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Legal considerations for business finance and accounting compliance

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SECURE 2.0's Paper Benefit Statement Rule: What the DOL's Temporary Relief Means for 401(k) Plan Sponsors

SECURE 2.0 requires 401(k) and other defined contribution plans to mail at least one paper benefit statement per year starting with plan years after December 31, 2025. With Q1 2026 statements due around May 15 and the DOL's implementing rule still a proposal, Field Assistance Bulletin 2026-02 pauses enforcement for plan sponsors who comply in good faith — here's what small businesses must still do.

mike

401kretirement-plansemployee-benefits

Virginia's HB 402: Cottage Food Producers Can Now Sell Online and Ship Statewide

Virginia's House Bill 402, effective July 1, 2026, lets cottage food producers accept online orders and electronic payments, sell from any location in the Commonwealth, ship via third-party carriers within the state, and list a PO box on product labels. Production limits stay in place — home kitchens only, no potentially hazardous foods, no wholesale, no interstate shipping, and the $9,000 acidified-food sales cap — and localities can still impose their own zoning or permit requirements.

mike

small-businesscompliancelegal

AI Chatbot Disclosure Laws by State: What Small Businesses Must Know in 2026

By mid-2026, roughly a dozen states — including Colorado, California, New York, Oregon, and Washington — regulate AI chatbots, with penalties from $1,000 per occurrence under Colorado's HB 26-1263 to $10,000 under California's proposed AB 1609. Here is which laws cover ordinary business support bots, which target companion apps only, and the low-cost disclosure steps that satisfy most of them.

mike

aicompliancelegal

Connecticut's CTDPA Now Covers Small Businesses: Neural Data, LLM Training Disclosures, and the July 2026 Rules

Connecticut's amended CTDPA took effect July 1, 2026, lowering the coverage threshold to 35,000 consumers, classifying neural data as sensitive, and requiring conspicuous disclosure of AI and LLM training on personal data. Processing any sensitive data — even one record — now triggers coverage, the 60-day cure period is gone, and penalties reach $5,000 per willful violation.

mike

privacycompliancesmall-business

When Your Company's Tax Bill Becomes Yours: The Federal Priority Statute and Officer Personal Liability

A federal court held a non-owner corporate officer personally liable for $1,880,987.96 of a company's tax debt under 31 U.S.C. § 3713, the Federal Priority Statute, because he helped pay other creditors while the insolvent company owed the IRS. Here is how the doctrine works, who is exposed, and a practical checklist for winding down an insolvent business.

mike

taxtax-compliancelegal

Is Unpaid 'Gap Time' Legal? The Third Circuit's FLSA Ruling and What It Means for Small-Business Payroll

On June 3, 2026, the Third Circuit ruled in Secretary of Labor v. Comprehensive Healthcare Management Services that the FLSA provides no federal remedy for "overtime gap time" — hours worked but paid at neither straight time nor the overtime premium — aligning with the Second Circuit and deepening a split with the Fourth. Here's what gap time is, why state wage laws still create exposure, and five payroll checks every small employer with hourly staff should run.

mike

payrollcompliancesmall-business
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