Kellerhals Ferguson LLP

Law Firm in the Virgin Islands: Kellerhals Ferguson LLP

greg — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:49:18 +0000

Thank you to the St. Thomas Source for their article on our U.S. Virgin Islands law firm: Kellerhals Ferguson LLP.

Doing business in the Virgin Islands? Consider using arbitration to resolve your litigation matters.

chris — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 15:43:55 +0000

Despite the addition of the Magistrate Division to the Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, court cases in the Virgin Islands take a long time whether you are litigating in the federal or local court. Generally, from a business perspective, you want to resolve your dispute one way or the other in an efficient and timely manner. Arbitration offers parties this option and it is an available option even if the dispute is not presently governed by a binding arbitration clause. All the parties need to do is to agree to go to binding arbitration. Arbitration is generally cheaper, quicker, and more convenient for the parties. One of the worst issues facing those in litigation is having to appear in court when ordered to do so, no matter what is going on in your personal or business life. Arbitration avoids this and it also allows the parties to have much more control over their case and the way it proceeds, at least to the extent there is agreement among the parties. The American Arbitration Association [“AAA”] administers cases in the Virgin Islands and the AAA offers more information on their website http://www.adr.org/ in their AAA University section. There is, however, no requirement that their services be used unless the parties have agreed to do so and many other options are available. Arbitration is worth your consideration.

USVI Gross Receipts Tax Increased to 4.5%

erika — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 13:26:47 +0000

On February 17, 2011 Governor de Jongh submitted The Austerity Measures of FY 2011 and FY 2012 Act to the Virgin Islands Legislature for consideration. Included in the measures was an increase in the gross receipts tax to five percent (5%). In response, the Legislature introduced a two-bill package as a substitute. Included in the bill was a provision which would raise the existing gross receipts tax from four percent (4%) to four and one half percent (4.5%). Despite the fact that the revised legislation fell short of the projected budget deficit, de Jongh signed the legislation into law this weekend.

Firm Move! No Phone Service President’s Day Weekend

greg — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:21:00 +0000

Kellerhals Ferguson LLP is moving offices! We will now be located at 9100 Havensight, Port of Sale, Suite 15/16, St. Thomas, USVI 00804.

Due to the move, our office phone system will be shut down over the whole of President’s Day Weekend. That is, February 19, 20, and 21st. Erika, Greg and Chris can all be reached by email and cell phone, as always.

On behalf of the entire team, we look forward to serving all of your legal and business needs at our new location beginning Tuesday February 22, 2011. Enjoy your holiday weekend!

VI Smoking Ban

greg — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 11:56:57 +0000

In case you missed it, the VI Smoking Ban went into effect yesterday.

The full text of the Act can be found here.

Guidance by the USVI Department of Health can be found here.

State of the Territory

greg — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 14:57:15 +0000

The full transcript of Governor de Jongh’s State of the Territory address can be viewed here.

V.I. Property Tax Injunction Lifted

greg — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 03:09:24 +0000

In case you missed it…Judge Gomez of the District Court of the Virgin Islands has lifted the injunction freezing tax values and rates at the 1998 levels.

There is an interesting Timeline of the VI property tax dispute and a helpful Frequently Asked Questions section at the end of the article.

Important Dates:

February 17, 2011 – 2006 tax bills begin to accrue penalties and interest

February 2011 – 2007 property tax bills will be issued

Summer 2011 – 2008 property tax bills will be issued.

Section 179 Deductions

greg — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 22:29:02 +0000

This blog is particularly interested in helping businesses run better. I find one the best ways to make a business run better is to make sure that the business has more money in its pocket…especially during difficult times. That is why I plan to post a lot about tax incentives businesses should utilize, especially when new legislation is passed on the federal or local level that increases a tax incentive for a business. With that in mind, I’d like to discuss Section 179 Deductions:

Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code allows businesses to deduct certain types of property on their income tax as an expense, rather than requiring the property to be capitalized and depreciated.

The Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (“SBJA”) allows businesses to expense up to $500,000 of section 179 property for tax years 2010 and 2011. This is a significant increase from the $250,000 for 2010 and $25,000 for 2011 expensing limit that would have been in effect without SBJA.

This is how it works:

Under Section 179 of the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”), businesses can immediately expense the first $500,000 they spend on qualified property. The catch is that if your business spends in excess of $2,000,000, then each dollar over this limit will decrease the amount of deduction you can claim dollar for dollar. So, for example, if a company spends $2,010,000 investing in machinery and equipment in 2011, they will only get a $490,000 deduction ($500,000 minus $10,000 spent over the $2,000,000 limit). If a company spends $2,500,000 investing in machinery and equipment they get no deduction.

Qualified property is limited to tangible, depreciable, personal property which is acquired by purchase for use in the active conduct of a trade or business. Although, the definition of “qualified property” under IRC Section 179 was expanded by the SBJA to include qualified leasehold improvement property, qualified restaurant property, and qualified retail improvement property, albeit only up to a $250,000 limit.

Contact your tax professional to see how you can take full advantage of 179 Deductions.

Welcome! KELLERHALS FERGUSON LLP BLOG

greg — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 16:01:05 +0000

Welcome to the Kellerhals Ferguson LLP Blog!

Our goal is to make this blog a premier Internet resource for legal and business news in the United States Virgin Islands. While this blog will be heavily focused on tax, law, business and government of the United States Virgin Islands, we will also from time to time touch on Caribbean, United States, and worldwide legal and business news and events. You may also see an occasional light-hearted post regarding our amazing staff of attorneys and legal assistants, firm news, sports, entertainment, and current events.

Our main contributors will be Erika Kellerhals, Esq., Greg Ferguson, Esq., and Christopher A. Kroblin, Esq., although from time to time you may see a post from one of our legal assistants.

We hope you enjoy the content and please feel free to comment, discuss, and debate!

Greg Ferguson