Although the U.S. Tax Court recently handed the Michael Jackson estate a decisive victory regarding the estate’s tax liability, the court did not side with the estate on tax affecting, an issue that has preoccupied valuators, many of whom are proponents of the practice, for a long time. Read more >>

One aspect that has valuators excited about the Kress v. United States gift tax case is that the federal court that ruled on the taxpayers’ challenge to the IRS’s gift tax assessment accepted valuations from both parties’ experts that applied a C corporation tax rate to value minority shares in an S corporation. Read more >>

View a list of essential reading for business appraisers preparing to value an S corporation, from valuation expert and former IRS territory manager, Michael Gregory. Read more >>

The overarching issue in a recent Michigan divorce case was appreciation. Did the nonowner spouse (wife) have a right to a portion of the increase in value of her husband’s separate property, an S corporation? A related issue, and one that posed a question of first impression in Michigan, was how to treat the company’s retained earnings. Read more >>

The accounting, valuation, and legal professions are hard at work to defeat the Treasury Department's proposed Section 274 regulations. The new regs would curtail, if not entirely eliminate, valuation discounts in family-controlled entities. Read more >>