Management companies exist in a variety of fields for sound reasons. Real estate owners, for example, will hire a management company to collect the rent and deal with maintenance of their properties. Professional practices may use management companies to allow non-professional owners a stake in the practice. Sometimes, though, management companies are not for a real business purpose but rather as a device to shift income. It often does not end well as we will see.

Contracts, Signing Bonuses, and the Substantial Presence Test
In tighter job markets, recruits are often offered signing bonuses (and sometimes moving expenses) to join a firm. Sometimes construction workers temporarily relocate to jobs in other states while they are employed by the company that hired them in their home state. This article reviews some of the foundational tax concepts to consider when evaluating sourcing of income for state tax purposes.


