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Sometimes, authenticity can be a film’s most special effect. It took months for Best Actress front-runner Mikey Madison to learn how to pole dance like the titular exotic dancer in Anora and for her fellow nominee Timothée Chalamet to passably play guitar as Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown. The naturalism of both performances helped keep audiences under the spell cast by their surrounding films. So, it should probably come as no surprise that a backlash has emerged in response to several of this year’s Oscar-nominated films using AI, paradoxically, to achieve “authenticity.” The reaction began on January 11, when editor Dávid Jancsó revealed in an interview that he and director Brady Corbet had used AI voice technology to make Oscar favorite The Brutalist. The film stars Adrien Brody as Hungarian-Jewish architect László Tóth, who, after surviving the Holocaust, emigrated to the U.S. where he is joined years later by his wife, Erzsébet, played by Felicity Jones. Although both actors, each of whom are nominated for Oscars, underwent vocal coaching to make the Hungarian dialogue roll off their tongues, according to Jancsó it “just didn’t work.” The creators ended up using Respeecher, a Ukraine-based AI voice-cloning tool, to enhance Brody and Jones’s accents. This revelation provoked an online uproar so intense that Corbet issued a statement to The Hollywood Reporter days later, downplaying AI’s significance in the making of the film. “The aim was to preserve the authenticity of Adrien and Felicity’s performances in another language, not to replace or alter them, and done with the utmost respect for the craft,” the director said in his statement. In the weeks since The Brutalist came under the microscope, similar revelations have tumbled out regarding other Oscar-nominated films. In a recently surfaced French-language interview from last year’s Cannes festival, for instance, rerecording mixer Cyril Holtz disclosed that trans musical Emilia Pérez, the most-nominated film in this year’s Oscar crop, also used Respeecher to enhance star Karla Sofía Gascón’s singing voice. (Emilia Pérez has far bigger fish to fry in terms of backlash, however, given Gascón’s shocking history of inflammatory tweets.) Leaning on AI to zhuzh up an actor’s performance has proven controversial this year, due to the technology’s rapid encroachment into traditionally human-created art. Some worry that AI will deprive film workers at various levels of jobs in the name of cost-cutting, while others fear it will usher in an era of cinematic soullessness. (Those folks have apparently never seen any of the ostensibly AI-free blockbusters shot entirely on green screen.) Indeed, part of the reason the writers’ and actors’ strikes of 2023 went on for so long was because of the difficulty in securing protections against AI. Ultimately, the strikes succeeded in placing guardrails around the tech’s use in generating scripts and requiring consent and compensation for using an actor’s likeness. Visual artists and animators have won no such protections yet, though. Considering all the looming fears about an unemployment crisis in film and TV art departments, it’s no wonder the use of AI in visual effects has proven especially unpopular recently. The acclaimed 2024 horror film Late Night with the Devil came under fire last spring for using AI to quickly create three briefly shown images; around the same time, the A24 thriller Civil War generated controversy for using AI just in its poster art. Now, the debate about the ethics of movie imagery that uses AI has reached the Oscars too. Since the brouhaha began over The Brutalist’s AI vocal enhancement, revelations have spilled out about other films using AI for visual effects. (Brutalist editor Jancsó also claimed in his infamous interview that some blueprints and finished buildings depicted in the film were partially AI-generated, though director Corbet disputes this.) When Australia-based Rising Sun Pictures submitted its work on Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga for an award at the 2025 Visual Effects Society Awards, the company boasted about using its Revize machine learning toolset to create effects for A Complete Unknown, adding a new dimension to the Oscars’ AI conversation. (As an individual familiar with the film told Indiewire, “The technology was used to assist in three brief wide shots on a motorcycle, not involving performance or creative enhancements. This technology is commonplace for making stunt people resemble their actor in films.”) On a similar note, another film nominated for multiple Oscars and starring Chalamet, Dune: Part Two, also used machine learning to create the striking ice-blue eye color of its Fremen characters. How much should any of this matter? Perhaps not that much. It’s not as if whole chunks of any of these films were created using OpenAI’s text-to-video tool Sora or Google’s Veo 2. Instead, the AI-infused visual effects are minimal and seem in line with the kind of VFX work that’s been rocking multiplexes for decades. Furthermore, the vocal tune-up in The Brutalist is limited to the few scenes where Brody and Jones actually speak in Hungarian. (For the bulk of the film, they talk in heavily accented English.) And as for Gascón’s juiced singing in Emilia Pérez, Rami Malek won an Oscar in 2019 for playing Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody, and only a stunt vocalist contributed any real singing to that film. But at least the stunt vocalist was human. As the use of AI seems increasingly inevitable in film and TV’s future, despite the pronounced ongoing backlash, purists might decide to draw a line in the sand—boycotting any and all projects that utilize it. As if to accommodate them, the Motion Picture Academy is reportedly weighing a rule that would require filmmakers to disclose when their films use AI. In the meantime, some aren’t waiting around for such rules to be implemented and are instead taking the opposite tact. When the A24 horror movie Heretic came out last fall, it bore the following caption in its end credits: “No generative AI was used in the making of this film.” View the full article

