UNDERSTANDING TAX CONCEPTS: DEDUCTION vs. CREDIT We often hear the terms “tax deduction” and “tax credit” thrown out as benefits to taxpayers. While they are both valuable benefits, they are not exactly the same thing. A “tax deduction” permits a taxpayer to subtract a certain amount from his taxable income. His applicable tax rate is then applied to his modified taxable income to determine his tax liability. A “tax credit” is an amount subtracted from an individual’s tax liability once it has already been determined. Therefore, each dollar of “tax credit” is a dollar for dollar reduction of tax liability,… Read more

The removal of a trustee from a trust can be a difficult and time consuming process for both beneficiaries and trustees alike. Courts are generally loathe to interfere with a trust creator’s choice of trustees. However, most states provide trust beneficiaries a judicial mechanism to remove a trustee when the relationship between beneficiaries and trustees has become intractable or the trustees have abused their authority to benefit themselves over the named beneficiaries. A recent removal proceeding in New York Surrogate’s Court illustrates a typical example of a trustee/beneficiary relationship degenerating to the point where removal was granted. Under Section 711… Read more

Frequently we hear stories about family members, acquaintances, home health care workers, and even clergy financially abusing the elderly and infirm. Sometimes their assets are stolen with the victim’s “cooperation,” as when the victim is influenced for the sake of “convenience” to execute a power of attorney or joint account designation. Following the victim’s demise, the family and duly appointed fiduciaries may be unable to locate valuable personal property, that discover suspicious withdrawals, or bank accounts have been re-titled. In some cases, the beneficiary designations on life insurance policies were changed when the decedent was on his or her deathbed…. Read more

In our Fall 2010 issue, we reported that the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) had filed an administrative complaint against the North Carolina State Board of Dental Examiners (the “Board) for allegedly “colluding” to prevent non-dentists from providing teeth-whitening services. The FTC’s complaint was based primarily on letters the Board had sent to nondentist teeth-whitening providers stating that they were practicing dentistry illegally and ordering them to stop. Since that time, the Board has gone on the offensive. On February 1, 2011, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, the Board filed a Complaint for Declaratory… Read more

In December 29, 2009, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit affirmed the lower court’s dismissal of the antitrust claims asserted against a hospital by a cardiology group because the group failed to establish a proper relevant market as the necessary predicate. However, the Court also upheld the district court’s refusal to tax discovery-related copying expenses against the cardiology group, noting that district courts are not required to tax discovery-related expenses and a number of Eighth Circuit district courts have refused to do so. Nonprofits involved in antitrust litigation in federal court should be aware that they may… Read more

In March of this year, the French Autorité de la Concurrence sanctioned the French national association of ophthalmologists for boycotting opticians who had agreed to provide eyeglasses to patients enrolled in a no-prescription health care network. The health care network agreed with its enrolled patients that it would reimburse 100% of the cost of eyeglasses, if the enrolled patients bought the eyeglasses without an ophthalmologist’s prescription and from an optician participating in the network. The ophthalmologists’ association called for a boycott of opticians participating in the program. The competition authority imposed a fine of 50,000 euros on the association for… Read more

Massachusetts Law Tabled; Vermont Vote Upcoming Massachusetts has tabled a law similar to California’s proposed “Level Playing Field of Small Businesses Act,” discussed in the previous issue of our Franchise Law Newsletter. Senate Bill No. 1843 would allow a franchisor to be held liable for damages if it developed a new location that adversely impacted an existing franchisee. The bill was tabled for study by the Committee on Senate Ethics and Rules. In Vermont, a similar bill is expected to be voted upon within the coming year. House Bill No. 694 would prohibit franchisors from placing a new franchise outlet… Read more

NLRB Rule Requires Posting of Employee Rights In August, the National Labor Relations Board issued a final rule requiring all private sector employers subject to the National Labor Relations Act to post a workplace notice informing employees of their rights under the Act. The notice informs employees of their rights to participate in union activities and engage in collective bargaining, as well as to refrain from such activities. The notice also provides examples of unlawful conduct and instructs employees on how to contact the NLRB with questions and complaints. Failure to comply with the posting rule will be deemed a… Read more

Applications for New Top-Level Domain Names Accepted This Month On January 12, 2012, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (“ICANN”), a government-sponsored, non-profit corporation responsible for coordinating the Internet’s systems of unique identifiers, will begin accepting applications for new top-level domain (“TLD”) names. In the past, only a limited set of TLDs have been allowed, including the familiar .com, .org, and .gov extensions. Under the new proposal, companies and individuals may register, name and operate their own TLDs with few limitations. The fee for a new TLD will be $185,000, with an additional annual maintenance fee of $25,000…. Read more