*This article is the first in a three-part series regarding government worksite audits and inspections and what employers can do to mitigate risk and liability to their businesses.* January 2011Sending a clear message that there will be no abatement in the aggressive federal enforcement of U.S ...
In prior years, certain tax-exempt organizations whose gross receipts did not normally exceed $25,000 were exempt from filing the standard Form 990. Now, this threshold is $50,000, and for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2010, such organizations must submit a Form 990-N “e-Postcard” annually (rather than the Form 990-EZ or Form 990 required of larger organizations). Private foundations and supporting organizations may not file the Form 990-N ...
Marriage has become as globalized as business today. If one spouse is a non-citizen, there are some minor challenges in drafting estate planning documents to minimize United States estate taxes, and we recommend consulting with counsel in the non-citizen’s home country. If the non-citizen’s family has substantial wealth, there are opportunities to reduce, or even eliminate, U.S. estate and gift tax on transfers to that individual ...
February 20, 2011, will bring a significant additional burden for many employers using the H-1B, H-1B1 Chile/Singapore, L-1 or O-1A category to sponsor a worker. Petitioners, even those entities not typically involved with technology subject to U.S. Government export rules, will be required to make an export control compliance statement under penalty of perjury on USCIS Form I-129. The statement is to certify that the foreign employee will not be allowed access to controlled U.S ...
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received more than 12,000 charges in 2009 from employees claiming sexual harassment—a 6 percent increase from three years ago. Although harassment claims are on the rise, Haynes and Boone continues to secure significant sexual harassment victories for its clients, and employers overall ...
On November 9, 2010, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”) issued its much-anticipated final rule implementing Title II of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (“GINA”), which applies to all employers covered by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (“Title VII”), namely, employers with fifteen or more employees, as well as unions, employment agencies and labor management training programs ...
By Vitas Vasiliauskas, Associate Partner of the law firm LAWIN Lideika, Petrauskas, Valiûnas ir partneriai In December 2010, the most important legislative acts on taxation to be enacted in 2011 were publicised ...
On Friday December 17, 2010, the President signed into law the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the “Act”). Many taxpayers were keeping an eye on this legislation because of the possible impact it might have on year-end tax planning. Specifically, taxpayers were keen to find out if certain favorable tax laws would be extended. Many of the tax laws that were scheduled to sunset were extended for an additional two years ...
President Obama signed HR 4853, the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the Act), into law on December 17, 2010. Some key estate and gift tax provisions of the Act are summarized below.Increase in Estate Tax Exemption Amount; Decrease in Maximum RateUnder the terms of the Act, the estate tax exemption amount for decedents dying between Jan. 1, 2011 and Dec ...
Contents* Limited Partners: a Closer Look at Your Liability * Voluntary Disclosure: Is It Still a Worthwhile Option for Repenting Taxpayers? * The Court of Appeal Recognizes the Right to Claim Legal Fees from a Defaulting Debtor * The Superior Court’s Decision in Chambre des notaires du Québec v ...
If the generation-skipping transfer tax (“GST tax”) provisions of the proposed Tax Bill from December 9 remain unchanged, the most significant year-end tax planning opportunity is the ability to make gifts to trusts for grandchildren and great-grandchildren without imposition of the GST tax and without utilizing any of your GST tax exemption ...
Here are the most significant estate, gift, and generation-skipping tax features of the Tax Bill introduced in the Senate yesterday: The estate of an individual who died in 2010 can elect the 2011 rules ($5,000,000 exemption and top estate tax rate of 35%) or the "repeal" provisions (no estate tax but special rules for limited increase in the income tax basis of the assets of the decedent) ...
Following is a list of year-end administrative issues for Texas limited partnerships and limited liability companies (“LP/LLC”): Ensure that the LP/LLC’s activities, transactions, capital infusions (capital contributions or loan proceeds), and distributions are accurately reflected in the entity’s records; Avoid causing the LP/LLC to make any distributions not in compliance with the terms of its LP/LLC agreement or applicable law; for example, an LP/LLC should not make disproportion
1.Redundancies in Japan 1 ...
Those who have filed – or at least reviewed – the “new” Form 990 since it was revised in 2008 are well aware of its comprehensive nature. For everyone else, suffice it to say that the form requires substantially more information than its predecessor and can compel an organization to implement additional record-keeping or information-gathering procedures ...
A new version of the “Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors Act,” or DREAM Act, was filed on November 30, 2010. The DREAM Act was introduced for the first time in 2001, and has undergone many changes since its inception. The essential premise of the bill is to provide a path to lawful permanent residency for individuals who entered the U.S. as minors and do not have legal status ...
First, the good news: No estate tax on individuals who die during 2010; No generation-skipping transfer (“GST”) tax on “transfers” during 2010; Tax rate on gifts during 2010 is 35% (rather than 45%); and Congress appears less likely to take any action to retroactively change these rules ...
The U.S. Supreme Court began its new 2010-2011 term on October 4, 2010 with a number of employment-related cases on the docket, many of which have already been orally argued, that could potentially impact employers concerning such matters as arbitration, retaliation, immigration, and employee benefits ...
Signaling a possible further relaxation of the strict in-person non-immigrant visa interview requirements, the U.S. Embassy in London has indicated that beginning in December the Visa Reissuance Program may be extended to include key business categories such as “H” and “L” and exchange visitors/students under “J” and “F.” The U.S ...
Last August 3, the Honourable Paul Mayer of the Superior Court of Québec dismissed the motion for authorization to institute a class action filed by Mr. Michel Dell’Aniello (“Dell’Aniello”) against Vivendi Canada Inc. (“Vivendi”), the succ essor of his former employer (Seagram) ...
On July 28, 2010, the Tribunal administratif du Québec (“TAQ”) confirmed a decision of the Régie des rentes du Québec (the “Régie”) which had refused to register adverse amendments(1) made to a pension plan despite the consent given to the amendments by the sole member of the plan.(2)The purpose of the amendments was, on the one hand, to replace the 2% pension benefit formula with a 1 ...
Last March, we informed you that the Business Corporations Act (Quebec) (the “Bill”) had been adopted by Quebec’s National Assembly and summarily described certain features of this new legislation, which will replace the Companies Act (Quebec) (the “CAQ”). In this special edition of Ratio, we provide an overview of certain aspects of the Bill that are of interest to professionals in the areas of accounting, management and finance ...
In response to the current state of the economy, Congress has passed some tax legislation amending the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”). Although it is up for debate, some would say that Congress has not been busy enough. As we near the end of the year, many taxpayers and their advisers are going through their usual year-end tax planning checklist ...
Underscoring that PERM (Program Electronic Review Management) is a system of bright-line rules that leave little, if any, opportunity to correct errors once an application is filed, the Department of Labor (DOL) held on October 27, 2010 that the failure to include the business name on the Notice of Filing (Notice) is fatal to the entire PERM labor certification application ...
The new filing fees announced by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) earlier this year will go into effect on November 23, 2010. Anticipating these changes, which include fee increases and reductions, is important not only to budget planning for sponsors but also for ensuring that your petition is not rejected by the USCIS mailroom as “improperly filed ...
