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As has been widely reported, on Friday President Trump issued an executive order directing that federal agencies “waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision or requirement of the Act that would impose a fiscal burden on any State or a cost, fee, tax, penalty, or regulatory burden on individuals, families, healthcare providers, health insurers, patients, recipients of healthcare services, purchasers of health insurance, or makers of medical devices, products, or medications” as the first official act of the new Trump Administration. In addition, the executive order directed that federal agencies “take all actions consistent with law to minimize the unwarranted economic and regulatory burdens of the Act, and prepare to afford the States more flexibility and control to create a more free and open healthcare market.”
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On January 19, 2017, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) announced the annual changes to the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvement Act of 1976 (the “HSR Act”) pre-merger notification thresholds.
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Historically, Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) enforcement regarding misclassifying partners as employees has been relatively lax. Recent guidance focused on this issue, however, may signal that the IRS will more actively enforce the rule that an individual may not be both an employee and a partner of the same entity. This article by Jeff Schaffart and Josh Norton discusses the implications of this guidance.
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‘Tis the season for giving, so here are five things you should know about the gift tax:
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As employers are well aware, the Form I-9 is used to verify the identity and employment authorization of individuals hired for employment in the United States. A revised Form I-9, dated 11/14/2016, was recently published by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and is available at https://www.uscis.gov/i-9. Employers must begin using the new version no later than January 22, 2017. Until then, employers can use either the version dated 03/08/2013 or the new version.
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On December 13, 2016, President Obama singed the 21st Century Cures Act into effect that provides welcome relief to small employers concerning health reimbursement arrangements. As background, the Affordable Care Act effectively prohibited employers from offering health reimbursement arrangements that were not integrated with qualifying group health plans, which eliminated the long standing practice of small employers reimbursing employees for premiums paid towards individual health insurance policies.
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In a stunning development, a federal district court in Texas has issued a nationwide injunction blocking implementation of the new salary basis rule under the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) mere days before it was scheduled to take effect on December 1, 2016. The ruling will have a significant impact on businesses throughout the United States and raises uncertainty as to whether the increased salary basis threshold will be upheld moving forward.
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In a similar development to the DOL’s salary basis rule, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas also issued a nationwide injunction halting implementation of certain aspects of the Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces Executive Order (the “Order”). The Order affected federal contractors subject to affirmative action requirements and was scheduled to go into effect on January 1, 2017. Since issuance, the Order has been controversial within the federal contracting community, as it would have required disclosure of certain labor law violations and could have resulted in companies being barred from eligibility to receive federal contracts. The Order also would have prevented companies from using mandatory arbitration clauses to resolve disputes under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act on contracts worth more than $1,000,000. Both of those aspects of the Order have now been halted. It is unclear whether the injunction will be challenged, but the DOL has already informed all procurement officials at federal agencies to stop implementation of those pieces of the Order subject to injunction. The court did not enjoin the paycheck transparency requirements of the Order which will require federal contractors to provide wage statements to employees noting total hours worked, overtime hours worked, rate of pay, gross pay, and an itemized list of any deductions taken from the employee’s pay.
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As the saying goes, “death and taxes” are some of the few certainties in this life. In the case of the federal estate tax, the rate is high: 40%. This means you may be leaving your not-so-favorite Uncle Sam a big portion of your estate. However, under current law, the majority of Americans will not pay the federal estate tax. The federal estate tax can be minimized, or perhaps even eliminated.
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The Nebraska Supreme Court recently issued an important, taxpayer favorable ruling in Stewart v. Nebraska Dept. of Rev.[1] In Stewart, the court ruled that the federal “economic substance” and “sham transaction” doctrines do not apply in determining whether a corporation is a qualified corporation for purposes of Nebraska’s special capital gains exclusion. This ruling effectively blesses pre-transaction planning that causes a corporation to become a qualified corporation.
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When doing sophisticated estate and wealth transfer planning for a high net worth client, there may be no more effective weapon in the estate planner’s arsenal than the “grantor trust.” Although the use of grantor trusts by practitioners certainly involves federal estate and gift tax planning considerations, it is the grantor trust’s federal income tax feature that fundamentally differentiates it from other planning options, and it is this characteristic that has led one of the nation’s leading trusts and estates lawyers to state that "grantor trusts are among the most powerful estate planning tools.”
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For employers, the cost of noncompliance with the Immigration and Nationality Act ("INA") has always been high, but it just got higher as a result of recent adjustments for inflation. In the case of Form I-9 violations, penalties have risen 96%. These dramatically increased amounts apply to civil monetary penalties assessed after August 1, 2016 for violations that occurred after November 2, 2015. The penalties are serious business and act as a solemn reminder that employers should regularly audit their Form I-9 compliance processes.
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An agent under a durable financial power of attorney (“POA”) is appointed by you to act on your behalf with regard to your property, business, and financial affairs. Your agent is legally permitted to perform acts that you designate, which may include simple tasks, such as paying bills and depositing checks, or more complicated tasks, such as managing your real estate, investments, or business.
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The nature of the stock options must be understood in order to properly factor them into the marital estate, and the concept of vesting and maturity are important. Vesting relates to when the employee can exercise the option, and maturity relates to whether the right to exercise is absolute.
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You’ve worked hard to get here…you’ve made a conscious effort to save for retirement, start college savings funds for your children and stick to your financial plan. But does your financial plan include your post-death intentions or does it fall short?
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Regrets exist, for many farmers and bankers from the 1980s Farm Crisis days, over opportunities-lost.
The regrets often arise like this: the ag economy has been good but is declining. During good times, a farmer increases standards of living and operating and keeps bills paid—but can't any longer. Farmer considers partial liquidation while values are strong. But farmer hates taxes, can't part with land, and won’t give up the current way-of-life; so farmer decides to hope for better days instead. Better days don't arrive, and banker demands liquidation. "But asset prices are low," complains the farmer. Banker begins legal action, and farmer files Chapter 11. Farmer and banker are now bitter enemies. Farmer proposes a Chapter 11 plan, hoping to remain in business. Banker rejects the plan. The ag economy continues downward. Farmer runs out of cash, and the farm goes into liquidation. It sells dirt cheap. A large deficiency remains, as does a large tax bill—and neither can be paid. It's an unmitigated disaster. Everyone has regrets.
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In the medical profession regulations abound – both at the federal and state level. Unfortunately, the interpretation of the meaning of these regulations is not always black and white. An example of the need to carefully consider the effect of the regulatory environment on seemingly insignificant business decisions was experienced earlier this spring.
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