• QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    Common Sense, Simplicity, and

    The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 H.R.1 There was a flurry of activity within the valuation community following passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) and several complicated tax calculation models were unveiled. While we acknowledge the TCJA is beginning to show a noticeable impact on the level of our value conclusions, how much of an impact ought it really have on the way we perform our work? In this article, the author reviews salient features of the TCJA and concludes with some thoughts and suggestions for retaining common sense and applying simplicity to…

  • QuickRead Top Story - Valuation/Appraisal

    Reasonableness of Shareholder/Executive Compensation

    Challenging and Defending Compensation and Use of the Independent Investor Test C corporations and S corporations should pay shareholder/executive compensation based on the fair market value of the executive services rendered—or risk being audited and possibly penalized by the Internal Revenue Service. Forensic analysts can help companies determine reasonable shareholder/executive compensation using free or fee-based compensation data, with consideration of statutory authority and judicial precedent. This discussion (1) summarizes the federal income tax statutes and judicial precedents related to shareholder/executive compensation, (2) provides a list of frequently relied upon executive compensation data sources, and (3) reviews important issues presented in…

  • Accounting - QuickPress

    An Overview of Personal Goodwill

    Calculating appropriate goodwill can create significant savings to a taxpayer.  Lucas M. Parris, senior member of Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Valuation Group, describes the existence of personal goodwill apart from corporate goodwill. To read more about the results of this report in the Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog, click: An Overview of Personal Goodwill. This article is republished from Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog. It is reprinted with permission. To subscribe to the blog, visit http://mercercapital.com/category/financialreportingblog/.