Getting tax withholdings right can be extremely daunting. Failure to pay the IRS or state taxing authority the correct amount could end up costing you thousands of dollars in penalties and interest. For many employers, an outright failure to pay could result in personal liability for employment taxes.

Payroll tax withholding covers more than just federal taxes. It also addresses any state tax obligations, local tax requirements, and Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) Taxes. If you, as an employer, do not pay these correctly, you could have both the federal and state taxing authorities upset with you, and your employee may have to pay into the government at the end of the year. You can avoid all of these potential problems by simply ensuring that you are withholding for everything you are supposed to—in the right amount.

As a business owner, you have certain responsibilities that must be fulfilled.While being a sole proprietor gives you more leeway, business owners who use any other business formation must be familiar with fiduciary responsibilities. These obligations extend to corporate officers and even managers in some situations. So, what are fiduciary responsibilities for business owners and corporate officers?

What are Fiduciary Duties?

A fiduciary duty is a legal requirement that applies to anyone who has a relationship of trust with another person or organization. While fiduciary responsibilities extend to more than just the business context, they are often associated with corporations and partnerships.

Very few employers like to discipline employees for misconduct or poor performance. However, it may be necessary to do so to prompt t workers  to fulfill their job duties appropriately or behave in a specific way. Establishing a disciplinary policy long before you need it will clarify your expectations of employees and also help you avoid legal liability for wrongful termination or similar claims. This article is a brief discussion of how to  develop a disciplinary policy that works for your business and your employees.

Identifying Common Problems with Employees

If you already have employees, establishing  a disciplinary policy may be a response to unacceptable conduct you are currently experiencing. While your policy can be designed to  specifically target those unwanted behaviors, common problems your disciplinary policy should address include:

Many businesses have a sign hanging on the wall, often near the cash register, that says something like “We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.” The reality is not as straightforward as the sign's message.

First, members of legally protected classes cannot ever be denied service based on their membership in their respective class.

Automobile deductions: Whether an individual uses a personal vehicle for his or her own business or company owns a vehicle, the depreciation of value and costs associated with that vehicle may be deducted from the company’s income at year's end. A taxpayer must keep track of all of these expenses and document them by maintaining receipts and records of expenditures in order to claim the deduction. Alternatively, a business may declare standard deductions for the vehicle based on the mileage of the vehicle. In 2015, this standard deduction is 57.5 cents for every business mile driven. If a vehicle is driven for both business and personal use, the IRS will require a taxpayer to identify the percentage of use dedicated to business.

Mediation is one form of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) that allows parties to seek a remedy for their conflict without a court trial. Parties work with a mediator, who is a neutral third party. Usually, mediators have received some training in negotiation or their professional background provides that practical experience.

There are many factors to consider when deciding whether or not to implement Medicaid planning.  If you’re in good health, now would be the prime time to do this planning. The main reason is that any Medicaid planning may entail using an irrevocable trust, or perhaps gifts to your children, which would incur a five-year look back for Medicaid qualification purposes. The use of an irrevocable trust to receive these gifts would provide more protection and in some cases more control for you.

One of the purposes behind memorializing an agreement in a written document is to ensure that the parties to the contract do not recant what they originally agreed upon.  Often, parties may dispute contractual terms if contracts are not working out in their favor or are resulting in negative or unanticipated consequences.

Goodwill is an asset that is an intangible part of a business being purchased. In spite of its intangibility, goodwill may be worth more than concrete assets, such as property, buildings, machinery or inventory. Goodwill is the essence of the company's value to its customers, clients, and employees and, as such, is invaluable to any buyer. It is easier, as many people intending to purchase a business will tell you, to maintain goodwill than to establish it, since, among other things, goodwill takes time to build. Purchasing a business that already has established goodwill in the community can give the new owner a strong competitive edge. 

Authors often want to understand the eligibility of their writings for copyright protection. Legal copyright registration provides the copyright holder with a collection of special rights. Under the U.S. Copyright Act, a rightful owner maintains the “exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, perform, display, license, and . . . prepare derivative works” founded on his or her creations.  However, these “exclusive” rights are curtailed by the “fair use” doctrine, which typically allows others to use your work legally for certain limited purposes, such as “criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research.”