Protect Directors and Officers From Legal Liability
It’s an age of personal responsibility and legal liability can cause financial ruin for your organization’s officers and board members. Directors and officers of not-for-profit organizations can be personally responsible for managing the affairs of the organizations. (This can also be true for directors and officers of for-profit companies.) Being an effective board member takes…
Start Succession Planning Now
The majority of North American businesses are family owned and many are facing ownership-transfer issues as more Baby Boomer founders enter retirement. Roadblocks to Successful Transitions There are four major reasons successions in family businesses tend to fail: 1. Lack of viability. The business is so dependent on the founder that it cannot operate without…
Unusual Circumstances Involving COBRA
Question: An employee on unpaid Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) leave has just notified us that she does not intend to return to work. She was covered under our major medical plan until her leave began. However, she opted to drop her coverage when she went on leave rather than continuing to pay the employee…
Beware of a 100% Personal Liability Penalty
A “100% penalty” can be assessed against a responsible person when federal income tax and/or federal employment taxes are withheld from employee paychecks but aren’t handed over to the government. This Trust Fund Recovery Penalty got its informal “100% penalty” moniker from the fact that the entire unpaid amount can be assessed against a responsible…
Keep Close Tabs on Cost Assessments
Your company is taking a gamble if it fails to perform sufficient price analyses for goods or services it proposes to use or has already purchased for a cost-based federal contract. Insufficient price assessments can mean the government will reject your enterprise’s cost proposals, increase scrutiny of its incurred costs and ultimately determine that its…
Change in Allowable Airfare: What’s the Impact?
Documentation can be challenging. A final rule was published in December of 2009 that revised the FAR cost principle on Travel Costs (FAR 31.205-46). The revision replaced the language “lowest customary standard, coach, or equivalent airfare” with “lowest priced airfare available to the contractor.” There has been much discussion as to whether the revision places…
Design Health Care FSAs to Be Cost-Effective
While health care flexible spending accounts (FSAs) offer tax-saving benefits to employees, they also can provide tremendous advantages to the employers sponsoring them. Salary-reduction contributions which employees make to an FSA are not subject to Social Security and Medicare (FICA) taxes. Thus, employers save the 7.65% FICA contribution on the dollars an employee contributes to…
Filing and Settling a Wrongful Death Claim
Money cannot replace a loved one who dies tragically. But it may provide help for the medical bills, funeral costs and the loss of income from the person who died. If the survivors believe the death was due to the negligent, reckless or intentional actions of another person or entity, they may seek economic and…
Answers to Your Questions about Marital Status and Tax Returns
When a couple ties the knot or gets divorced, taxes are probably not the first thing on their minds. But many decisions that couples make do affect their tax returns — and the amount they ultimately owe the federal government. Here are some answers to some frequently asked questions about marital status and taxes. Q. What…
Partner Retirement Payments With Better Tax Results
Payments made by a law partnership to buy out a retiring partner’s entire ownership interest are generally subject to self-employment tax. Careful planning can change that. We’ll explain how, but first, here is some background information. Payments made by a law partnership to buy out a retiring partner’s entire ownership interest are covered by Section…