How can you build a golden nest egg if you’re self-employed? Image
How can you build a golden nest egg if you’re self-employed?

A solo 401(k) plan is a powerful retirement savings tool if you run a one-person small business. Here’s how you...

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11/7/2024
How will the 2025 inflation adjustment numbers affect your year-end tax planning? Image
How will the 2025 inflation adjustment numbers affect your year-end tax planning?

The qualified business income (QBI) deduction is scheduled to disappear after 2025. Congress could extend it, but don...

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10/31/2024
Taxes take center stage in the 2024 presidential campaign Image
Taxes take center stage in the 2024 presidential campaign

Election day is less than a month away. Here’s a rundown of the major tax proposals of the two candid...

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10/10/2024
IRS issues final regulations on inherited IRAs Image
IRS issues final regulations on inherited IRAs

The IRS has issued final regulations regarding inherited IRAs and other defined contribution plans.

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8/1/2024
If your business has co-owners, you probably need a buy-sell agreement Image
If your business has co-owners, you probably need a buy-sell agreement

For most business co-owners, the value of their business shares comprises a big percentage of their estates. Having a...

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7/18/2024
Don’t have a tax-favored retirement plan? Set one up now Image
Don’t have a tax-favored retirement plan? Set one up now

If you’re a business owner without a retirement plan, establishing one is simpler than you may think. And there...

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4/30/2024
IRS issues guidance on new retirement catch-up contribution rules Image
IRS issues guidance on new retirement catch-up contribution rules

The SECURE 2.0 Act’s new retirement catch-up contribution rules caused problems and confusion for employers and...

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9/14/2023
Planning ahead for 2024: Should your 401(k) help employees with emergencies? Image
Planning ahead for 2024: Should your 401(k) help employees with emergencies?

Next year, a new provision kicks in that may allow businesses to help employees in financial emergencies through thei...

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8/15/2023
IRS provides transitional relief for RMDs and inherited IRAs Image
IRS provides transitional relief for RMDs and inherited IRAs

Some taxpayers can look forward to receiving transitional relief from the IRS related to the required beginning dates...

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8/10/2023
The tax advantages of hiring your child this summer Image
The tax advantages of hiring your child this summer

Thinking about hiring your high-school or college-age child to work in your business? You could reap significant tax ...

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4/27/2023
Retirement saving options for your small business: Keep it simple Image
Retirement saving options for your small business: Keep it simple

If you’re a small business owner, you may be reluctant to set up a retirement plan because of the administrativ...

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4/11/2023
Disasters and Your Taxes: What You Need to Know Image
Disasters and Your Taxes: What You Need to Know

Have you been affected by one of the many natural disasters that have occurred this year? Tax relief may be available...

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9/20/2021
Connecting Your Personal Financial Plan and Business Continuity Plan Image
Connecting Your Personal Financial Plan and Business Continuity Plan

Most business owners have a personal financial plan, but let's talk about why connecting that with a business continu...

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8/4/2021
Important Changes to the Child Tax Credit Image
Important Changes to the Child Tax Credit

As part of the American Rescue Plan Act enacted in March, significant changes were made to the child tax credit that ...

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6/25/2021
Guiding Your Wealth to Where You Want It to Go Image
Guiding Your Wealth to Where You Want It to Go

You may know where you want your money to go when you die, but let's take a look at how to plan and strategize your w...

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6/2/2021
Walk Before You Run: Phased Planning Image
Walk Before You Run: Phased Planning

It's important for business owners to plan for a successful future without their business. Here's the story...

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3/3/2021
Keep Your Family Intact with Proper Estate Planning Image
Keep Your Family Intact with Proper Estate Planning

It can be difficult to consider what will happen to your business and your family if you die unexpectedly. This ...

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12/2/2020
Year-End Tax Planning for 2021 Image
Year-End Tax Planning for 2021

We asked our tax professionals for a few suggestions on how to get organized and prepare for 2021. Here they are...

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11/3/2020
Realistic Timelines

Global economic disruption uniquely affects each business.

Fairness and Equity Among Family Members Image
Fairness and Equity Among Family Members

Owning a successful business can complicate family relations, especially when it comes to family finances. With ...

THE TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT: Changes to Individual Taxation

Part 1 of 3: A summary of the most widely applicable points of the tax reform passed in December 2017. 

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1/19/2018
THE TAX CUTS AND JOBS ACT: 30 Ways The Act May Affect You And Your Business

A summary of the most widely applicable points of the tax reform passed in December 2017.

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1/19/2018
"Caught between the Scylla and Charybdis": What Sting Knows About Valuing Small Businesses

Sting is one of the more cerebral pop musicians and he clearly is wise to the ways of business valuation practice. So...

EBITDA and Fair Market Value

One of the main differences between the world of real life transactions and the fair market value world is the way th...