Want more housing market stories from Lance Lambert’s ResiClub in your inbox? Subscribe to the ResiClub newsletter. Speaking before the U.S. Senate this month, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said that a decade or more down the road, homeowners in some parts of the country won’t be able to find home insurance. “Both banks and insurance companies are pulling out of coastal areas or areas where there are a lot of fires. So what that is going to mean is that if you fast-forward 10 or 15 years, there are going to be regions of the country where you can’t get a mortgage,” Powell told Congress. “There won’t be [mortgage] ATMs, there won’t be banks [lending mortgages], so it’ll fall on homeowners and residents. But it’ll also fall on state and local governments. Which is what you see happening now, where they’re stepping in, in states where insurance is going away. You’re seeing states step in because they want those areas to remain prosperous.” Hearing that comment made by a professor or analyst is one thing. But hearing it come from the Fed Chair is a bit unnerving for the housing sector. It raises the question: Is there any data out there to suggest which housing markets could be at the highest risk of bank and home insurer pullbacks? ResiClub did some digging and found a new proprietary analysis made by First Street, which forecasts—based on models estimating property-specific risk and expected climate risk—how much county-level home insurance premiums could shift between 2025 and 2055. To see where homeowners and investors could be impacted the most, ResiClub visualized First Street’s county-level home insurance forecasts. (Please note that forecasting in general isn’t ever guaranteed—let alone when a firm is trying to project three whole decades into the future. If you went back and found 30-year forecasts for anything finance-related made in 1995, they’d likely be pretty far off from how things transpired by 2025.) We asked First Street if their analysis accounted for future inflation as well. “These [insurance] values are based on today’s dollars with the only adjustment being related to the increase in climate exposure over time, but not to any expectations around inflation or market adjustments. . . . These values are not inflation adjusted in any way,” First Street tells ResiClub. Among the 500 most populous counties, these are the 20 where First Street expects the highest 30-year growth in home insurance premiums: Orleans Parish, Louisiana: +634% Miami-Dade County, Florida: +590% Pinellas County, Florida: +451% St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana: +351% Duval County, Florida: +333% El Dorado County, California: +291% St. Johns County, Florida: +290% Placer County, California: +256% Galveston County, Texas: +251% Manatee County, Florida: +242% Volusia County, Florida: +242% Clay County, Florida: +240% Palm Beach County, Florida: +195% Brevard County, Florida: +189% Broward County, Florida: +182% Coconino County, Arizona: +173% Hillsborough County, Florida: +162% Nueces County, Texas: +158% Hernando County, Florida: +152% Lafayette Parish, Louisiana: +149% The heightened risk of flooding, hurricanes, and tropical storms is ultimately why the First Street model projects the greatest insurance hikes around the Gulf. In fact, 12 of the 20 major U.S. counties expected to see the biggest increase are in Florida. As ResiClub has previously reported, homeowners in these areas are already experiencing elevated insurance hikes. While the median annual U.S. home insurance premium increased by 33% between the end of 2020 and the end of 2023, it surged more than 80% in many Florida counties. View the full article

Gen Z workers have been branded as demanding, unmotivated, and even entitled—a word that was used not too long ago to describe millennials. In an Intelligent.com survey last fall, 60% of employers said they had fired Gen Z workers not long after hiring them, and one in six managers said they were hesitant to hire recent college graduates. It’s no surprise that Gen Z continues to be misunderstood, or that older employees might rely on lazy tropes as they try to make sense of a new generation. While it’s true that Gen Z employees may have higher expectations for the workplace, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing—in fact, it may just be a necessary corrective in the face of questionable leadership. “What many have labeled ‘[quiet] quitting’ is actually a rational response to workplaces that lack fairness, structure, and alignment with employee values,” leadership strategist Jeff LeBlanc wrote recently. “Instead of writing off an entire generation, leaders should be asking: What are we doing wrong?” As baby boomers age out of the workforce, it’s imperative that employers find a way to better understand—and court—Gen Z employees, who will be a key part of the next generation of workers. So what can employers do to not just attract Gen Z workers, but make sure they stick around? Understand how Gen Z employees are different Rather than typically dismissing the concerns of Gen Z or painting them as difficult to work with, companies and managers should consider why younger employees might differ from their older counterparts when it comes to their expectations of the workplace. “Gen Z grew up amid economic uncertainty, social justice movements, and an increasing focus on mental health,” LeBlanc wrote. “They don’t just want jobs; they want workplaces that prioritize psychological safety, transparency, and fairness.” Research indicates that Gen Z is far more socially conscious than previous generations, and that these employees prize diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and employee wellness. What older employees may perceive as being demanding is actually about advocating for themselves. This is also a generation of workers who grew up on the internet. “Gen Z is used to putting every thought out for others to like, dislike, and amplify,” wrote Amelia Dunlop, chief experience officer for Deloitte Digital. “When they show up at work, they expect their voice and opinions to be heard and taken into