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There’s a fine line between businesses and hobbies under the federal tax code. If you engage in an unincorporated sideline — such as a marketing director by day and an artist on the nights and weekends — you may think of that side activity as a business and hope to deduct...

For years, people have questioned the viability of the Social Security system going forward. In July, the Social Security Board of Trustees released its annual report on the long-term financial status of the Social Security Trust Funds. The report projects that the combined asset...

Selling in the Year of Divorce or Later When a couple is divorced as of the end of the year their principal residence is sold, the tax law considers them divorced for the entire year. Therefore, they are unable to file jointly for the year of sale. Of course, the same is true...

Whether a claim is unfounded or not isn’t apparent until it’s investigated, of course. But if statistics from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) provide any insight, it’s worth noting that retaliation claims — the most common form of complaint —...

At the end of June, the U.S. Supreme Court adjourned for its summer recess. Here are five recent cases from its 2016 term that may be of interest to business owners and managers. 1. Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton (S. Ct. No. 16-74, June 5, 2017) Under the Employee...

Presumably you have a holiday and vacation policy already in place. But what if it’s not working well for your company or your employees? For example, if it’s vague, you may have to make decisions on the spot when an employee asks for days off at a time that is...

The U.S. Tax Court recently ruled that the Boston Bruins hockey team’s pregame meals to players and personnel at out-of-town hotels qualified as a de minimis fringe benefit under the Internal Revenue Code. Therefore, 100% of the cost of those meals could be deducted — it...

Tax reform has been a major topic of discussion in Washington, but it’s still unclear exactly what such legislation will include and whether it will be signed into law this year. However, the last major tax legislation that was signed into law — back in December of 2015 — still...

A royal flush can be quite a rush. But the IRS casts a wide net when defining gambling income. It includes winnings from casinos, horse races, lotteries and raffles, as well as any cash or prizes (appraised at fair market value) from contests. If you participate in any of these...

Like so many aspects of the national and global economies, merger and acquisition (M&A) activity tends to wax and wane. Nonetheless, billions of dollars continue to change hands annually, and an acquisition can be a great way to grow a business. So if one of these deals comes...