Joanne M. Wandry and Albert D. Wandry vs. Commissioner of IRS, T.C. Memo 2012-88, Filed March 26, 2012.

The Facts:

Albert and Joanne Wandry formed the Wandry Family Limited Partnership (“Wandry LP”) in 1998, contributing cash and marketable securities to the partnership.  The Wandry’s spoke to their tax attorney regarding the gift tax consequences of making transfers of limited partnership interests to their children and grandchildren.  The Wandry’s were advised they could transfer interests by using their annual gift tax exclusions of $11,000  per donee and additional gifts in excess of their annual exclusion of up to $1 million for each Mr. and Mrs. Wandry.

In January of 2000, the Wandry’s began gifting Wandry LP partnership interests to their children and grandchildren.  The Wandry’s tax attorney advised that the exact value of the partnership interests transferred would not be known until a later date, after the gifts had been made and a valuation of the assets had been performed.  The Wandry’s were advised to transfer a specific dollar amount instead of partnership interests and that gifts should be transferred as of either December 31 or January 1 of the year so that a midyear closing of the books would not be required.

In April of 2001, the Wandry’s started a new family business and on August 7, 2001, the Wandry’s formed Norsemen Capital, LLC (“Norseman”).  By 2002, all of the Wandry LP assets were transferred into Norseman. Read more

It may surprise you to learn that over 70% of former business owners regret selling their companies less than a year after the sale.  What accounts for this seller’s remorse? The main reason is lack of preparation on the part of the business owner.

Case in point – Roger Elkhart sold his commercial construction company a little over a year ago.  His revenues and earnings had suffered over the last few years.  Roger decided it was time to sell.  He was 56 and had run his family’s business for the last 25 years.  The last few years had been tough and Roger was burned out.  He felt he needed a change.  Now 18 months later, Roger is depressed and lost.  He’s tired of playing golf and isn’t sure that selling his business was the right decision.

A recent survey showed that the number one reason business exits fail is due to a lack of planning on the part of the owner.[1] A separate study showed that most business owners spend more time planning their family vacations then they do planning how and when to exit their business! Rather than Read more

By: Marsha Golgart & John Warrillow

On June 1, 2011, both Floyd’s Coffee Shops in Portland, Oregon were busier than usual. The regulars were elbowed out of the way by new customers visiting the store for the first time to redeem their coupon and get $10 worth of coffee for $3.

This tempting offer was made because Floyd’s had been picked as the first-ever Google Offers “deal.” Google Offers is the company’s first baby step into the world of “social buying” style promotions where a special, limited time offer is made by a business hoping that the deal will spread virally and thereby introduce a new legion of customers to their business.

Google, of course, did not invent the deal-of-the-day category; they were goaded into it after their generous $6 billion dollar offer to buy Groupon was turned down. Read more

You’re a baby boomer.  You’ve built a successful business.  Now it’s time for you to decide what’s right for your future and the future of your business.  Don’t leave it to chance; create an exit plan.

The baby boomer generation has been one of the most entrepreneurial generations in the history of our country.  During the last 30 years over 5 million businesses with annual revenues ranging from $1 million to $75 million were founded. The owners of most of these businesses are now 50 years old or older and beginning to think about retirement. Studies by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, MassMutual and Marquette University showed that one out of two businesses will change hands between 2006 and 2016.  Read more