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eCounsel group

A boutique firm with unparalleled expertise in business and technology. We have good command of industrial ecology and legal practice, and have undertaken highly regarded cases. Because the small business scope, we pay more emphasis on effectiveness and efficiency, and choose clients with deliberation. The managing partner not only has extensive experiences in various legal issues more over than 20 years, but invests and manages several technology companies. In addition, he always checks each case rigorously. Clients’ business objectives are our primary focus. To achieve the same in the most cost-effective fashion trumps all seemingly sophisticated legal discussions.

A Brief Look at Sales Tax in the U.S.

2018 - 06 - 06

Sales Tax is a typical form of indirect tax that is collected by an intermediary (such as a retail shop) from the consumers. The 2017 state sales tex rates is shown below:

In the U.S., online retailers are not subject to sales tax, which gives them advantage on price over brick and mortar stores. However, this situation might be drastically changed in the end of June.

The Supreme Court’s 1992 Quill v. North Dakota case ruled that state government can only tax those registered in that state with an actual functioning brick and mortar store. Critics state the the improvement of technology, particularly in the rise of e-commerce businesses, make the ruling seem outdated and directly affects profits of both brick and mortar businesses and the state governments.

“Led by South Dakota, the states ask the court to overturn its 1992 decision in Quill v. North Dakota, which said retailers can be forced to collect taxes only in states where the company has a “physical presence.”

Obviously, those who operate an e-commerce based business will not want to see the overturn to happen, as “having to collect online sales tax would put serious strains”. We shall wait and see.

 

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Compliance Issues Go Unnoticed

The inaccuracy of financial reporting has a lot to do with compliance. Common cases are companies’ false financial reports making it an inaccurate disclosure in its prospectus during IPO. 而財務報導的不實又與法令的遵循息息相關。最常見的例子就是財報不實造成企業公開募資時的公開說明書不實,而不論是財務報告或是公開說明書的不實都會因而違反證券交易法的相關規定1,除了民事責任之外,證券交易法對於這兩種文件不實之刑罰也算是相當的嚴厲2。企業必須遵循的法令有千百種,一旦有所違反,有的將會遭到嚴重的刑事責任(刑法之背信罪、業務侵占及證券交易法之內線交易)、有的會使公司付出巨額罰鍰(公平交易法之罰鍰、漏稅的處罰)、有的會對他人產生相當的民事賠償(民法之侵權行為、公司法上之忠實義務)。 除了各種民事、刑事及行政責任之外,像是「公開發行公司建立內部控制制度處理準則」此類型的行政命令,其本身之規範內容雖無具體罰則,但是主管機關也就是我國的行政院金管會會要求違反規定的企業限期改善或是請會計師事務所專案審查3,多多少少會受到各種的不方便。還有像是違反證交所所規定企業上市上櫃的相關內控規範要求,也會受到無法順利募集資金之不利益4。此外,以下本書就要來舉幾個具體案例來告訴讀者到底企業有多容易在不知不覺中違反法規,並分析其理由。 企業必須遵守法令大家都知道,但是這法令不但包括了立法院三讀通過的法律,也包括了由行政機關所制定的各類行政命令,規範內容包羅萬象,連法官、律師或是法學教授都未必能全盤了解,更何況是非法律專業的企業經理人呢?在這種法令數也數不清的情況下,企業常常在不知不覺的情況下誤觸法網便是家常便飯了。以上是造成企業再不知不覺中違法的第一個重要原因。 除此之外,當今法律規範本身具有抽象性、技術性與全球性之特徵以至於企業容易違法。 抽象性指的是法律制定者為了要使法律規範文意上解釋可以盡量涵蓋大多數的情況,而在立法時選擇使用較模糊、抽象之字眼,其結果便是造成企業對於法律所規範的文義不容易理解以致對於其行為所應受的法律評價也不易預測。 舉例來說,公平交易法第5條第一項規定:「本法所稱獨占,謂事業在特定市場處於無競爭狀態,或具有壓倒性地位,可排除競爭之能力者。」這就是具有相當抽象性之規定。反之,刑法第354條之規定:「毀棄、損壞前二條(文書、建築物、礦坑、船艦)以外之他人之物或致令不堪用,足以生損害於公眾或他人者,處二年以下有期徒刑、拘役或五百元以下罰金。」就比較具體,一般人容易理解。 技術性是指法律規範文義本身之理解並無困難,但是卻因為在法律適用上不具倫理非難性且含有比較高的技術性細節以致於企業在日常營運活動中不容易在主觀上查知其行為具備違法性5。在一般的情況下當人們談論到「犯法」的時候,腦子裡面第一個蹦出來的畫面一定是殺人放火、作姦犯科之類的犯罪行為。的確,這些當然都是惡性重大、強烈違反道德的犯罪,也是人們在社會新聞上常常可以看到的不法行為,然而,隨著人類在科技、商業活動的發展越來越興盛,立法也必須與時俱進,新的法律規範也就不斷的出現,這些法律的保護對象非常多元,除了傳統的人類生命財產之外,勞工權益、自然環境、交易秩序、消費者利益等等都是需要保護的對象,企業可能會在其商業行為當中不經意的便違反了相關規定,正是因為這些新興的法律規範不是規範傳統上那種「罪大惡極」的行為,不具有高度倫理非難性,才會增加企業在「不知不覺中違法」之機率。…

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