Equity-based compensation is a powerful tool for attracting, retaining and motivating executives and other employees. By rewarding recipients for their contributions to a business’s success, it aligns their interests with those of the company and provides them with an incentive to stay. This article explores several equity-based compensation options.

It may be advantageous to file a gift tax return when transferring property to a family member, even when one isn’t required. If the return meets the IRS’s “adequate disclosure” requirements, the three-year statute of limitations clock starts. This article explains why filing a gift tax return can reduce future tax surprises and defines “adequate disclosure.”

A major decision for those who are newly retired, or planning on retiring soon, is deciding what to do with the savings accumulated in their company’s 401(k) plan. This article discusses the various factors to consider before making a decision.

We are pleased to announce the recent hires to our firm! Read more about the new faces in our firm.

At Hancock & Dana giving back to the community is an important part of our history and mission. This month we volunteered at Food Bank for the Heartland to help stop hunger in Nebraska and Western Iowa. During our time, we bagged 7,525 pounds of apples and potatoes. We are grateful for the opportunity to work and serve in such a wonderful community.

Executives and business owners often find the greatest obstacle to innovation isn’t the change itself, but employees’ resistance to it. Employees may be concerned about their ability to manage or control changes. They may worry about the ways innovation is likely to alter (or even eliminate) their jobs. This article offers some ways to gain support from employees and notes that companies can ease a transition by acknowledging and addressing the reasons employees might resist it.

The Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) program created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) provides a tax incentive for investors who realize capital gains to make long-term investments in one of the nearly 9,000 distressed communities in the United States that have been designated QOZs. This article discusses the pros and cons of investing in QOZs. For investors to gain the maximum tax benefits, they need to invest not only capital gains but time-seven years or more. But the article notes that, if they can hold onto the investment over that period, they’ll make a profit both for the communities and for themselves.

As taxpayers and preparers sorted through the 2017 TC&JA, it was not always clear how someone would be affected by the numerous changes in deductions, credits, deferrals, and tax rates. The end result was some taxpayers did not know what their tax bill would be until their return was prepared. This meant Estimated Tax Penalties might have been generated if there was a large balance due.

Even if a person claimed an appropriate number of withholding allowances on Form W-4, there’s no guarantee that the total withholdings will match one’s tax liability for the year. Many people learned this lesson the hard way during the 2018 tax liability for the year. Many people learned this lesson the hard way during the 2018 tax filing season, receiving smaller refunds than expected or even owing the IRS more taxes. This article explains the problem with withholding tables and discusses how to avoid surprises next year.

The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 established a new “centralized audit” regime for partnerships, including LLCs taxed as partnerships. although the audit rules apply to partnership tax returns for tax years beginning after 2017, the IRS didn’t finalize regulations on these rules until December 2018. This article reviews the new audit rules and discusses steps partnerships should take if they’re audited.