By Stephen D. Kirkland, CPA, CMC, CFF Yes, according to some published Tax Court cases, including Choate Construction Company, T.C. Memo. 1997-495. My report and courtroom testimony highlighted the fact that the founder had worked for minimal pay in the first years of the business. In his published opinion, Judge John Colvin (who later became…
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Does Lack of Dividends Equate to Disguised Dividends?
In analyzing whether a C corporation’s payments to shareholder-employees were compensation or “disguised” dividends, the Internal Revenue Service and courts consider whether dividends were paid by the corporations. The Regulations say it is “likely” that a compensation payment is in fact a dividend distribution when excessive payments correspond to or bear a close relationship to…
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How do Long-Term Incentives affect Executive Compensation Amounts?
Appreciation in a company’s stock value can be one reason that executive compensation amounts appear to be so high. Publicly-traded companies are required by the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") to disclose how much their top executives were paid the prior year. Companies usually publish this data in the proxy that is sent to shareholders soon…
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(Un)reasonable Fees Paid by Qualified Retirement Plans
Under Internal Revenue Code section 404(c), plan sponsors have fiduciary responsibilities to protect the interests of the participants. Among these responsibilities is an obligation to ensure that fees charged to participants’ accounts are reasonable. This includes fees charged by investment managers, auditors, attorneys, advisors, and others. In recent years, high-profile lawsuits were filed against plan…
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