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For years estate planning practitioners used a sale to an intentionally defective grantor trust (“IDGT”) to freeze the value of property from the taxable estate of a client. Although not codified in the Internal Revenue Code or regulations as an acceptable estate planning tool, sales to IDGTs have withstood IRS scrutiny.
Since 1998, New York’s Tax Law § 1449-aa et seq. has allowed the five East End towns to impose upon buyers of certain real estate in those towns a 2% real estate transfer tax (the “Peconic Bay real estate transfer tax”) in order to fund the Peconic Bay region community preservation fund established pursuant to […]
The Internal Revenue Service announced the cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension and retirement plans for tax year 2015.
The NYS School Tax Relief (STAR) Program provides an exemption from school taxes for owner-occupied, primary residences where the combined income of the owners and spouses who reside on the property does not exceed $500,000. This is known as the Basic STAR exemption.
As we all know by now, the feared “fiscal cliff” was averted at the eleventh hour. After tense and exhaustive negotiations that kept the country on edge, the Senate approved a bill to avert the fiscal cliff two hours after the midnight deadline on January 1, 2013, and the House of Representatives voted to approve […]
As Long Islanders begin to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Sandy, many of them will likely turn to their homeowners’ insurance policy for coverage.
Barring repeal after the upcoming election, a 3.8% Medicare contribution tax will come into effect in 2013 to help pay for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act a/k/a Obamacare (the “Act”). There is a lot of false or misleading information on the Internet about this tax and its impact upon the sale of one’s […]
A decision earlier this year from Justice Elizabeth H. Emerson of the New York State Supreme Court, Suffolk County Commercial Division, illustrates the harsh consequences that can result from failing to comply with a contractual notice of claim provision, even when the alleged breaching party has actual notice of the apparent claim.
Trademarks are an important part of any business. Once a mark is registered and, therefore, federally protected, the protection afforded by the registration is dependent upon continued use of the mark. The owner of a trademark loses its rights to a mark if it does not use the mark in a consistent and controlled manner.
Copyrights and trademarks are collectively known as intellectual property rights. A copyright protects an original artistic or literary work. A trademark protects and identifies the source of goods of one party from those of another, and, similarly, a service mark protects and identifies the source of a service, rather than a product.