More guidance has been issued by the IRS in regards to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), signed into law in December 2017. This time the topic is the calculation of unrelated business taxable income (UBTI) for tax-exempt organizations and any separate trade or business they operate. This change will generally apply to tax  Continue Reading »

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) sets a new limit on deductions for business interest expense. This is a permanent change for tax years beginning in 2018 with no end date. Will your Maine business be affected? Here’s what you need to know. How Have the Rules Changed? Previously, some corporations were subject to  Continue Reading »

Packgen v. Berry Plastics Corp. (Packgen II) In appealing a multimillion-dollar lost profits award, the defendants contended the expert failed to show causation, used an unjustifiably long loss period, and relied on scanty historical data to calculate damages. Although aware of weaknesses in the testimony, the appeals court considered the opinion admissible under Daubert as  Continue Reading »

Parker v. Parker You may remember the Wisniewski v. Walsh case, in which the court used the marketability discount to punish bad behavior. A trial court decision in a forced buyout follows the same approach. The oppressor had created an “extraordinary circumstance which requires this court to apply a marketability discount” in order to achieve  Continue Reading »

The IRS has issued much-anticipated regulations regarding the new deduction of up to 20% of qualified business income (QBI) from pass-through entities. The QBI deduction is a major piece of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act signed into law in December 2017. The deduction will be available to eligible owners of pass-through entities for tax  Continue Reading »

Is your company ready for Generation Z? Demographers and generation-focused marketing experts have begun talking about some of the differences they see in Gen Z, the newest group to enter the job applicant pool. There is no current consensus on the start of this generation—the dividing line between Millenials and Gen Z may be as  Continue Reading »

The recent Wayfair decision by the U.S. Supreme Court has had a major impact on states that want to collect sales and use taxes. Before this case, economic “nexus” for tax purposes was established only if the seller of goods or services exhibited a “physical presence” in the state. After Wayfair, sales and use tax  Continue Reading »

Jensen v. Jensen, 2018 Mich. App. LEXIS 40 (Jan. 9, 2018) This Michigan divorce case involving an S corporation that was the owner’s separate property raised a number of valuation-related questions, including an issue of first impression: Are the earnings a closely held company retains during the marriage includable in the marital estate, such that  Continue Reading »

The IRS has recently issued proposed reliance regulations that help clarify the new qualified business income (QBI) deduction that was introduced as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The guidance is involved and goes on for hundreds of pages. The IRS explained that as part of the proposed regulations, if certain requirements are  Continue Reading »

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) included many changes, including that many more businesses can now use the simpler and more flexible cash method of accounting for federal income tax purposes. The TCJA also includes some other tax accounting changes that are good news for small businesses. These provisions are permanent, like many TCJA  Continue Reading »