Eight years ago, the IRS announced it intended to provide additional regulatory guidance on Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 457(f) (IRS Rev. Bull. 2007-32). Section 457(f) applies to nonqualified deferred compensation plans of state and local governments and tax-exempt entities.

The growing issue of international corporate tax avoidance, also known as Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS), has received significant media and public attention. In an effort to offer clear and tangible solutions for governments and corporates around the world, the Organization of Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) released its final BEPS Action Plan in October 2015.

The year is drawing to a close, and many people are making holiday plans for visiting with family, decorating and buying holiday gifts. Along with all this spirited cheer, there is another important consideration on the horizon: your year-end tax planning.

From 2009 through November 2014, energy companies experienced tremendous growth attributed to innovation and efficiency in drilling unconventional resources. Exploration and production (E&P) companies enhanced oil and gas extraction, leading to significant increases in returns for both E&P and oilfield services (OFS) companies, and became a catalyst for mergers and acquisitions.

Alvarez & Marsal Taxand, LLC, an affiliate of leading global professional services firm Alvarez & Marsal, announced that Jeffrey Schwarcz has joined the firm’s tax practice as a Senior Director in New York, bolstering its ability to advise clients on acquisitions, reorganizations, dispositions, leveraged buy-outs, recapitalizations and other tax matters.

Recent rulings by the Internal Revenue Service have led to a significant amount of publicity surrounding the conversion of C corporations to real estate investment trusts (REITs), particularly those in non-traditional asset classes. However, the tax implications of REIT conversions are often misunderstood in today’s rapidly evolving tax, business and regulatory landscape, as Alvarez & Marsal Taxand recently examined in Business Entities.

In May 2014, in an effort to align standards, the FASB (Financial Accounting Standards Board) and IASB (International Accounting Standards Board) issued final standards on revenue recognition. These final standards were the product of an FASB/IASB joint project that spanned several years.

Private equity investors and strategic acquirers in the United States maintained a stable appetite for restaurant acquisitions in the 3rd quarter of 2015. As outlined in our previous article, prospective investors should understand the unique accounting considerations associated with restaurants and carefully include operational improvement and other initiatives into any investment thesis.

“Wow, this seems like a great company. I’m going to spend millions of dollars to acquire it without performing any basic due diligence to determine whether I’m inheriting any unrecorded liabilities that will diminish its future value. Shut up and take my money!”

“Wow, this seems like a great company. I’m going to spend millions of dollars to acquire it without performing any basic due diligence to determine whether I’m inheriting any unrecorded liabilities that will diminish its future value. Shut up and take my money!”

It is estimated that less than 30 percent of exits in the U.S. include a systematic sell-side due diligence approach. However, sellers are showing a greater interest in engaging third-party firms to perform sell-side due diligence to ensure that value is maximized in the current marketplace where buyers thrive on large volumes of data and detailed analyses. Sellers can better ensure successful execution of their exit strategy by conducting a deep dive assessment of the company's quality of earnings and leveraging the findings from the sell-side due diligence process.

At the recent meeting of the G20 nations’ finance ministers and central bank governors, the ministers announced their support for the remaining base erosion and profit-shifting initiatives published on October 5 by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

As the United States reopens its embassy in Cuba and international relations are normalized between the countries, periods of rapid growth are expected for key sectors within the Cuban economy. The hospitality and tourism industry is among these projected growth areas, particularly as travel restrictions for Americans are reduced.

With more than 40 years of experience working with multinational corporations on federal and international tax matters, including cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A), intellectual property, supply chain and debt capitalization issues, Mr. Brewer has significant expertise in designing and implementing multinational corporate structures in the most tax-efficient manner possible.

Some of you may have heard that on July 31, 2015, President Obama signed a bill into law that allowed for a short-term extension of mass transit and highway funding: the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015, also known as the Highway Act.