Returning Value Blog

It is hard to open a business and turn it into a successful operation. Despite the best efforts of entrepreneurs, a vast number of new businesses in the United States fail each year. Instead of starting from scratch, you or another family member, such as an adult child, might search for a ready-made franchise. There are thousands of them in the marketplace, ranging from McDonald’s to Jiffy Lube to Fantastic Sams hair salons.

When business owners are selling their business, many believe that it will be the end of their working life. What these business owners do not consider is that this can be a time of excitement, new ventures and continuing personal growth. In order to seek out new ventures, business owners need to maximize the amount of money they’ll have when they leave the business. 

In September 2013, IRS released final regulations (“Regulations”) dealing with repair and capitalization of tangible property under IRC Sec. 162(a) and 263(a) and regulations relating to dispositions under IRC Sec. 168. These Regulations are effective for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2014. Every taxpayer with fixed assets is affected by these new rules; owners of real property are especially impacted. The Regulations are adopted through elections where indicated in the Regulations and by filing Form(s) 3115, Application for Change in Accounting Method, as indicated by the IRS in separate guidance.

As in the past few years, most of the 2014 changes to the Form 990 and its many schedules are fairly minor. There is, however, one exception—Schedule A: the schedule required for all Section 501(c)(3) public charities, which has gone from four to eight pages and now includes eighteen pages of instructions.

On February 19, 2015, the IRS issued Notice 2015-17, which provides some interim relief for small employers from the excise taxes that could be imposed for non-compliance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

1. Employer reimbursement plans for small employers will be allowed through June 30, 2015 without imposition of the excise tax. Prior to the ruling, the IRS’ position was that programs that reimbursed employees for their individual purchases of health insurance constituted a ‘plan’ for purposes of the ACA,and would therefore be subject to its provisions, regardless of the size of the employer. The Notice provides that programs offered by employers who are not otherwise subject to the ACA (employers with less than 50 full time equivalent employees) can offer reimbursement programs during the first six months of 2015. These programs can include reimbursement for individual policies, group policies and policies that provide Medicare Part B and D coverage.

How to prosper in a changing environment

It was not long ago that there was no Internet and only international spies had cell phones. The changes occurring these days are happening at breakneck speed, and small businesses are hard-pressed to keep up. However, it is important to adapt to the latest developments and incorporate them into your business planning.

What sort of changes are we talking about? Here are five prime areas worthy of your attention in 2015:

Leadership Successions Can Shake The Success of a Business for Decades

A company’s next leader may already be on the company’s leadership team, in which case it may seem that the leader has all the right attributes. But being on the leadership team is vastly different than being the leader of the team. As Abraham Lincoln said: “Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.”