Category Archives: Court Rulings

IRS: We Disagree with Court Decision Involving Customer Loyalty Discounts

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 »

Destruction of Financial Evidence in Damages Case

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 »

Tax Court Explains Valuation Method Behind Solvency Ruling

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 »

Business Debt Renders Expert’s Lack of BV Credentials Inconsequential

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 »

A New Twist on Personal Goodwill in Divorce Cases

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 »

Court Decides Daubert Attack ‘Misses the Mark’

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 »

No Legal Barrier to Expert’s Adjusted Lost Profits Analysis

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 »

‘Reasonably Equivalent Value’ Analysis Meets FMV Standard

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 »

State Tax Court Trips Over Its Own EO Analysis

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 »

Employ Joint Tax Liability for Leased Employees

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 »