-time TEI member and a founder and first president of the TEI Santa Clara Valley Chapter. He has been associated with a prominent international law firm in New York City and has held corporate tax counsel positions at several companies, including Advanced Micro Devices. He also serves as an adjunct professor at Golden Gate University, teaching a law school class in international taxation and MBA courses on the legal aspects of international business transactions and the effect of government on American business.

The book includes coverage of the following important areas:

* U.S. trade laws, especially those affecting your industry.

* U.S. antidumping laws and how they affect your industry.

* Export control laws, which may severely hamper your ability to sell overseas.

* Frivolous securities lawsuits.

* Intellectual property law.

Some of the most distinguished people in the business community have endorsed this book. CEOs, CFOs, academicians, politicians, a former U.S. trade Ambassador and experts in international trade and taxation have praised the book. Intel's Bob Perlman, a former President of Tax Executives Institute, described the tax portions of the book "as the most readable and understandable he has ever seen." I agree, and urge you to consider adding it to your library. Beyond High Tech Survival has a suggested retail price of $24.95, but TEI members can buy it at the discounted price of two for $39.95. (The price is even lower for bulk purchases.) For additional information, call Olive Hill Lane Press at 1-800-473-1761.

LARRY R. LANGDON is Vice President, Tax, Licensing and Customs for Hewlett-Packard Company. He is a past president of TEI's Santa Clara Valley Chapter and was the Institute's 1988-1989 International president.