Defective Lost Profits Analysis Triggers Take-Nothing Ruling
Horizon Health Corp. v. Acadia Healthcare Co The Texas Supreme Court issued an important opinion on future lost profits that illustrates how a damages analysis that has some support in the evidence may still fail to meet the legal standard of “reasonable certainty.”...
Updating Your Workplace Drug Use Policy and Enforcement Strategies
Have you been thinking about your drug use policies? Recent trends in the labor market and drug enforcement has encouraged some employers to revise their drug use policies. Here are some of the issues to keep in mind when ensuring your company’s strategy is effective...
Making Smart Mergers and Acquisitions under Today’s Tax Law
Thanks to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), many businesses in Maine and beyond will pay less federal income taxes in 2018 and going forward. Some of these will spend their tax savings to merge with or acquire another business. Before jumping on the M&A bandwagon,...
Balance Your Right to Monitor Communications with Employees’ Privacy Rights
Have you considered monitoring your employees’ communications at work? It’s a delicate balance to create a policy to monitor employees activities and protect your company without violating employees’ legal privacy protections. But you may have legitimate reasons for...
In Controversial Move, Tax Court Tackles ‘Double Inclusion’ Problem
Estate of Powell v. Commissioner Given the unfavorable optics of a recent case, the Tax Court’s finding that the value of assets transferred from the decedent to a family limited partnership was includible in the value of the decedent’s gross estate is not...
Improper Use of Active/Passive Framework Skewers Valuation
Bair v. Bair When confronted with quantifying the appreciation of non-marital property, it is common for valuators first to classify the change in value as “active” or “passive” and then do the valuation. A Florida case shows that, when applied prematurely, this...
Appreciation Case Highlights Contribution by Non-Owner Spouse
Allison v. Allison A Michigan divorce case that centered on the non-owner spouse’s right to the appreciation in value of allegedly separate property is informative as it shows what factors the court considers for its active/passive analysis. However, the size of the...
The IRS Tells Employers How to Report W-2 Scams
What should you do if your company becomes the victim of a W-2 scam? The IRS recently explained how to report the scam and your next steps (and how to avoid being taken in by this scam!). What Is A W-2 Scam? Any company can be the target of a W-2 scam. These scams...
CUT Method Prevails in Amazon’s Transfer Pricing War with IRS
Amazon.com, Inc. v. Commissioner Amazon scored a win against the Internal Revenue Service in a transfer pricing case. The dispute was over the calculation of buy-in payments to compensate Amazon US for the transfer of a group of intangibles to the company’s European...
Eleventh Circuit Affirms Tax Court’s Valuation of Trust’s Interest in LLC
Estate of Koons v. Commissioner (Koons II) The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a 2013 Tax Court ruling in an estate and generation-skipping tax case that centered on the fair market value of a revocable trust’s interest in an LLC. The crux of the valuation was...