A specific class of depreciable property that is subject to a special set of tax rules if it is used for business no more than 50% of the time. Listed property includes such items as vehicles, computer equipment and cell phones. Listed-property rules limit the amount of deductions and depreciation that can be taken if the asset isn't predominantly used in a business or trade. If listed property is used primarily for business reasons, then it is subject to the statutory percentage depreciation method. Listed property that is used for business only half the time at most is depreciated under the straight-line method. Cars used solely to carry passengers are also subject to additional limitations on their depreciation.
The estimated price-earnings ratio adjusted for the current level of interest rates. Taobiz explains Earnings Multiplier This is yet another variation on the P/E ratio.
The world's largest physical commodity futures exchange. Trading is conducted through two divisions: the NYMEX Division, which is home to the energy, platinum and palladium markets, and the COMEX Division, where metals like gold, silver and copper and the FTSE 100 index options are traded. The NYMEX uses an outcry trading system during the day and an electronic trading system after hours. You'll hear the NYMEX referred to as "The Merc". In 1872, a group of dairy merchants founded "The Butter and Cheese Exchange of New York", and in 1994, the NYMEX merged with the COMEX (commodity exchange). Futures and options on energy and precious metals have become great tools when companies try to manage risk by hedging their positions. The ease with which these instruments are traded is vital to hedging activities and gauging future prices, making the NYMEX a vital part of the trading and hedging worlds.
A federal income tax rule applied to fringe benefits that employers provide their employees. It states that if a company is engaged in multiple lines of business and an employee receives a fringe benefit from a line of the company's business that she does not work in, she must pay taxes on that benefit. For example, if an individual works for a movie theater and her company also owns an amusement park, if she received free or discounted admission to the amusement park, she would be required to pay taxes on the value of the free ticket or the discount because the IRS would consider this benefit to be income. However, if she saw a movie for free at the theater where she worked, she would generally not have to pay tax on the amount of the free movie ticket because it would not be subject to line of business limitations.
A partner in a partnership whose liability is limited to the extent of the partner's share of ownership. Limited partners generally do not have any kind of management responsibility in the partnership in which they invest and are not responsible for its debt obligations. For this reason, limited partners are not considered to be material participants. Because they are not material participants, the income that limited partners realize from their partnerships is treated as passive income, and can be offset with passive losses. However, there are a handful of exceptions to this rule. For example, limited partners who participate in a partnership for more than 500 hours in a year may be considered general partners.
A stock option granted to specified employees of a company. ESOs carry the right, but not the obligation, to buy a certain amount of shares in the company at a predetermined price. An employee stock option is slightly different from a regular exchange-traded option because it is not generally traded on an exchange, and there is no put component. Furthermore, employees typically must wait a specified vesting period before being allowed to exercise the option. Taobiz explains Employee Stock Option - ESO The idea behind stock options is to align incentives between the employees and shareholders of a company. Shareholders want to see the stock appreciate, so rewarding employees when the stock goes up ensures, in theory, that everyone is striving for the same goals. Critics point out, however, that there is a big difference between an option and the ownership of the underlying stock. If the stock goes down, the holder of an option would lose the opportunity for a bonus, but wouldn't feel the same pain as the owner of the stock. This is especially true with employee stock options because they are often granted without any cash outlay from the employee. Another problem with employee stock options is the debate over how to value them and the extent to which they are an expense on the income statement. This is an ongoing issue in the U.S. and most countries in the developed world.
A commodities exchange in New York that trades futures and options on sugar, cotton, coffee, cocoa and orange juice, in addition to interest rates, currency and indexes. This exchange was formed from the merging of the New York Cotton Exchange (NYCE) and the Coffee, Sugar & Cocoa Exchange(CSC).
A person who is involved in a limited liability company but does not actively manage it. One benefit of being a limited entrepreneur is not having to pay self-employment tax. LLC owners must be careful to not allocate more than 35% of the LLC's losses to limited entrepreneurs, otherwise the LLC would be classified as a syndicate and face different tax treatment. Limited partners are similar to limited entrepreneurs in that they also do not play an active role in a company's management and cannot be held responsible for any debts the company incurs. This means that any income or losses they receive from the business are usually considered passive for tax purposes.