consideration.” Consider the impact of the pandemic Gen Z has also come of age during a period of intense upheaval, changing their experiences—and perhaps expectations—of the workplace. Many of these young workers finished college or started working at the height of the pandemic, which meant they had to acclimate to professional life while working from home. While there are benefits to young workers being in an office setting, many of them are also seeking more flexibility and want the option of working remotely. “Flexibility in the workplace is not just a perk for Gen Z, it is a necessity,” wrote leadership expert Cheryl Fields Tyler. “Despite this, many organizations operate with the assumption that Gen Z employees need to work in traditional office settings to ‘earn the right’ to have flexibility.” Think about what they want out of a job Gen Z employees do tend to have higher expectations of their colleagues and managers. That can be a shift for older employees who might expect them to pay their dues or show more deference. Unlike previous generations, Gen Z may not be as satisfied with an “inspirational leader.” Instead, they prize qualities like psychological safety and fairness—which includes equitable pay and access to professional opportunities—as well as a high degree of transparency, according to LeBlanc. Gen Z also wants to find meaning in the work they do. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to managers who have already worked alongside millennials. That’s also why younger workers may expect their employers to not just engage with social issues, but also align with their own personal values. In fact, research shows that Gen Z employees are three times more likely to stay at a job if they believe in the mission. And while work-life balance is important to other generations as well, it’s a major priority for Gen Z. As Andrew Roth, who runs the Gen Z consulting firm dcdx, explained: “Quiet quitting or stronger pushes for work-life balance are not threats or insults to tradition, but merely calls for respect, protection of our health, and the desire for a more fulfilling life for a generation growing up in this always-online world.” In many ways, Gen Z is simply looking for qualities that all employees should hope to find in their workplace, including transparency, clear expectations, and equitable treatment. Companies that take their concerns seriously are likely to cultivate more loyal, committed employees—of any age. View the full article

Sir Keir Starmer chairs meeting in London to discuss options for backing Ukraine View the full article

The Oscars don’t have a Best Poster category. (Or even a Best Title Sequence category, which they did sort of have for the very first Academy Awards in 1929 before—for shame—dropping it in 1930.) So this year, as in the past, we asked some of our favorite poster designers which Best Picture nominee should win Best Poster. Like book cover designers, key art creators are tasked with the unwieldy ask of distilling an entire universe of story into a single visual. It’s another standard of excellence in cinema—and we’d argue that there’s indeed correlation between great posters and great films. Consider: In our (admittedly wildly unscientific!) 2023 best poster poll, all participants nearly unanimously selected the off-the-wall treatments for the off-the-wall Everything Everywhere All At Once—which took home Best Picture. Last year, Vasilis Marmatakis’s unsurprisingly inventive posters for the unsurprisingly inventive Poor Things dominated—and the film subsequently nabbed Best Actress, Best Production Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, and Best Costume Design. Beneath our water-cooler correlation lies another truth: When a designer utterly nails the brief and creates a poster that rises to a film’s artistic heights, it’s transcendent—and it often yields the singular image we’re left with in our minds long after leaving the theater. Below, a panel of pros—Jay Bennett, who has worked with Netflix and others; Marie Bergeron, who has worked with Sony, Marvel, Ubisoft, and Warner Bros.; Tori Huynh, who has worked with the Criterion Collection, A24, HBO and more; and Eric Garza and Mitch Putnam, creative directors of pop culture and poster powerhouse Mutant—sound off on their picks for this year’s best Best Picture poster. [Photo: A24] “The most effective movie posters make you want to see the movie. A24’s one-sheet for The Brutalist delivers fully in this regard. Director Brady Corbet’s film epic is a bold and uncompromising work that celebrates minimalism and maximalism in equal measure. The poster supports that minimalist/maximalist approach with a design-forward layout that follows principles of Bauhaus and Brutalist design. The art challenges our expectations of traditional movie posters with its bold typography and asymmetrical layout, and is punctuated by an equally impactful visual of Lady Liberty turned on her head—signaling some of the film’s main themes. It’s not just an advert for the film, it feels like an extension of its worldview.” —Eric Garza [Photo: MUBI] “This one got my attention because of its simplicity, boldness, and because it says what it needs to say with very few elements. It’s [difficult to encapsulate a] story with only one image, and I always think that the best posters nail this part. Also, I’ve seen the film and it’s one of my favorites this year, so maybe [that’s why I chose it, too].” —Marie Bergeron [Photo: MUBI] “One of my favorite films of 2024 was The Substance. I love when horror films center the unimaginable dread of being a woman. Strange, sterile, and a pastel gore nightmare, I feel like the posters capture the bizarre icons within the film really well. What came first, the chicken or the egg? Or was the chicken modified, processed and fried beyond our comprehension [so] it is no longer recognizable from its original form? Summarizing all of these elements, and without showing Demi Moore’s face, no less, is such a bold choice. I also love the condensed typeface they used for the title and kept within the entirety of the film. From the look of the key art into the picture, I appreciate the commitment to