Back in 2007, the IRS and U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) were hot on the heels of Switzerland-based mega financial institutions like UBS, Credit Suisse, and Wegelin for assisting wealthy Americans in hiding billions of dollars in foreign accounts. Part of the fallout included the enactment of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) in 2010, which requires all foreign banks to file reports with the IRS on all American accounts over $50,000. Americans must also file the disclosure separately on their yearly returns. Failure to report results in a 40 percent penalty for the account holder and even…
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While most don’t see a benefit to speaking a second language in their personal or professional life, the increasing diversity of large cities and unexpected international elements in business deals is stressing its importance. Even though you may not remember any of your high school Spanish or German, it’s never too late start again, if for no other reason than the financial incentive involved. The Economist joined forces with scholars at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to determine the value of languages; which pay the biggest dividends with regard to education, GDP and compounding salary interest. You’ll be surprised…
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“It’s a Huge Case for the Patent-Law Community.” On One Side: Google, Facebook, Intuit. On the Other? IBM. “Because the patents are often unclear, there’s no way to know whether an infringement claim by a competitor or a troll is legitimate until you’ve spent $8 million in litigation fees,” said Mr. Schruers Ashby Jones in the Wall Street Journal reports this morning that a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., will hear arguments Friday over a fundamental question that has vexed the technology industry for nearly two decades: When is a piece of software patentable?
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Ahead of the new health-care law, small firms worry about crossing the crucial 50-person threshold — and about rising premium rates Emily Maltby at the WSJ Law blog reports on increasing concerns about the forthcoming healthcare laws among small business owners. This seems to be a prominent issue and concern among small business owners, and has been noted in most every major media outlet in recent weeks, from the New York Times to Forbes, CNN, US News & World Report, FoxNews, The Economist, The Hill, the Washington Post, and more:
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Marvell Technology Group Sold Billions of Semiconductors Developed at Carnegie Mellon University Jad Mouawad reports in the New York Times that Carnegie Mellon University said it was awarded $1.17 billion by a federal jury in Pittsburgh on Wednesday in a unanimous verdict that found the Marvell Technology Group had sold billions of semiconductors using technology developed at the university without a license.
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2013 California Filings: Aetna: 22 percent. Anthem Blue Cross: 26 percent. Blue Shield of California: 20 percent. Reed Abelson at the New York Times reported last week that health insurance companies across the country are seeking and winning double-digit increases in premiums for some customers, even though one of the biggest objectives of the Obama administration’s health care law was to stem the rapid rise in insurance costs for consumers. More:
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Solid revenue growth last year following strong performance in 2010 and 2011 after a severe revenue decline in 2009 Michael Cohn at Accounting Today reports this growth according to a newly published analysis. The report, from the social networking forum Big4.com, analyzed the 2012 financial performance of Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers. It found that after a strong 2011, fiscal year 2012 saw increases in revenue for all four firms, with revenues increasing between 1.4 percent and 7.8 percent from 2011, as firms leveraged the global economic recovery, improved equity markets, liquid credit conditions, stricter regulations, globalization and…