Almost as Riveting as Game of Thrones...

Well, maybe that's a bit of an oversell, but certainly having a greater impact on the pocket book, the battle over ho...

When Goodwill has No Value

Recently, I have dealt with a number of issues relating to the valuation of goodwill. One particular case involved a ...

The Rule of Thump

An article in the Atlantic Monthly refers to the emergence of a new term - the "rule of thump" - based on confusion w...

"It was a Very Good Year" - 1959 Ruling Stands the Test of Time

Channeling Frank Sinatra this month, I turn my attention to Revenue Ruling 59-60. This key valuation document issued ...

Valuation Factors for a Franchise

On the southeast corner of a major, urban intersection is an established privately-held "fast food" hamburger restaur...

Earning Capacity: The Critical Piece of the Puzzle

Where does the value of a business come from? First and foremost, it comes from the ability to generate earnings, its...

Champagne Wishes and the Valuation Issues of the Rich and Famous

The opportunity to gawp at the lifestyles of the rich and famous was a side benefit to taking a look at a dispute ove...

Why Financial Statement Adjustments Are Made in Valuation Process

Clients are often mystified by the adjustments business valuation analysts make to financial statements when we start...

"I'm a Lumberjack and I'm OK!" - Cash Flows from Timber Apparently Trump the Value of Land

What a great start to 2015 - when a recent case allows me to include a reference to the halcyon days of Monty Python ...

Who Needs to Go to Vegas? Small Business Owners can Gamble for High Stakes from the Comfort of Their Offices!

Many entrepreneurs start a business with other like-minded business people and don’t want to think about what h...

Nancy Hall Earns Accredited Estate Planner Certification

WEC is pleased to announce Nancy Hall is newly certified as an Accredited Estate Planner® (AEP)® designee by ...

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1/15/2015
The Season of Personal Goodwill

The case of Bross Trucking v Commissioner (Tax Ct. Memo LEXIS 109) was not strictly a valuation case but did address ...

"Losing My Religion" - An IRS Lament?

A recent tax court case allows me to dig up a reference to an R.E.M. hit single (never my favorite, but, hey, any por...

"All You're Ever Gonna be is Mean - But Which One?"

In an effort to be down with the kids, this month's title comes from a Taylor Swift hit single - a big step from my n...

"There Are Three Kinds of Lies: Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics"

I recalled this bon mot from Mark Twain as I reviewed a recent article from Business Valuation Resources that focused...

"Let's Start at the Very Beginning" - Do-Re-Me and the Cost of Capital

Sometimes it's just good to channel Maria in the Sound of Music and go back to basics. I recently had a good opportun...

"If You Know What I Mean" - Estate of Richmond v. Commissioner, Part the Third

A Neil Diamond song title as this month's hook? What? Who? How? Calm down - all will be revealed at the end of this e...

"Bang Bang" - The Tax Court Shot Him Down...

I never thought I would be minng Cher's back catalog for inspiration for an even more tenuous link for the title to t...

When to File an Estate Return Under New Law

The American Taxpayer Relief Act that became law on Jan. 2, 2013, changed the landscape of when an estate tax return ...

A Giant LEAP for Mankind? Maybe Not, but Some Helpful Data for Valutions

This month we're going to do some finance stuff - be warned, there may even be a formula... As valuation analysts, we...

Waiting in Vain? How Long Does it Take to Sell a Company?

We know that Bob Marley didn't want to wait in vain (in fact he said so repeatedly in the song) - and neither does th...

Free as a Bird Now! Eagle Dilemma Resolved

You may recall that I sent out an e-mail last year highlighting the dispute between the Estate of Ileanna Sonnenband ...

Fly Like an Eagle? The IRS Will Bring You Back Down to Earth

I struggled with the title of this item......the story itself has been a godsend to headline writers and I don't feel...

"Doctor, Doctor - Give Me The News..." - Is the Medical Profession More Prone to Litigating Divorces Than Other Professions?

Please file the following under the "I'm just sayin'..." category - far be it from me to draw any conclusions!  ...

"I Have Only Come Here Seeking Knowledge..." But What Knowledge is Allowed to Affect a Valuation?

I have always cringed when Sting followed up the title line with "Things they would not teach me of in college". On t...

"A Man Hears What He Wants to Hear...and Disregards the Rest": S Corp Valuation Revisited

Paul Simon's lyrics seem to sum up the approach the Tax Court took in the case of Estate of Louise Paxton Gallagher v...

"Even if We're Just Dancing in the Dark" Or on the head of a pin?

Oh yes, just squeezing in a Springsteen reference again - it's been a while. So how do I justify this random referenc...

Set A Fair Price To Sell Your Share Of The Business

If, emulating Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, you hope to climb the Pyramids and hit the tables in Monte Carlo whe...