The new year brought some good news from the IRS for Maine Employers. They announced that the due dates for filing 2015 Affordable Care Act (ACA) information returns have been extended. This gives employers extra time to provide the forms to the recipients, and file the forms with the IRS. Under Internal Revenue Code Section  Continue Reading »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »