Given that 2016 is an election year and the campaign season has kicked into hyper-drive, we want to provide a brief reminder of what you CAN and CANNOT do regarding political activities. Please note there is a difference between political activities vs. lobbying activities. Political activities (“electioneering”) are geared towards the election process, while lobbying…
Lost in Translation: HLBI Baicheng Visits New Jersey This week’s blog post is written by Withum’s International Services Group member, Phyllis Tsai. Withum’s International Services Team recently welcomed one of our HLB International network firms from China, Baicheng Tax Consulting Services. Beicheng has been operating as a professional tax service company since 2003. They mainly…
Why Enterprises are Transitioning from On-Premise ERP to Cloud ERP Solutions After years of supporting “graduations” from the likes of QuickBooks and desktop solutions, many larger, more well-established companies are transitioning to cloud ERP systems like NetSuite or Microsoft Dynamics 365 for wholescale replacement of on-premise Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions. This transition comes at…
Options for Capitalizing R&D expenses for tax purposes, when to do it and why? Research and Development (R&D) costs have allowed companies to search for new knowledge and improvements to existing products while taking an immediate tax deduction under Internal Revenue Code §174(a). Under §174(a) a taxpayer may treat research and development expenditures, which are…
Are inefficiencies with email hurting your company growth and making your employees crazy? Avoid the pitfals of the analog workplace! The digital workplace is full of employee productivity solutions that make life easier. Real-Time Collaboration A successful enterprise today runs on more than in-person meetings and memos. Collaboration tools that drive employee productivity and provide…
FINRA Disciplinary Review By Joseph Fede, CPA, GMA, Supervisor – WithumSmith+Brown, PC Over the past several years, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), the self-regulatory organization responsible for regulating every brokerage firm doing business in the US, brought between 1,300 and 1,600 disciplinary actions each year. In 2015, it ordered $95 million in fines (2014-…
Withum Ranked Among Florida Trend’s Top 100 Best Companies List WithumSmith+Brown, PC (“Withum”) was recently named one of Florida’s Best Companies To Work For. The annual Best Companies list is featured in the August issue of Florida Trend magazine. One-hundred companies are ranked in small, medium and large employer categories. To participate, Withum underwent an…
Health Insurance Company Mergers Under Scrutiny Last summer, over $80 billion of proposed health insurance mergers were announced as Aetna planned to join forces with Humana and Anthem planned to join forces with Cigna. We mentioned at the time that the deals would undergo significant regulatory scrutiny which could delay their approval and require significant…
Intercompany Debt, Or Is It Equity? Last week, the IRS announced that all debt-equity cases will have to go to a high level of legal review. This is yet another indicator that the question of debt versus equity is a high priority item for the IRS. Already, the recent issuance of Section 385 proposed regulations…
Fried & Kowgios Partners LLP joins its practice with WithumSmith+Brown, PC Effective August 1, 2016, Fried & Kowgios Partners LLP (FK Partners), a certified public accounting firm based in New York, NY, which is one of the leading accounting firms in providing services to theatrical productions, not for profit and entertainment companies, joined its practice…