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February 2007
CLIENT NEWS
ChemStation of South Carolina
 ChemStation
of South Carolina, headquartered in Columbia, SC, has been recognized
with the 2006 Eagle Award. This award was presented to
ChemStation of South Carolina in recognition of the franchise
with the highest sales volume of the fifty-six locations throughout
The United States and Canada.
ChemStation manufactures and produces
biodegradable, industrial soap in refillable, bulk containers
that improve safety and reduce the impact on the environment.
For more information, you can visit their website at
www.chemstation.com.
CLIENT NEWS FROM
BP&S
Congratulations
to our Runners
 Two
of our own completed the Myrtle Beach Half Marathon on February
17, 2007. We congratulate Denise Gunter and Cherie Kallio
who participated in the Dasani Half Marathon this month down
on Ocean Blvd. It was 26 degrees at the start at 6:30
AM. This is Denise’s third and Cherie’s fourth time to
complete that 13.1 mile trek in various cities. Their
chip times were 2:53:36 for Denise and 2:42:15 for Cherie.
However, not the fastest in town, they both had a wonderful
time and look forward to competing in a full marathon down the
road.
Looking for Experienced Auditors
Due to continued
strong growth in our audit and accounting practice, the Firm
is looking for an audit senior with two to four years of recent,
high quality audit experience. Compensation will be commensurate
with experience. If you are interested (or know of someone
who is interested), please e-mail your resume directly to Tom
Pietras at
tpietras@bpscpas.com.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
Business
Meals and Entertainment
We’ve printed
this before, but the question came up a couple of times recently...
You probably already know
that a business generally can only deduct 50% of business meal
and entertainment (M&E) expenses. However, with a little
bit of planning, companies may be able to take advantage of
certain exceptions to this rule in order to increase the tax
deductibility of their M&E expenses.
The key is to separately
identify, accumulate and report your M&E expenses so that expenses
not subject to the 50% limit can be segregated and deducted.
The following M&E expenses
are not subject to the 50% limitation:
1.
Costs, including related facilities,
of recreational, social or similar activities that are mainly
for the benefit of employees who are not highly compensated.
2.
Expenses directly related to the
business meetings of employees, stockholders or directors (for
example, a staff meeting where business is discussed and lunch
is provided).
3.
Expenses that are billed directly
to customers (for example, if you bill customers for “out-of-pocket”
expenses, including meals).
4.
Expenditures included in an employee’s
moving expenses that are paid or reimbursed by the employer
and includable in the employee’s gross income.
5.
Expenses for meals that are excludable
from an employee’s gross income as a de minimis fringe
benefit.
6.
The
cost of on-site meals an employer provides to employees “for
the convenience of the employer” guideline (for example, if
you provide dinner for employees working overtime so that they
do not leave the premises, making them more productive).
In order to maximize benefits,
a company should modify its chart of accounts for each location
or department so that there are M&E sub-accounts for expenses
subject to the 50% limit and those not subject to the limit.
If you have any questions
about these guidelines, give us a call.
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