Home |  About Our Firm  |  Practice Practice Areas  |    People |   Contact Us

Small employers considering whether to adopt a qualified retirement plan for owners and staff should be aware of newly enhanced tax credits that can offset the cost of doing so. State laws mandating that certain employers facilitate their employees’ enrollment in state-sponsored payroll deduction individual retirement account (IRA) programs are steadily coming into effect nationwide (e.g., New Jersey, Connecticut, California, and, soon, New York).

These mandates exclude employers that offer a qualified retirement plan. You can get the latest on the small employer new plan tax credits, the state payroll deduction IRA programs and how the two intersect here.

When selling an ownership interest in a business, the seller may require that his/her new partner pay the entire purchase price at closing. If the new partner obtains a loan to purchase the interest in the business, the seller must ensure that the loan does not have an adverse impact on the business itself.

Lending institutions typically require that a lien be placed on the business’s assets to secure the loan. If the new partner defaults on the loan, the lending institution would have the right to seize and sell the assets of the business thereby adversely affecting the seller.  Moreover, the lien placed by the lending institution on the business’s assets may make it more difficult for the business to obtain financing (line of credit, etc.) for its ongoing needs.

To avoid this result, the seller should insist early in the negotiations with his/her new partner that any loan must be the new partner’s sole responsibility and not involve the business. Our firm has had experience with a few lending institutions willing to make these loans without requiring security in the business assets.

Please contact Robert B. Danziger at bdanziger@dmlawyers.com; David Gesser at dgesser@dmlawyers.com or Gary Sastow at gsastow@dmlawyers.com with any questions.

Many of our clients have received letters from unsavory attorneys claiming that their business websites do not accommodate individuals with visual, auditory, mobility, and cognitive disabilities and therefore are not ADA compliant. The letters offer to settle the non-compliance issue for between $5,000 to $10,000. Many of our clients have been forced to agree to this settlement since the expense to fight the potential lawsuit would be much greater than the settlement amount requested (filing fees, attorney fees, etc.).

The attorneys who created this cottage industry appear to cycle through various industries; our dental, medical, and other professional practice clients have been hit so far. We don’t know what industry they will attack next.

There are relatively simple and inexpensive ways to make your business website ADA compliant to combat the attacks by these unsavory attorneys.

Please contact Gary Sastow gsastow@dmlawyers.com at our offices for more information.   

The inflation-adjusted estate, gift and generation-skipping tax exemptions are as follows: 



Federal Estate, Gift and Generation-Skipping Tax

• The federal estate tax exemption in 2025 is $13,990,000 per individual. If a client is married, any unused exemption at the first death ports, or passes, to the surviving spouse, so that the exclusion doubles to $27,980,000 without the need for sophisticated estate planning for federal estate tax purposes. However, a federal estate tax return must be filed in the estate the first spouse to die so as to claim portability. The tax rate remains at 40% on the amount exceeding the exemption.read more

Westchester Office: 

1133 Westchester Avenue

Suite N208

White Plains, NY 10604

914.948.1556

Long Island Office:

105 Maxess Road

Suite 124

Melville, NY 11747

631.501.9800