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Indiana Court of Appeals: No Discounts in Unclear and Mandatory Shareholder Agreement Buyout

The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a trial court decision, concluding that valuation discounts in an unclear buy-sell agreement were appropriate even in light of the mandatory nature of the buyout. In other words, the agreement created a market and the trial court ignored this fact. This is an interesting case and yet another example of why valuation processes in buy-sell agreements must be carefully drafted to avoid such debacles when trigger events inevitably happen.

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The Timing is Right for Large Gifts in Light of Pandemic-Induced Lower Equity Values

The COVID-19 pandemic has created, what is hopefully, a short-term opportunity to take advantage of resulting lower equity values to maximize the benefit of significant gifting transactions. Take advantage of the opportunity while it is here. When it is too late, it will be too late.

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100 Days and the 10,000 Steps per Day Challenge Continues

Movement Is Therapeutic in a Time of Crisis

In recent weeks, I’ve written about what I’ve called a Personal Step Challenge that began on December 15, 2019.  My goal is to get 10,000 steps per day at a minimum, and also 5.0 miles at a minimum.  I added the five mile part because at 10,000 steps I’m a tad short that.  The broader […]

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80 Days Into the Personal Step Challenge

Nearly 500 Miles and a Million Steps

Walking 10,000 steps per day is good for our physical and mental health. If you don’t believe me, Google “10,000 steps a day” and read around a bit. This post chronicles my personal challenge over the last 80 days and discusses a few of the lessons I have learned from it.

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60 Days, More Than 12 Thousand Steps Per Day, Almost 6 Miles Per Day

You Can Reach Your Goal If You Are Intentional About It

60 days in a row.  That’s where I stand on my goal of reaching 10,000+ steps each day and 5 miles or more as recorded on my handy Fitbit Versa 2, my fancy pedometer of choice.  Interestingly, I did not set out with any goal for consecutive days in mind when I started this string on […]

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What is a Qualified Appraisal for Charitable Gifting Purposes?

Who is a Qualified Appraiser? What is Form 8283?

If you even occasionally sign a Form 8283 for a donor/client who has made a gift of closely held business interests, it is probably a good idea to know what you are signing. This post provides an overview of the “rules” of the charitable gifting game from an appraiser’s perspective.

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Two Tales of Recent Valuation Tangles with the IRS

This Valuation Video recounts two recent disputes over gift/estate tax appraisals with the Internal Revenue Service. In one case, Mercer prepared the original appraisal, which was challenged. In the second matter, Mercer was called to prepare an appraisal for Tax Court because of the unavailability of the original appraiser. You won’t read about either of them anywhere else because they settled quietly and favorably for the taxpayers.