consistency within the branding.” —Tori Huynh [Photo: Focus Features] “I have landed on the U.K. one-sheet for Conclave. I think it’s a bold approach for what is essentially a religious drama to lead with such a vibrant, thriller-esque palette, with the character arrangement creating a hint towards the split of the vote. The highlighted eye as Cardinal Lawrence’s main weapon in this conflict is a nice touch.” —Jay Bennett [Photo: NEON] “Many times, independent studios will try to push posters that feature big, loud graphic design or illustrative work to help their films stand out. That can be effective, but sometimes a simple piece of set photography is so perfect, it has to be used. Anora had my favorite poster of the year for exactly this reason. The photo screams youth, energy, love and euphoria, which is a hell of a lot to convey in one shot. The type perfectly complements the image and communicates everything necessary while also stepping back just enough so as to not compete for focal dominance. Uncomplicated in its design, this is one of those ‘I could’ve done that’ posters. But you probably couldn’t have.” —Mitch Putnam View the full article

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Forget SpongeBob SquarePants, Sesame Street, and the sourdough starter craze: a depressed German loaf of bread named Bernd das Brot is celebrating his 25th anniversary as the reluctant star of a children’s television program that accidentally became equally popular with adults. A cult classic in Germany, Bernd das Brot (Bernd the Bread) is a puppet renowned for his deep, gloomy voice, his perpetual pessimism and his signature expression, “Mist!” (Think “crap!” in English.) Played and voiced by puppeteer Jörg Teichgraeber, Bernd is a television presenter who wants nothing to do with TV and can’t wait to go home to stare at the wallpaper. This year, his friends—a sheep and a flower bush—are urging him to become a bread influencer. Bernd’s beginnings Born as a sketch on the back of a napkin in a pizzeria, Bernd’s infamous grimace was drawn by Tommy Krappweis who modeled it after co-creator Norman Cöster’s face. The duo had been asked to come up with mascots for KiKA, a German children’s public television channel. Comic artist Georg Graf von Westphalen designed Bernd as a pullman loaf—white bread typically sliced for sandwiches—with short arms and a permanent scowl. Bernd channels German stereotypes with his grumpy disposition, penchant for complaining and dry sense of humor and irony. Bernd’s first episode aired on KiKA in 2000 alongside his more-optimistic pals, Chili the Sheep and Briegel the Bush. A reluctant popularity Because KiKA is a children’s channel, there was typically dead air from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. On January 1, 2003, the network put Bernd’s short episodes into the night loop for the first time. The move brought an adult audience into Bernd’s world, often those sitting at home and smoking pot, or returning after a long night of partying. The night loop cemented his popularity as a German cult classic. In 2004, Bernd won the Adolf Grimme Prize, the German television equivalent of an Emmy. The jury said he represents “the right to be in a bad mood.” “Bernd shows you that you are less vulnerable with humor and self-irony. And perhaps the most important point is: It’s totally okay if you don’t feel well sometimes. That’s completely fine,” Krappweis, Bernd’s creator, said in a KiKA Q&A about Bernd’s anniversary. Bernd’s broken heart Bernd is depressed for a multitude of reasons, including his failed attempt to be the mascot for a bakery’s advertising campaign (that’s how he ended up as a TV presenter, as a last resort). But it’s in Episode 85 that we finally learn about Bernd’s broken heart. “A long, long time ago I fell in love with a beautiful, slim baguette. She was so incredibly charming and funny,” Bernd tells Chili and Briegel. “But unfortunately it was in vain. “She only had eyes for this run-of-the-mill multigrain bread with its 10 types of grain. It was so depressing.” The kidnapping Despite Bernd’s best efforts—one of his catchphrases is “I would like to leave this show”—the episodes have never become stale. He sings, he dances, he’s been to space. He’s the star of merchandise, a video game, and headlines like “Give Us Our Daily Bernd.” He was even kidnapped! In 2009, his 2-meter-tall (6.56 feet) statue was stolen from his traditional place outside the town hall in Erfurt, where KiKA is based. A claim of responsibility surfaced on YouTube, by sympathizers of a group of demonstrators who were protesting a company that had produced cremation ovens for the Nazi extermination camp Auschwitz. The demonstrators, however, denied involvement in Bernd’s kidnapping and the video was removed from the internet. Bernd was held hostage for nearly two weeks before being discovered unharmed in an abandoned barracks. The anniversary year KiKA is honoring Bernd’s 25th anniversary, despite his complaints. New episodes, an update to his hit song, and online activities for kids and adults alike will be featured. The celebrations begin now, as Bernd’s birthday is February 29. The latest series will premiere in September as Bernd, Chili, and Briegel launch the social media channel Better With Bernd in their efforts to make him into a bread influencer. The trio will present inventions to make school, and life, easier for viewers, but naturally their concoctions backfire. Bernd instead becomes a defluencer—and an involuntary trendsetter. —By Stefanie Dazio, Associated Press AP journalist Kirsten Grieshaber contributed to this report. View the full article

