When a professional corporation sells its assets or liquidates, one important tax issue is whether the corporation or the shareholder-employees own any appreciated professional goodwill. For tax purposes, goodwill is an intangible asset. It represents the value of a trade or business based on expected continued customer patronage due to its name, reputation, and similar  Continue Reading »

If your Maine-based small business doesn’t provide health insurance, or if you do provide coverage but your employees are faced with increasing deductibles, co-pays or out-of-pocket expenses, it’s the perfect time to take a look at flexible spending accounts (FSAs). A form of cafeteria plan under Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code, a health care FSA allows  Continue Reading »

If your Maine-based small business is essentially a one-person operation, there’s an option to help you save more money for retirement: The Solo 401(k) plan. Ordinarily, traditional defined contribution retirement plans allow annual contributions that are limited to either 25 percent of salary if you’re employed by your own S or C corporation or 20  Continue Reading »

A recent report from the New York Times makes it clear that aspiring business owners commonly use their retirement accounts to get their new ventures off the ground. But, as a recent tax court case illustrates, what may seem like a smart investment strategy can go awfully wrong when the budding investor disregards expert advice  Continue Reading »

In a previous article, we discussed the benefits of S-corporations for your Maine-based small business. Here we’ll delve further into the idea of S corporation conversion, as the federal self-employment (SE) tax doesn’t apply to earnings from an S corporation business. If you’ve reached the breaking point with high SE taxes, there may be a  Continue Reading »

Have you procrastinated in setting up a tax-advantaged retirement plan for your Maine-based small business? If so, you are paying income taxes that could easily be avoided and putting your retirement financial situation at risk. You can set things right by taking action and positioning yourself for tax savings in the future. This article explains  Continue Reading »

You’ve heard the phrase “two heads are better than one”. This can apply to Maine-based businesses and their intellectual property. When two or more companies agree to share their intellectual property so they both benefit, the payback can be considerable. Collaboration can result in increased revenue, and also the development of more intellectual property that  Continue Reading »

If you operate a business that collects payroll taxes from employees, always remember this: No matter what your corporate financial situation is, don’t borrow from the withholding tax fund. If that money isn’t there when it’s due, the IRS will crack down hard. All small businesses face downturns when cash flow dries up. Borrowing from  Continue Reading »

Valuation experts will never look at income statements and balance sheets the same way again under proposed changes designed to unite lease accounting around the world. Almost all companies will be affected by the changes introduced by the agreement between the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) and the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) to create  Continue Reading »