About us

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state the the improvement of technology, particularly in the rise of e-commerce businesses, make the ruling seem outdated and directly affects profits of both brick and mortar businesses and the state governments.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.

American culture

Inaccurate Financial Reporting

2011-09-29

Beside problems in business operations, bad internal controls also cause inaccuracy and oversight in financial reporting. 除了企業營運上的種種問題之外，內控不好也會造成企業提出的財務報告容易不實、有疏漏，這一點其實非常容易理解，因為從上述的A、B、C的慘痛經驗可以看出一些端倪，也就是問題都出在於資訊流通上出了差池，表示內控不好的話，訂單、契約、設計圖可能再溝通上會出問題，那麼企業內的帳冊、財務報表、會計表單又何嘗不會出錯？有心舞弊之人更容易從這些表單下手！本書第一章的博達案與恩龍案就是各位讀者的活教材。

Internal Control Systems : Born With Flaws (Part 2)

2011-11-07

Internal Control Systems are usually designed by accountants or underwriters according to company practices in similar fields and internal controls regulations. 內控機制的先天缺陷－制訂內控制度未能全面涵蓋重要營運事項內部控制制度通常是由會計師或承銷商為公司所設計，但他們不是憑空產生，而是參照其他相類似產業的公司與相關法令的內部控制制度來設計的，然而其所引用、參考的母版對原來的公司而言都可能已經有不完備的現象了，更別提以削足適履、東打補釘、西改褲長的方式來為新的委託人規劃內控了，產生疏漏是命中注定的事情。除了上述會計師、承銷商設計內控的問題之外，公司內負責執行內部控制作業的部門通常是內部稽核單位，但是內部稽核人員是否充分了解其他部門的作業習慣以及可能產生弊端之處呢？實務操作上十分困難。因為真正了解全盤情況的高階主管必須負責處理公司內比「撰寫內部控制制度」更迫切的問題如拓展業績、尋找有利之融資管道、規劃新的產品線及通路佈局、美化財報數字等，根本不可能將此種稀有人力資源花費在陪同會計師處理內部控制制度之問題上。肇因於上述的兩個理由，企業的內部控制制度常常不符其需求。照道理來說，內部控制制度應該包含公司所有營運活動，而公司為他人背書保證、負債承諾、將公司資金貸予他人等處分公司資產之重要事項卻常未訂定相關程序，或是未訂有相關人員違反時的罰則。如果對於公司本身背書保證、負債承諾、將公司資金貸予他人之行為不予控管，那麼就等於敞開不肖人士掏空公司的大門。管理階層可以輕易的動用公司資金來從事有利於其自身的活動，比如說未經董事會審核而將錢貸與或投資另一家管理階層人士掌控的公司、管理階層自己向銀行貸款而以公司資產作保，之後卻不償還債款致公司資產被變賣，這些行為都是實務上常見的現象，沒有一個有效全面的內控制度，公司資產安全堪慮！印鑑管理也是某些公司會出現的問題，有些公司雖然訂有印鑑領用之程序，卻忽略印鑑有無歸還以及定期盤點印鑑，使印鑑易被盜用。無獨有偶，國票案及理律案都恰好在印鑑管理上有極大缺失，理律案因為「信任」兩個字而授權劉偉杰全權處理客戶股票事宜因而將相關印鑑統一由其保管；國票則是將印鑑隨意放置在員工辦公桌上，對於每個員工所持有的印鑑缺乏有效的管理機制，隨後才會引發一連串風波。

Dumb Pipe or Smart Pipe, AT&T Acquires Time Warner

2016-10-22

When you get a new phone, would you try out the new services or APPs from your service providers? Or you take them as obsolete dumb software that just take up space in your phone? Continue…

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