If you are considering, or planning, to buy or sell business assets or an ownership interest (corporate stock or a partnership or LLC interest), beware of the tricky “related party” tax rules. The Internal Revenue Code contains a number of rules aimed at penalizing sales between individuals or entities that are considered closely connected and thus more likely  Continue Reading »

How It Works You can immediately write off up to $25,000 of the cost of a new or used heavy SUV, pickup or van thanks to the Section 179 deduction privilege. The vehicle must be placed in service by the end of your business tax year beginning in 2015 and used over 50% for business  Continue Reading »

Private equity funds offer a way to get a capital infusion for your Maine-based company for a period of time while maintaining a role in its operation and avoiding a sale or a merger. It’s called equity recapitalization and it typically involves selling a minority or majority stake in your company to a private equity fund.  Continue Reading »

Have you ever heard a business owner brag, “I was offered $X million for my business!”, or have you been lucky enough to receive an offer from another party to purchase your private business stock? It seems that such offers reveal how much an objective third party thinks your business is worth. However, a purchase offer  Continue Reading »

For federal income tax purposes, an unincorporated joint venture, other contractual, or co-ownership arrangement, under which several participants conduct a business or investment activity and split the profits, is generally treated as a partnership. If the joint venture or arrangement is not recognized as a separate legal entity (apart from its owners) under applicable state law,  Continue Reading »

In re Honer, 2015 Cal. App. Unpub. LEXIS 2531 (April 9, 2015) In a bitter California divorce, the valuation of two grocery stores was a sore point. The wife attacked the work of the husband’s expert because he used what he called the “marital value.” The appeals court seemed surprised by the term and discussed  Continue Reading »

There is a common perception that financial expert witnesses are biased in favor of their clients’ financial interests. In truth, credentialed professionals must adhere to various ethical standards that require them to be independent and objective when serving as an expert witness in a litigation matter. However, there are times when experts aren’t provided with  Continue Reading »

Many Maine businesses are uncertain how to account for costs to produce, acquire, or improve property, plant and equipment. To address this, in 2013 the IRS issued regulations on capitalizing versus deducting the costs of tangible personal property. In 2014, the IRS added rules covering dispositions of tangible property. The IRS  announced on November 24th that  Continue Reading »

Which would you (or one of your clients) rather receive in a divorce settlement: cash or stock in a closely held business that is controlled by your former spouse? When divorce gets ugly, and it often does, cash might be a safer bet than in-kind distributions, but the answer depends on the amount of cash, the  Continue Reading »

Have you heard of “Giving Tuesday” yet? On December 1, 2015, many charities used “Giving Tuesday” as a catchy way to launch their year-end fundraising campaigns. It’s a critical time of year for the not-for-profit sector. Historically, a significant amount of charitable donations occur in the last weeks, days and even hours of the year  Continue Reading »