Just a reminder to those who have Delaware corporations, your annual report and franchise tax payment are both due by March 1. At this point, you have likely already received from Delaware your notification of annual report and franchise tax due, which is sent to a corporation’s registered agent in December or January of each year. Delaware requires these reports to be filed electronically.

As you will notice, there are two methods that you can use to calculate the amount of Delaware franchise tax due for your corporation (
Continue Reading Franchise tax due by March 1 for Delaware corporations: two methods of calculation, two vastly different results

Just a reminder to those who have Delaware corporations, your annual report and franchise tax payment are both due by March 1 (which falls on a Sunday this year so plan accordingly). At this point, you have likely already received from Delaware your notification of annual report and franchise tax due, which is sent to a corporation’s registered agent in December or January of each year. Delaware requires these reports to be filed electronically.

As you will notice, there are two methods that you can use to calculate the amount of Delaware franchise tax due for your corporation (i.e., the “Authorized Shares Method” and the “Assumed Par Value Capital Method”), which result in vastly different amounts due. The default payment amount listed on your notification is set by Delaware using the Authorized Shares Method, which method will almost always result in a much high amount due for startups with limited assets. The minimum franchise tax is $175 (increased from $75 on July 1, 2014) and the maximum franchise tax is $180,000.

Franchise taxes are generally due in arrears for the prior calendar year. However, note that Delaware requires corporations owing $5,000 or more for the prior year to make estimated payments for the current (going-forward) year’s franchise tax with 40% due June 1, 20% due by September 1, 20% due by December 1, and the remainder due March 1.

Here are some examples showing how the different methods can dramatically impact the amount of Delaware franchise tax due:
Continue Reading Franchise tax due by March 1 (a Sunday!) for Delaware corporations: two methods of calculation, two vastly different results

Batts, Ed_Headshot.jpgCONTRIBUTED BY
Ed Batts
ed.batts@dlapiper.com

Proposed amendments to the Delaware General Corporations Law (DGCL) for 2014 aim to significantly streamline routine questions that often prove vexing for emerging growth companies and newly formed subsidiaries of larger companies.

It is a fact of life that people leave jobs.  They move to other cities, whether for family or lifestyle.  They quit for perceived greener pastures.  They retire.  Or they are hit by the proverbial bus.  Forming a company under Delaware law historically has had a pitfall:  a “sole incorporator” (often a paralegal) forms the initial company, one assumes promptly appoints one or more directors and then, one further assumes, immediately resigns.

But sometimes that paperwork is lost, overlooked (particularly if creating a new subsidiary for a larger company) or forgotten in the midst of workloads, or a company founder without the benefit of legal counsel did the incorporation and neglected to resign.  An existential crisis involving numerous lawyers scratching their heads can ensue if the resignation paperwork does not exist and the original sole incorporator cannot be located or refuses to cooperate.
Continue Reading Reducing startup brain damage: Delaware moves to further streamline corporate processes for emerging companies

Just a reminder to those who have Delaware corporations, your annual report and franchise tax payment are both due on or before March 1 (which falls on a Saturday this year). At this point, you have likely already received from Delaware your notification of annual report and franchise tax due, which is sent to a corporation’s registered agent in December or January of each year. Delaware requires these reports to be filed electronically.

As you will notice, there are two methods that you can use to calculate the amount of Delaware franchise tax due for your corporation (i.e., the “Authorized Shares Method” and the “Assumed Par Value Capital Method”), which result in vastly different amounts due. The default payment amount listed on your notification is set by Delaware using the Authorized Shares Method, which method will almost always result in a much high amount due for startups with limited assets. The minimum franchise tax is $75 and the maximum franchise tax is $180,000.

Franchise taxes are generally due in arrears for the prior calendar year. However, note that Delaware requires corporations owing $5,000 or more for the prior year to make estimated payments for the current (going-forward) year’s franchise tax with 40% due June 1, 20% due by September 1, 20% due by December 1, and the remainder due March 1.

Here are some examples showing how the different methods can dramatically impact the amount of Delaware franchise tax due:Continue Reading Franchise tax due on or before March 1 for Delaware corporations: two methods of calculation, two vastly different results

Just a reminder to those who have Delaware corporations, your annual report and franchise tax payment are both due on March 1. At this point, you should have already received from Delaware your notification of annual report and franchise tax due, which is sent to a corporation’s registered agent in December of each year (although sometimes it does not arrive until January). Delaware requires these reports to be filed electronically.

As you will notice, there are two methods that you can use to calculate the amount of Delaware franchise tax due for your corporation (i.e., the “Authorized Shares Method” and the “Assumed Par Value Capital Method”), which result in vastly different amounts due. The default payment amount listed on your notification is set by Delaware using the Authorized Shares Method, which method will almost always result in a much high amount due for startups with limited assets. The minimum franchise tax is $75 and the franchise maximum tax is $180,000.

Here are some examples showing how the different methods can dramatically impact the amount of Delaware franchise tax due:Continue Reading Delaware franchise tax due March 1: two methods of calculation, two vastly different results

CONTRIBUTED BY: John Reed and Anthony Kappus

Many existing and startup corporations are considering adding forum-selection provisions to their governing documents requiring shareholder derivative and other intra-corporate lawsuits to be filed with courts in a specified location, or “venue,” often naming the Delaware Court of Chancery as the sole court in which such actions may be filed.  The issue has been the subject of much discussion since the March 2010 Delaware Court of Chancery opinion in In re Revlon, Inc. Shareholders Litigation, suggesting in dicta that corporations are free to adopt charter amendments that designate the jurisdiction for litigation of intra-corporate disputes.[1]

Post-Revlon, there has been a meaningful trend among both public and private companies towards adopting charter or bylaw provisions that designate Delaware as the exclusive jurisdiction for stockholder litigation.Continue Reading Selecting Delaware as the Exclusive Forum for Stockholder Litigation

Last week, the Delaware courts (Chancellor Strine) provided some interesting guidance for those concerned about time-limiting reps and warranties in purchase/merger agreements. The issue raised is whether a time-limited rep/warranty combineJohn Reed.jpgd with express termination language (i.e., a rep/warranty that survives for one year from closing then terminates along with any remedy for breach) effectively operates to shorten the statute of limitations on claims. Courtesy of John Reed, a partner in DLA Piper’s Delaware office, below is a brief summary of the case and a few key takeaways. The full text of the case is available here: GRT, Inc. v. Marathon GTF Technology, Ltd., No. 5571-CS (Del. Ch. July 11, 2011).

The provision at issue stated that certain “representations and warranties … will survive for twelve (12) months after the Closing Date, and will thereafter terminate, together with any associated right of indemnification … or the remedies provided …”  The plaintiff-investor argued that the Survival Clause should not be read as shortening the time period in which a claim for breach must be brought, but instead only as shortening the period of time in which a breach may occur subject to the ordinarily applicable three-year statute of limitations.  The Chancellor rejected the argument and held that “the contract plainly shortened the three-year statute of limitations applicable to breach of contract claims to one year.”Continue Reading Survival of Reps and Warranties: Drafting Lessons from the Delaware Court of Chancery