Florida Court Rejects Active-Passive Framework in Appreciation Analysis
Bair v. Bair When appraisers deal with the issue of appreciation of nonmarital property, they often think in terms of “active versus passive.” A Florida divorce case shows that the rigid adoption of this framework may result in an erroneous valuation. Cannot pick and...
New Tax Benefits of Hiring Your Kid
Summer jobs remain an effective way for kids to learn about fiscal responsibility, save for college or even retirement, and supplement their spending money for the next school year. If you’re a Maine business owner, think about hiring your child or grandchild as a...
What’s the Status of Gender-Based Pay Discrimination?
The widespread belief that pay discrimination is rampant in Maine and across the country, regardless of the underlying facts, is what puts many employers at risk for litigation based on charged of unequal compensation. A recent Pew Research poll found 77% of women...
IRS Encourages Taxpayers to Check Withholding
Are your employees having enough money withheld from their regular paychecks? The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) has made a number of significant changes to the tax rules for individuals for 2018 through 2025. Consequently, many taxpayers, in Maine and elsewhere, who...
Does Your Business Need a Temporary CFO?
Does your Maine company need a chief financial officer but you can't afford to hire one full time? Or do you need someone to help prepare your business to be sold, handle a special project, or cover for an executive who is ill or left the organization? A temporary, or...
Last Chance to Claim the Domestic Production Activities Deduction
The U.S. corporate tax rate has historically been among the highest in the world. The DPAD (domestic production activities deduction) was created by Congress years ago to help even out the playing field between American manufacturers and their competitors operating in...
New Study Reveals Costs, Means and Ways to Stop Fraud
Would you leave the front door of your house unlocked? Probably not. What about your business or not-for-profit organization? Even more unlikely. While we like to think the best of our fellow Mainers, leaving the front door unlocked would welcome in the thieves. Not...
Be Careful When Setting Up an ‘English-Only’ Policy
When your company’s staff is culturally diverse, it can be tempting to require all employees to only speak English during the workday. You may be thinking it’s easier to promote unity and teamwork when everyone speaks the same language. It may not be legal though....
Judicial Appraisal Lacks Valuation Evidence and Gets Dinged on Appeal
Lally Orange Buick Pontiac GMC, Inc. v. Sandhu Although both sides in a Florida judicial appraisal action offered expert opinions on the value of a car dealership, the trial court used a valuation whose author and methodology were unknown. In rejecting the lower...
Supreme Court Sides with Employers on Arbitration Agreements
The Supreme Court often agrees to rule on issues where individual appeals courts have come to different conclusions, in order to create a uniform national legal standard. This was the situation when the court passed down a 5-4 decision for Epic Systems Corp. v. Lewis....