Business and Finance

The new rules applicable to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act became effective on October 16, 2013.  These rules may affect your company’s marketing business, and failure to comply with the rules could subject your company to legal action, including without limitation a class action lawsuit or a regulatory investigation. About the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) The TCPA is a federal statute that was enacted in 1991.  It allows individuals to file lawsuits and collect damages against telemarketers for unsolicited residential and cellular calls, text messages, and faxes.  Congress authorized the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to pass rules and regulations

On January 1, 2013 Congress passed, and on January 3, 2013 the President signed, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (the “Act”).  The Act reverses many of the federal tax increases that were scheduled to go into effect in 2013 and retains certain favorable tax benefits that were scheduled to expire. However, it also increases income taxes for some high-income individuals and increases transfer tax rates. This article summarizes certain key provisions of the Act applicable to individual taxpayers. Individual Ordinary Income Tax Rates.  Except for certain “high-income taxpayers,” the federal income tax rates on the ordinary income of

If you are a public company required to file reports with the SEC (or if you are contemplating becoming a public company in the near future), you are familiar with the requirement to have your financial statements audited by an independent public accounting firm and rules regarding communications that are made between the outside auditors and the audit committee of your board.  Effective communication between your audit committee and your auditors is critical to the effective filing of your required reports.Recently, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) issued a new standard aimed at enhancing the relevance, timeliness, and quality

The so-called “Bush tax cuts” that were enacted in 2001 and 2003, and extended by President Obama in 2010, are scheduled to expire automatically for tax years beginning after 2012.  Additionally, starting in 2013, the federal Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 imposes a new 3.8% tax on net taxable investment income[1] of families earning over $250,000 a year.  The new health reform act’s investment income tax, coupled with the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, will result in: The maximum federal income tax rate on ordinary compensation income of individuals rising in 2013 from 35% to 39.6%,