The tops of dried, bent cornstalks crunch underfoot. Jill Holtz’s gaze is fixed on the ground ahead. She wanders into the nearby woods and weaves between twisted branches. Then, Holtz spots something and starts to riffle through the withered twigs. To the untrained eye, it’s easy to overlook. But for Holtz, it’s instantaneous recognition. Scraggly, white lines give the appearance of shattered glass, but a name can still be made out at the top. It is a sonogram strip—crinkled, abused by the elements, but intact. In early February, Holtz combed through parts of a flattened cornfield in Swannanoa, North Carolina—a rural area razed by fierce floodwaters from Hurricane Helene a few months earlier. The deluge swept away entire homes, and with it, people’s beloved photos, keepsakes and family heirlooms. Many have accepted that they are gone forever. But lost items remain scattered across the region—tangled in gnarled trees, washed up in deep ravines and buried under mud. That’s why Holtz is on a mission: find and reunite those cherished possessions with storm victims who don’t have the time or energy to look themselves. “It’s not just trash, and it’s not just trees and pieces of metal,” Holtz says. “It’s their lives. This is their hearts, their homes, the generations of history.” Searching the cornfield Over the past few months, Holtz has spent much of her free time making the nearly four-hour drive from Raleigh to Swannanoa to search for lost items. She balances her job as a North Carolina National Guard captain and being a mom to two sons—a 10-year-old and a 24-year-old. It’s difficult being away, Holtz says, but her kids support her efforts. Holtz first visited western North Carolina after the storm on duty delivering aid. Then, while helping retrieve lost objects in Swannanoa for Violet Vardiman—a woman Holtz fondly calls “Miss Violet”—Holtz realized how many other missing belongings were out there. So she kept coming back. Holtz posts her finds to Facebook in hopes of finding their owners. At first, searching for lost belongings was overwhelming because of the sheer volume of objects strewn about, Holtz says. Now, she looks a few feet ahead of her at a time to stay focused. She’s learned other tips and tricks too. Use larger pieces of debris to store missing keepsakes while walking. Put on a hat or your hair will get caught in tree branches. Wear gloves and sturdy boots. And if you see a Dallas Cowboys mat, stomp on it first before picking it up—Holtz, after all, is a Buffalo Bills fan. After exploring the cornfield and adjacent woods for about 20 minutes, Holtz already has a handful to bring back—an 8-track tape, a teddy bear with golden wings and plenty of photos. Despite some scratches and their sun-bleached tone, the photos are in decent shape for what they’ve been through. As Holtz walks back to her truck, she squints and scours the cornstalks for anything she missed. Holtz views each valuable she finds as an opportunity for joy, and if it’s left behind, there’s no guarantee it will be there next time. Holding onto belongings until the time is right What Holtz found in the cornfield will join the collection of other lost possessions in her trailer as she tries to find their owners. The spread inside resembles a garage sale. Photos make up a large chunk of Holtz’s collection. Pictures captured from weddings, school and simple slices of life. Just from collecting photos, Holtz says she feels like she knows some people’s entire life story without ever meeting them. To restore photos, she’s developed her own cleaning routine: Use cool water and rubbing alcohol, then carefully scrub with a soft toothbrush. It’s time-consuming, yet therapeutic. Holtz sets down a large mud-spattered canvas—a piece that will require the toothbrush treatment—and slowly pours water over it. The gentle stream crackles against the crisp canvas. Faces emerge from the splotchy, brown haze. It’s a family portrait, Holtz says. “I hope I find the owner of that,” she says softly. Since Holtz started posting pictures of the lost possessions on Facebook, she’s consistently in contact with about 15 families. She has returned belongings to some and is waiting to connect in-person with others. Some of the families have evacuated the state and haven’t returned—but Holtz doesn’t mind holding onto their things. “I’m in no hurry, and I don’t expect them to be in a hurry,” she says. “They’re still getting their lives back together.” “Getting back history” The next day, Holtz sets up her trailer by the cornfield. She had posted her location to social media and patiently waits to see if anyone comes. About a half hour later, a silver SUV pulls over. A woman from Swannanoa, Angie McGee, steps out. McGee is looking for lost photos. The 42-year-old searched for her family’s belongings after Helene washed away her home, but she wasn’t successful. Wearing black latex gloves, she rubs caked dirt from the photos and notices familiar faces: her brother, her father, and her son. She even spots her ultrasound photos—the same scroll that Jill had picked up the day before. She is stunned. McGee can’t believe the photos traveled nearly 2 miles downriver from her home—much less that Holtz had somehow found them. After months of anguish over what she had lost, McGee says she is finally “getting history back.” “She done brought back a smile to me, she done brought back life to me. Not just me, my family,” McGee says. “Because, you know, there were things we lost that we thought maybe we never get back.” At one point, McGee’s gaze settles on football shoulder pads with silver marker writing. The sight brings her to tears. They belong to her 12-year-old son, Link. Holtz tries to not to cry. Later, the two women embrace before McGee leaves with her things. Giving people back their lost hope is why Holtz says she continues this work. But in these reunifying moments, it gives Holtz a little of her own hope, too. —By Makiya Seminera, Associated Press AP National Writer Allen G. Breed contributed to this report View the full article

