An insured buy-sell agreement is a solution that allows your business to continue operating by providing a source of funds to compensate the deceased owner’s family for his or her share of the company, without having to liquidate company assets.
The warm climate and urban environment in the twin cities of Dallas and Fort Worth lends itself to infestations of pests, including ants, termites, mosquitoes and rodents. Recognizing the opportunity this creates, Julien’s Pest Control d/b/a Evolve Pest Control (“Evolve”) handed sales representative Brad Liston a five-year contract beginning in January 2021 to market pest control services in the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Promoting the sale of electrical insulation used in power transmission and distribution lines is undoubtedly a seductive enough field all by itself. But mix in a lawsuit over unpaid commissions and a flailing attempt to dismiss it, and soon, the same way sex and violence sells movie tickets, the enchantment with electrical insulation sales becomes palpable.
Lack of familiarity with fringe benefits can cause business owners to overlook tax-free perks and incentives they could be offering to prospective hires or providing to their current employees (and their spouses and dependent children) at minimal cost.
Many individuals continue to work into their retirement years, whether due to financial need, personal desire or some other motivation. A meaningful portion of these workers are high-wage earners who pay tax at the maximum or near maximum income tax rates and do not wish to withdraw funds from their retirement accounts which in most cases are fully taxed at ordinary income tax rates.
The Fall edition of this Legally Speaking column reported on the verdict delivered in the summer of 2023 in favor of an ERA rep given the pseudonym Rigorous Electronics Performers, LLC or REP. A suburban Philadelphia jury found that Manipulating Financial Results, Inc. or MFR (also a pseudonym) owed REP over $600,000 in unpaid commissions.
The 2017 Tax Act introduced a new deduction for pass-through entities. Owners of S corporations, sole proprietorships, partnerships and limited liability companies treated as sole proprietorships are entitled to an income tax deduction of up to 20 percent of their qualified business income (“QBI”) on their personal income tax returns. Despite the fact that the QBI deduction has been available for years, many individuals starting their own businesses as sole owner companies with no employees continue to experience confusion in selecting the optimal structure to take advantage of the 20 percent tax deduction.
Just a few months ago, on the fifth floor of the courthouse in a sleepy Philadelphia suburb, an international manufacturing conglomerate squared off for 3½ days against a local sales rep. The battle was over commissions due under the terms of their contract, plus statutory damages.
Suppose you were asked to design the most taxpayer-friendly retirement plan possible. If given a choice, you would want a plan that allows for generous annual contributions. The contributions would be tax-deductible, regardless of whether or not you itemize deductions and regardless of your earnings or taxable income.
California’s sales rep protection statute, among the nation’s strongest, mandates an award of treble damages to a rep who does not receive commissions as provided in the contract.