Find Cash by Recovering Tax Overpayments

In today’s competitive business climate, businesses paying more taxes than necessary do so at their own peril.  But when extra cash is needed, the company can hire tax professionals to recover those overpayments through refunds.

By conducting reverse audits on behalf of companies, I have rarely found a company whose tax department didn’t have some oversights, particularly regarding indirect taxes.  Likely targets for recoverable overpayments include the company’s indirect taxes, such as: sales & use taxes, value-added taxes, and excise taxes.  Certain state-specific taxes are also likely cash sources, such as the Maryland admissions and amusement tax which is levied upon the business not the customer. Continue reading “Find Cash by Recovering Tax Overpayments”

Buying or Selling a Maryland Business – Taxes

The third article in a series on the purchase and sale of a Maryland business. In this article I address basic tax concepts and issues relating to a business sale.

A major consideration when purchasing an existing Maryland business should be minimizing the tax burden.  Certain transactions provide tax benefits to either the purchaser or the seller while providing a tax burden to the other.  Therefore, tax consequences should be considered when determining the appropriate purchase price.  The general rule is that the sale of a business is a taxable event; however, the parties may be able to structure the transaction using a tax-free reorganization.  The IRS provides several forms of tax-free reorganizations, but to qualify the parties must meet numerous requirements.  Since the IRS only allows tax-free reorganizations under limited circumstances, I will first discuss taxable transactions.

Continue reading “Buying or Selling a Maryland Business – Taxes”