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The National Small Business Association (NSBA) released its 2025 Small Business Taxation Survey, highlighting the challenges small businesses face due to federal tax laws. The report underscores concerns about the expiration of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which many small businesses fear will result in significant tax increases. According to the survey, 83% of small businesses are structured as pass-through entities, meaning they pay business taxes at the personal income level. This structure makes them particularly vulnerable to potential tax hikes if Congress does not extend expiring tax cuts. Other major findings include: More than 20 hours per year are spent dealing with federal tax compliance by most small-business owners, even though many hire external tax professionals. 90% of small businesses report that federal taxes impact their day-to-day operations, with one in three citing a significant impact. More than half of small-business owners say accessing needed information directly from the IRS is difficult. Tax administration and complexity—rather than financial cost—is cited as the largest burden. Among small businesses that outsource goods internationally, China is the most common country they purchase from. NSBA has long warned policymakers about the disruptions caused by sunsetting tax laws, emphasizing how these uncertainties place additional burdens on small businesses. The expiration of key tax provisions, including the 199A Qualified Business Income Deduction, remains a top concern. “Given that the majority of small-business owners pay business taxes at the personal income level—83 percent are pass-through entities—it’s no wonder small businesses are very concerned about potential and significant tax hikes if Congress fails to address the expiring tax cuts,” stated NSBA President and CEO Todd McCracken. The survey results come as small-business advocates urge Congress to prioritize tax stability and long-term relief. NSBA Board Chair Michael Canty, of Alloy Precision Technologies, emphasized the need for predictable tax policies that ensure small businesses are not disproportionately affected. “As Congress embarks on any tax extender or tax reform discussion, it is imperative that small businesses are afforded tax stability, predictability, and permanency, not to mention parity with larger businesses,” Canty stated. This article, "NSBA Survey Finds Tax Complexity a Major Burden for Small Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

The National Small Business Association (NSBA) released its 2025 Small Business Taxation Survey, highlighting the challenges small businesses face due to federal tax laws. The report underscores concerns about the expiration of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which many small businesses fear will result in significant tax increases. According to the survey, 83% of small businesses are structured as pass-through entities, meaning they pay business taxes at the personal income level. This structure makes them particularly vulnerable to potential tax hikes if Congress does not extend expiring tax cuts. Other major findings include: More than 20 hours per year are spent dealing with federal tax compliance by most small-business owners, even though many hire external tax professionals. 90% of small businesses report that federal taxes impact their day-to-day operations, with one in three citing a significant impact. More than half of small-business owners say accessing needed information directly from the IRS is difficult. Tax administration and complexity—rather than financial cost—is cited as the largest burden. Among small businesses that outsource goods internationally, China is the most common country they purchase from. NSBA has long warned policymakers about the disruptions caused by sunsetting tax laws, emphasizing how these uncertainties place additional burdens on small businesses. The expiration of key tax provisions, including the 199A Qualified Business Income Deduction, remains a top concern. “Given that the majority of small-business owners pay business taxes at the personal income level—83 percent are pass-through entities—it’s no wonder small businesses are very concerned about potential and significant tax hikes if Congress fails to address the expiring tax cuts,” stated NSBA President and CEO Todd McCracken. The survey results come as small-business advocates urge Congress to prioritize tax stability and long-term relief. NSBA Board Chair Michael Canty, of Alloy Precision Technologies, emphasized the need for predictable tax policies that ensure small businesses are not disproportionately affected. “As Congress embarks on any tax extender or tax reform discussion, it is imperative that small businesses are afforded tax stability, predictability, and permanency, not to mention parity with larger businesses,” Canty stated. This article, "NSBA Survey Finds Tax Complexity a Major Burden for Small Businesses" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

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Community Bank & Trust has launched a Refund Anticipation Loan for the Sick Leave and Family Leave (SLFL) tax credit, also known as the Self-Employed Tax Credit (SETC), providing immediate financial relief to self-employed individuals. The loan offers an advance on tax refunds, allowing gig workers, independent contractors, and sole proprietors to access their funds without waiting for IRS processing. The SLFL program was established under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) to support self-employed individuals affected by COVID-19. Community Bank & Trust’s Refund Anticipation Loan eliminates long IRS wait times, providing instant access to funds at no cost to the applicant. Key benefits of the SLFL Refund Anticipation Loan include: Instant Access to Funds – Applicants receive their proceeds immediately instead of waiting months for the IRS. No Credit Check or Personal Guarantee – Eligibility is based solely on SLFL tax credit qualification. Zero Upfront Cost – The tax preparation processing fee is covered by the bank from the loan proceeds. Secure and Compliant – Backed by a federally regulated financial institution, ensuring full compliance with IRS and banking regulations. The SLFL (SETC) tax credit is a federally recognized tax benefit claimed directly on IRS Form 7202. Community Bank & Trust has conducted extensive due diligence to ensure all applications are IRS-compliant, providing a legitimate pathway for self-employed individuals to claim their entitled refunds. “Self-employed individuals are the backbone of the American economy, yet they often lack access to the financial support available to traditional employees,” said Steve Jeffries, President of Community Bank & Trust. “By offering a refund anticipation