Returning Value Blog

What to expect if you win the big lottery jackpot.

If you acquire a company, your to-do list will be long, which means you can’t devote all of your time to the deal’s potential tax implications. However, if you neglect tax issues during the negotiation process, the negative consequences can be serious. To improve the odds of a successful acquisition, it’s important to devote resources to tax planning before your deal closes.

401(k) loans are easy to get but should only be considered as a last resort.

When businesses provide meals to their employees, generally their deduction is limited to 50%. But there are exceptions. One is if the meal qualifies as a de minimis fringe benefit under the Internal Revenue Code.

Ways to ease the financial burden of caring for elderly relatives.

If your business offers health insurance benefits to employees, there’s a good chance you’ve seen a climb in premium costs in recent years — perhaps a dramatic one. To meet the challenge of rising costs, some employers are opting for a creative alternative to traditional health insurance known as “captive insurance.” A captive insurance company generally is wholly owned and controlled by the employer. So it’s essentially like forming your own insurance company. And it provides tax advantages, too.

How to compensate nonfamily employees in a family business.

It’s a safe bet that state tax authorities will let you know if you haven’t paid enough sales and use taxes, but what are the odds that you’ll be notified if you’ve paid too much? The chances are slim — so slim that many businesses use reverse audits to find overpayments so they can seek refunds.

Recent Tax Court cases have demonstrated the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) increase in strict compliance with the substantiation requirements for charitable donations. For example, a $64.5 million charitable contribution was recently disallowed because there was no written acknowledgment from the recipient at the time the return was filed.

Small employers now have a treatment for an Affordable Care Act ailment.