You may be able to deduct the costs of maintaining an office at home, if you’re self-employed in Maine as a sole proprietor, partner, or LLC member. But before you start jumping for joy, it’s important to note that in order to claim a business deduction for an office inside your home, you must use the  Continue Reading »

Fox v. CDx Holdings, 2015 Del. Ch. LEXIS 194 (July 28, 2015) The Delaware Court of Chancery has on numerous occasions called out major financial institutions for providing erroneous or even “motivated” valuations. But few opinions include more searing criticism than a decision from Vice Chancellor Laster, in which he said a major accounting firm’s  Continue Reading »

Valuation experts often criticize the Excess Earnings Method, calling it ambiguous, over-simplified or outdated. But it’s still used in some jurisdictions as a way to value small businesses and professional practices, especially in a divorce setting. The method was originally created to compensate wineries and distilleries during Prohibition. The Excess Earnings Method is the subject of IRS Revenue Ruling  Continue Reading »

Kardash v. Commissioner, 2015 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 69 (March 18, 2015) A Tax Court memo resulting from a transferee liability case includes an informative discussion of the valuation methodologies the parties’ solvency experts used to determine the company’s fair market value at the point when various contested transfers of payment took place. The court’s  Continue Reading »

Overpayments of sales and use taxes may be caused by various situations. For example, retailers and suppliers have been aggressive about charging sales tax to avoid audit deficiencies because field auditors in many states, like Maine, have become more aggressive about assessing taxes, interest, and penalties. Sales tax may be charged in some cases even when a  Continue Reading »

Federal law does not obviously require an “investment policy statement” (IPS), but the statute governing retirement plans (ERISA), does expect that plan trustees will have a specific policy in mind. In summary, there is an assumption that investments being offered to participants have been carefully weighed, and will be monitored for performance, as well as  Continue Reading »

This past holiday season, taxpayers received a “gift” from Washington, D.C. It’s the PATH Act, which stands for Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015. This act does more than just extend expired tax provisions for another year, the bipartisan deal also makes about one-third of these tax provisions permanent, and many others have been extended  Continue Reading »

The tax law passed by Congress and signed by President Obama on December 18th contains some payroll tax provisions that are of interest to Maine employers. Here are four changes in the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (PATH Act). 1. There will be an earlier deadline for filing information returns in 2017.This provision  Continue Reading »

A well-executed inventory count can provide valuable insight into improving operational efficiency for your Maine-based company, even if they seem time consuming and disruptive. Unfortunately, inventory counts are among the most dreaded chores for business owners and managers. Here’s how to run your count to maximize the benefits and minimize the hassle. Reviewing the Basics  Continue Reading »

Schickner v. Schickner, 2015 Ariz. App. LEXIS 48 (April 16, 2015) In the context of divorce, may a court apply a minority discount when valuing a minority interest in a business to determine the nonowner spouse’s fair share? This was the primary issue the Arizona appeals court addressed in ruling on the wife’s claim that  Continue Reading »