loan on the SLFL tax credit, we are giving self-employed individuals the financial flexibility they need without having to wait on extended government processing times.” Eligible self-employed individuals can apply for the SLFL refund anticipation loan through an approved processor working with Community Bank & Trust. The application process is fully online, fast, and secure, ensuring that funds are disbursed as quickly as possible. This article, "Community Bank & Trust Introduces Refund Anticipation Loan for Self-Employed Tax Credit" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Community Bank & Trust has launched a Refund Anticipation Loan for the Sick Leave and Family Leave (SLFL) tax credit, also known as the Self-Employed Tax Credit (SETC), providing immediate financial relief to self-employed individuals. The loan offers an advance on tax refunds, allowing gig workers, independent contractors, and sole proprietors to access their funds without waiting for IRS processing. The SLFL program was established under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) to support self-employed individuals affected by COVID-19. Community Bank & Trust’s Refund Anticipation Loan eliminates long IRS wait times, providing instant access to funds at no cost to the applicant. Key benefits of the SLFL Refund Anticipation Loan include: Instant Access to Funds – Applicants receive their proceeds immediately instead of waiting months for the IRS. No Credit Check or Personal Guarantee – Eligibility is based solely on SLFL tax credit qualification. Zero Upfront Cost – The tax preparation processing fee is covered by the bank from the loan proceeds. Secure and Compliant – Backed by a federally regulated financial institution, ensuring full compliance with IRS and banking regulations. The SLFL (SETC) tax credit is a federally recognized tax benefit claimed directly on IRS Form 7202. Community Bank & Trust has conducted extensive due diligence to ensure all applications are IRS-compliant, providing a legitimate pathway for self-employed individuals to claim their entitled refunds. “Self-employed individuals are the backbone of the American economy, yet they often lack access to the financial support available to traditional employees,” said Steve Jeffries, President of Community Bank & Trust. “By offering a refund anticipation loan on the SLFL tax credit, we are giving self-employed individuals the financial flexibility they need without having to wait on extended government processing times.” Eligible self-employed individuals can apply for the SLFL refund anticipation loan through an approved processor working with Community Bank & Trust. The application process is fully online, fast, and secure, ensuring that funds are disbursed as quickly as possible. This article, "Community Bank & Trust Introduces Refund Anticipation Loan for Self-Employed Tax Credit" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

A typical RV has to plug in at a campground to run the power inside. But Airstream’s newest Basecamp 20Xe trailer is designed to power itself in remote locations: If you want to spend a week in the wilderness, you can theoretically use an induction stove, keep your laptop charged, turn on the air-conditioning, and have hot water for the shower—even if you’re nowhere near any utilities. [Photo: Airstream] “Over the past several years, we’ve seen a growing demand from our customers for what we call energy independence,” says Bob Wheeler, Airstream president and CEO. “The flexibility to not have to go to a campground with established power and energy supplies, to give them the freedom to camp anywhere they want. The phenomenon was really exposed during the pandemic—a significant shortage of campground and campsite availability.” A different electric Airstream model, the Trade Wind, has a smaller battery and works well for a weekend of use, but the company got feedback from customers who wanted to be able to stay off-grid longer. The new Basecamp has four times more power, with a 10.3-kilowatt lithium battery, 600 watts of rooftop solar, and the option to plug in an additional portable 300-watt solar panel if you’re parked under a tree and want to stretch the attachment into the sun. (The Basecamp will start at $76,900.) The flat solar panels on the roof, custom-made for Airstream, are also designed to work efficiently even in partial shade. [Photo: Airstream] All the plugs inside run directly off the battery, including the optional AC (in a small size, so it runs efficiently) and microwave. The heat and hot water also use the battery, though if someone wants to camp in cold winter weather, they might want to add an optional propane tank. How long the power lasts depends, of course, on how much power someone uses and how sunny it is outside. But “theoretically, if you’re using those larger capacities very infrequently, you could be out there indefinitely,” says Bryan Melton, vice president at Airstream. The bigger limiting factor is access to water, though the trailer is designed to use water efficiently. The shower recirculates water until it’s heated up, and the unit also has an option for a composting toilet. [Photo: Airstream] One thing the battery can’t do: help the vehicle in front of it tow the trailer when it moves (which would save gas, or conserve battery power if an EV is doing the towing). Although the company released a conceptual design in 2022 for a solar-and-battery-powered trailer that could propel itself, that version isn’t there yet. It’s likely to come later. “We’re watching for the right opportunity to do something that has at least some of those features,” Wheeler says. Lightship, a startup competitor with a luxury electric travel trailer, does offer that option. View the full article

