(Part II of III) Part one of this three-part series summarized the facts regarding Clary Hood, Inc. (“CHI”) and the basis for the litigation. This second article focuses on the Tax Court’s analysis of the reasonableness of compensation issue in the Hood decision. Introduction The U.S. Tax Court decision in Clary Hood, Inc. v. Commissioner[1] provides important practical guidance to private companies and to private company owners—and to their legal, accounting, and valuation analysts—regarding the reasonableness of executive/shareholder compensation income tax deductions. In this decision, the Tax Court provides a fulsome discussion of its application of the so-called multifactor approach…
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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…