November 28, 2016 | Court Rulings, Deductions, IRS Regulation
The IRS recently announced its “nonacquiesence” with a federal appeals court decision that held a retailer that issued loyalty discounts to its customers was entitled to deduct its liabilities attributable to discounts, which were accrued but hadn’t yet been redeemed. (IRS Action on Decision 2016-03) Case Background Information A deduction or credit must be taken for Continue Reading »
November 18, 2016 | Court Rulings, Valuations
Bruno v. Bozzuto’s, Inc., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 156339 (Nov. 19, 2015) What goes around comes around. In a contract action, finance professionals made one bad decision after another, until the case collapsed under a Daubert challenge. ‘Most infamous plot twist’ A married couple owned and operated a small supermarket chain. The wife, an experienced Continue Reading »
November 4, 2016 | Court Rulings, Valuations
Kardash v. Comm’r, 2015 Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 198 (Oct. 6, 2015) (Kardash II) The Tax Court amended its prior ruling on transferee liability by determining that the taxpayer company was solvent a year longer than the court originally had found. In so doing, the court acknowledged errors that had crept into its earlier assessment Continue Reading »
October 21, 2016 | Court Rulings, Divorce Litigation, Valuations
Sternat v. Sternat, 2015 Wisc. App. LEXIS 776 (Oct. 28, 2015) A recent divorce case featured a noteworthy challenge to the prevailing testimony of the wife’s expert. The husband claimed the opinion of the wife’s expert was unreliable because the expert had fewer credentials as a business valuator than did the husband’s expert. The court Continue Reading »
October 17, 2016 | Court Rulings, Divorce Litigation, Valuations
A question presented in a Wisconsin case could have a far-reaching impact on divorce valuation; should salable (transferrable) personal goodwill remain in the marital estate in a divorce? The Supreme Court of Wisconsin upheld both its lower and appellate courts in this particular case. The case allowed salable personal goodwill to remain in the marital Continue Reading »
October 7, 2016 | Court Rulings, Valuations
Deflecto, LLC v. Dundas Jafine Inc., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 149447 (Nov. 4, 2015) A Daubert attack in which the challenger threw every possible objection at the plaintiff expert’s damages testimony fizzled. The opponent claimed the expert revealed a lack of understanding of critical aspects of patent law, and it suggested his use of a Continue Reading »
September 23, 2016 | Business Plans, Court Rulings, Valuations
Akamai Techs., Inc. v. Limelight Networks, Inc., 2015 U.S. App. LEXIS 19848 (Nov. 16, 2015) In a protracted patent case, the defendant challenged the jury’s lost profits award to the plaintiff, claiming it relied on unsound expert testimony. The price disparity between the defendant’s infringing product and the plaintiff’s protected product was too great to Continue Reading »
September 9, 2016 | Business Plans, Court Rulings, Valuations
In re Mercury Cos., 2015 Bank. LEXIS 3443 (Oct. 9, 2015) (In re Mercury II) After filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, the plaintiff claimed the sale of certain subsidiaries to the defendant entities was an avoidable fraudulent transfer. The Bankruptcy Court considered the valuations the parties’ experts presented at trial for the subsidiaries “useful but Continue Reading »
August 12, 2016 | Court Rulings, Tax Planning, Valuations
Guardian Energy, LLC v. County of Waseca, 2015 Minn. LEXIS 437 (Aug. 12, 2015) Quantifying external obsolescence (EO) poses a challenge even for experienced appraisers. No wonder the Minnesota tax court recently got into trouble when it rejected the analyses of the experts and created its own methodology. Assessment dispute: The owner of an ethanol Continue Reading »
August 1, 2016 | Business Plans, Court Rulings, IRS Regulation
In order to save money on benefits such as health and life insurance, as well as administrative costs, a company can use workers provided through an employee leasing company or professional employer organization (PEO). Here’s How it Works An employee leasing firm hires people for your company and pays all the related costs for them. You then pay Continue Reading »