The straight line

Historically, companies that wanted their employees to be protected with health coverage, but didn’t want the hassle of having a company health plan, could simply give employees an amount of money sufficient to reimburse them for the cost of buying that coverage or some portion of it. As long as the individuals provided evidence that they...

Investment interest — interest on debt used to buy assets held for investment, such as margin debt used to buy securities — generally is deductible for both regular tax and alternative minimum tax purposes. But special rules apply that can make the deduction less beneficial than you might think. Your investment interest deduction is limited...

If you don’t meet IRS substantiation requirements, your charitable deductions could be denied. To comply, generally you must obtain a contemporaneous written acknowledgment from the charity stating the amount of the donation, whether you received any goods or services in consideration for the donation, and the value of any such goods or services. If you...

The S corporation is a popular business structure that’s available only to privately held businesses. In fact, approximately 44 percent of small employer firms — generally defined as companies with fewer than 500 employees — have elected to operate as S corporations, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s Office of Advocacy. (By comparison, only 22...

When a deal is pending, the best negotiators know that the goal isn’t to scoop up everything and leave the other side with little or nothing. The real goal is generally to exchange items of value so that both sides leave satisfied they have protected their basic interests and made a deal that benefits their companies....

Many companies spend a lot of time and money creating mission statements to highlight their products and services and align employees around a common vision. But the fact is that many mission statements fail, becoming nothing more than a wall ornament or a bunch of words tucked into a seldom-read company handbook. For the most part,...