New York implemented a law that imposes sales tax collection duties on some out-of-state retailers that are not physically present in the state. The law requires out-of-state retailers engaged in “affiliate marketing” to collect sales tax. Affiliate marketing occurs when the retailer enters a contract with a third party (the affiliate) who operates an independent website. Under the contract, the affiliate agrees to provide on its website a link that directs readers to the retailer’s website in exchange for a percentage of the sales made to readers who use the link. Overstock.com and Amazon.com sued the New York State Department …
Supreme Court Will Hear Religious Freedom Cases
The Supreme Court agreed on November 26, 2013 to hear the religious challenges of Hobby Lobby Stores and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. to the contraceptive coverage requirements of the Affordable Care Act. While not on the Supreme Court website calendar yet, the latest information indicates the cases will be heard in March. The Court has consolidated the two cases and scheduled only one hour of argument for both cases. As discussed in earlier blog posts (Supreme Court Asked to Decide If Corporations Have Religious Freedom and Do For-Profit Corporations Have Religious Freedom?), the general issue is whether for-profit companies with …
IRS Finalizes Regulations Governing De Minimis Safe Harbor Expensing
The IRS has released final regulations governing when taxpayers must capitalize expenditures and when they can deduct expenditures related to the acquisition of tangible property. These regulations are effective for taxable years beginning on or after January 1, 2014. Importantly, the final regulations provide for a de minimis safe harbor election that allows taxpayers to immediately deduct the cost of acquiring certain items of tangible property, provided that specific requirements are satisfied. The election is made annually by attaching a statement to a timely filed income tax return. Very generally, taxpayers making the safe harbor election can immediately deduct the …
Asset Protection: Sometimes, being attached to your spouse means that your creditors cannot attach your assets
HISTORY LESSON: Back in days of yore (2/9/72 – 4/4/85) in Ohio, a form of property ownership known as Tenancy By the Entirety (TBE) was recognized. The TBE form of property ownership harkens back to times when women had much less control over their affairs and needed to be protected from their husband’s debts. It is useful now to protect assets from creditors. “TBE” EXPLAINED: The general principle behind TBE property is that it is not owned part by husband and part by wife, but entirely by a fictional third-party made of the union of husband and wife. As such, …
IRS Announces 2014 Pension Plan Limitations
On October 31, 2013, the IRS announced cost-of-living adjustments for 2014 retirement plan contributions. For 2014, the amounts that individuals will be able to contribute to retirement plans will remain the same as 2013. Highlights of the IRS announcement include: Continuing the annual salary deferral limit for 401(k), 403(b), and most 457 plans at $17,500. Leaving unchanged the additional catch-up contribution for employees age 50 and older at $5,500. Increasing the limit on total contributions to defined contribution plans from $51,000 to $52,000. Leaving unchanged the definition of highly compensated employee as an employee making $115,000 per year. Increasing the …
IRS Modifies the Health Flexible Spending Account “Use It or Lose It” Rule to Allow a Limited Carry Over of Unused FSA Funds
On Halloween, the IRS treated employers and health flexible spending account participants to a change in the longstanding “use it or lose it” rule. Beginning immediately, employers may amend their cafeteria plans to allow participants to carry over up to $500 of unused FSA funds at the end of the plan year so that the carryover can be used to reimburse qualified medical expenses incurred in the following plan year. In addition, the amount carried over will not count against the permitted $2,500 salary reduction limit applicable to the next plan year. According to the guidance, however, a plan cannot …
A True “Black Swan”: How unpaid internships were good, but are now bad
I love when a movie comes out that makes me smarter, even without watching it. A good example is The Black Swan. I had never heard of such a thing and had no idea what it symbolized before Fox bombed the airwaves with commercials featuring dark, elegant-looking shots of Natalie Portman in ominous poses. Intrigued, I looked up the metaphorical use of a black swan in literature and film. I learned that a black swan represents an event that surprises the observer, has a major effect on the observer and others, which is usually negative, but is often inappropriately rationalized …
How to Increase the Odds that the Loser Really Pays
Often, a client seeking our advice asks if they can recover their attorney’s fees in a lawsuit. We explain that an award of attorney’s fees to a prevailing party only occurs in a few situations: when a Federal or State law mandates an attorney fee award to the lawsuit’s winner, or when a court, in its discretion, determines that the behavior of the losing party is so egregious that punitive damages and attorney’s fees should be awarded. We explain that the necessary egregious behavior needs to almost rise to the level of criminal activity before a court will even consider …
When Charity Invites Liability, a Simple Contract Can Help
If you are a small business owner, you may often consider how you can give back to the community or make a charitable use of your commercial property. Picture this: A local nonprofit is hosting a 5K race and asks to use your business’s parking lot as a pre-race staging area. While you would like to help out the nonprofit (and get some good PR in the process), you are concerned about liability. If someone gets hurt at the race, could your business be sued for its involvement? The old saying is that “no good deed goes unpunished,” but, with …
When Employees Commit Electronic Theft
For business owners, holding an edge in the market depends on safe communication and storage of data and proprietary information. While theft of trade secrets once conjured up the image of cumbersome files bring stuffed into a briefcase, loss of essential data now occurs with the simple click of a mouse. In August, two New York men were charged with compiling and stealing information from their employer with the intention of using it to start their own business. The info allegedly taken from their employer, Manhattan-based Flow Traders, included proprietary computer code, trade strategies, and valuation algorithms. According to the …