Shareholder Approval ‘Cleanses’ Potential Undervaluation
In re OM Group, Inc. Stockholders Litig., 2016 Del. Ch. LEXIS 155 (Oct. 12, 2016.) Shareholders protesting what they considered a rushed sale at a bargain basement price suffered defeat in the Delaware Court of Chancery when the court ruled strong shareholder approval...
IRS Increases Annual Gift Tax Exclusion for 2018
After five years of being stuck at $14,000, the annual gift tax exclusion will be $15,000 per recipient for 2018 — its highest point ever. According to the announcement by the IRS, it’s rising due to inflation. Here's what the recent increase in the exclusion may mean...
Bad Debt Losses: Can You Deduct Loans Gone Bad?
When individual taxpayers claim deductions for bad debt losses, the IRS is always skeptical. Why? Losses from purported loan transactions often fail to meet the tax-law requirements for bad debt loss deductions. For example, a taxpayer might try to write off a capital...
How Might the New Tax Reform Law Affect You?
Now that the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) has passed, everyone wants to know how much they'll save. President Trump and Republican members of Congress say the bill will bring $3.2 trillion in tax cuts. Here's a comparison of how tax results for a typical family of...
Tax Cut Law: Mostly Good News for Employers and Employees
For Maine employers, the most immediate concrete change the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) will bring about is new payroll tax withholding rates. Here's the latest from the IRS: "We anticipate issuing the initial withholding guidance in January reflecting the new...
Big Accounting Rule Changes Coming Soon
If your Maine business is scrambling to get up-to-date on changes to the federal tax rules under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, note that there also will be major changes to U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP). Here's an overview of the major accounting...
Important Changes for Individuals in the New Tax Law
For individual taxpayers, the new tax law — commonly known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) — includes many expected changes, some unexpected ones and some that didn't make the final cut. Here are the most important things that individual taxpayers need to know...
Florida Supreme Court Nixes Daubert Amendment
In 2013, Florida’s legislature rejected the long-standing Frye standard on the admissibility of expert witness testimony and adopted the Daubert standard and Federal Rule of Evidence 702 with two amendments to the state’s Evidence Code. Subsequently, The Florida Bar’s...
Many Businesses Will Celebrate Tax Cuts in the New Tax Year
Starting with the 2018 tax year, most businesses in Maine and the U.S. will receive a big tax cut, thanks to the new law that was enacted on December 22. However, some industries (such as banking, hospitality and retail) generally expect to reap more benefits than...
Let’s Take a Closer Look at New Business Tax Reforms
You may have heard about the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) provides businesses with lower income tax rates, but there’s more to it than that. Here's an overview of some lesser-known, business-friendly changes under the new law, along with a few changes that could...