An accepted fact of childhood: Monopoly is a slow game that requires consecutive snow days to successfully finish. And, by god, no matter what you do, do not end up as the banker, the most tedious and thankless of jobs. [Photo: Hasbro] Though they wouldn’t put it in those terms, the folks at Hasbro likely know that’s how a lot of players feel. So today the company is announcing a new set that bridges the gap between Monopoly Junior and the classic version for ages 8 and older—speeding things up by ditching the banker and paper currency entirely in favor of an app. “Kids don’t carry cash these days . . . [but] they probably do have a mobile device,” says Brian Baker, SVP of board games at Hasbro, who adds that children are also observing a lot of tap-to-pay in the world. That led the team to consider how they could combine modern technology with intuitive behavior “to completely reinvent the experience,” Baker says. [Photo: Hasbro] Banking on App Banking Monopoly turns 90 this year, and Monopoly App Banking officially hits stores in August. Though Hasbro has released a cashless version of the game before (the Monopoly Electronic Banking edition, which utilizes a calculator-looking device to help automate finances), this is the first time an app has been brought into the ecosystem. Here’s how it works: After downloading the app, players put a smartphone or tablet into a stand—dubbed the “phone throne” in-house at Hasbro—and it stays there all game. Baker says the idea was to keep the focus on the board, rather than having to pass the phone around. Whereas board games like Monopoly usually involve combing through a dense list of instructions before playing (and eventually arguing over them), this box contains just some quick-reference cards. The app kicks everything into gear quickly, directing players to select a token and its associated “credit card,” and snaps a photo of each player to indicate whose turn it is. Players roll physical dice, and then scan a QR code representing the space they’ve landed on. The app handles the property auctions and transactions and does all the basic accounting, speeding things up immensely—and provides a real-time leaderboard in a game whose player standings are often nebulous, lest everyone sit around and count money for five minutes. Is Monopoly App Banking reductive to kids learning basic accounting skills the way many of us no doubt did via the classic game? Maybe. But to Baker’s earlier point, it’s hands-down more reflective of the online banking ecosystem we’re all accustomed to today, which runs on apps. Another thing you’ll find in this version: an infusion of new life into old hubs like free parking, jail, and the railroads, thanks to built-in interactive mini games. “There are some spaces where, if you land on them, nothing really happens,” Baker says. “And if you’re an 8-year-old kid, you can get bored really, really quickly.” Take the railroads. When you land on one now, the app turns it into a high-speed train that brings the player on board; you tap your card to stop the train, and wherever it lands, that’s where you move. [Photo: Hasbro] Marvin Gardens vs. a Chocolate Factory To young players, the new elements will likely feel organic; they’re not just gimmicks for gimmicks’ sake. Baker says that’s thanks to FunLab, Habsro’s in-house testing center in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. The lab gives the company an opportunity to converse with players and their parents, as well as to observe how they interact with various concepts at the earliest stages of product development. To wit: “I remember watching a mother struggling to put together Hungry Hungry Hippos out of the box—it comes in nine parts—while her child was screaming,” Baker says. “And the painful part of it was, after she finally got it together and they got to play, she had to take it apart to put it back in the box. It doesn’t fit back in. So I’m happy to report that the new Hungry Hungry Hippos requires no assembly out of the box, and when you’re done playing, it fits back in.” In the case of Monopoly App Banking, Baker says the team needed to test and understand the role of the mobile device at the table—particularly because of the notion many people have that when a family is doing an activity together like playing a board game, smartphones should be put away. “We really wanted to make sure that we used FunLab as a way to kind of validate the idea that we can use technology for good and not evil, and there is a place for a mobile device at the table if thoughtfully integrated,” he says. Another place you can see FunLab’s work: the properties on the board. “If you asked a kid, ‘Hey, what property would you dream of owning?’ I guarantee you they’re not going to say Marvin Gardens, right? They’re going to be like, ‘I want a chocolate factory’ or ‘I want to buy a time machine,’” Baker says. “It was really fun to just kind of take the guardrails off and let the kids guide us in the creation of this product.” On the board you’ll find soccer fields and water parks, an infinite-pizza generator, and more. What you won’t find is anything an 8-year-old kid would deem too complicated, oversimplified, or unnecessary. Those kids, Baker says, “don’t pull any punches. They’ll tell you exactly what they think.” [Photo: Hasbro] The Sand Timer Test Are apps the future of Monopoly, if not board games at large? Baker says Hasbro has been trying to honor the boundary between tech that is intrusive and tech that is complementary. Take the standard board game sand timer. How many times have you nearly come to fisticuffs over someone cheating the clock with it? “There are easier ways to do that, and the best technology sometimes is in your pocket,” Baker says. “A part of our innovation road map at Hasbro when it comes to board games is exploring new technology and then thoughtfully applying it to the experience.” As for what the rest of this 90th-anniversary year holds for Monopoly, in January Hasbro announced expansion packs. And, according to Baker, the company plans to continue developing intellectual property partnerships, such as those that brought about the recent hit Pokémon and Harry Potter editions of the game. Monopoly is, after all, big business—and you wouldn’t want anyone getting bored with it. Especially younger kids. “The Monopoly game is the biggest product that Hasbro sells,” Baker confirms. “I can say confidently that this is by far the most innovative version of Monopoly we’ve ever created. . . . We’re super proud of that.” View the full article

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