As the March 15 corporate tax filing deadline approaches, we are reminding small businesses to take advantage of the small business health care tax credit. This is a tax credit not a mere deduction. The tax credit is part of the 2010 Affordable Care Act (more commonly known as ObamaCare). The tax credit is worth up to 35% of a small business's premium costs (25% for tax-exempt employers). In 2014, this rate increases to 50% (35% for tax-exempt employers). Again, this is a TAX CREDIT not a mere deduction.

Eligible small employers will need to complete [...]

Beginning January 1, 2012, the IRS standard mileage rate deduction for business use of a vehicle is 55.5 cents per mile. In 2011, the IRS standard mileage rate was 51 cents per mile for January through June of 2011. Beginning July 1, 2011, the IRS standard mileage rate deduction for business use of a vehicle was increased from 51 cents per mile to 55.5 cents per mile.Pursuant to California Labor Code §2802, California employers are required to reimburse employees for all expenses incurred by the employee in performing their duties, including expenses for [...]

Effective January 1, 2012, A.B. 571 amends and greatly simplifies Chapter 5 of the California Corporations Code governing corporate distributions (dividends and share repurchases). In effect, A.B. 571 permits a solvent corporation to make a distribution to its shareholders so long as the value of the corporation's assets will exceed its liabilities after the distribution.

Prior to the adoption of AB 571, Chapter 5 of the California Corporations Code required corporations to satisfy a solvency test and either a retained earnings test, or a two-pronged [...]

If you plan to form or change a business in California, then your decision on what type of corporation to form just got even more difficult. Prior to January 1, 2012, individuals seeking to form a corporation had two options: form a for profit corporation which focuses on maximizing shareholder profit, or form a nonprofit corporation which prohibits investor profit. With the enactment of A.B. 361 and S.B. 201, individuals will now have two more options: (1) the Flexible Purpose Corporation and (2) the Benefit Corporation. [...]

In Junkin v. Golden West Foreclosure Service, Inc.,180 Cal.App.4th 1150 (2009), Gary Bennett (a hard money lender) loaned Donald Junkin III (a licensed real estate agent and investor) $856,000 to purchase a property for $1.975 million. The balance of the purchase price came from a licensed financial institution [...]