Cory Watson Crowder & DeGaris

The Alabama personal injury lawyers at Cory Watson are ready and willing to take your case to trial if the responsible parties won’t cooperate or offer you reasonable compensation for your grievances. We have a winning track record and believe there is no case too big or small when it involves fighting for the rights of injured people. 


No representation is made that the quality of the legal services to be performed is greater than the quality of legal services preformed by other lawyers. To the extent the State Bar rules require us to designate a principal office and/or single attorney responsible for this site, Cory Watson Crowder & DeGaris, P.C., designates Hirlye R. "Ryan" Lutz, III as the attorney responsible for this site. He is located at 2131 Magnolia Avenue, Suite 200, Birmingham, Alabama 35205

Archive for June, 2009

Court ruling on taxing medical residents: are they students or employees?

Stephen Hunt June 24th, 2009

Essentially, for several years now, courts have been debating the issue of whether the IRS can tax medical residents at “teaching hospitals” who earn wages, but are also enrolled in classes.  In 2004, the IRS lost a handful of cases because the courts determined that the law that gave the IRS the power to tax included an exemption for students, and that residents working at “teaching hospitals” were students – rather than employees.

So, what does the government do when a judge tells them something they do not like?  They change the rules.  After losing those cases, the IRS reacted by issuing an interpretation of their own rules to state that they consider residents that work more than 40 hours a week to be employees rather than students – and therefore, should be taxed.

Earlier this month, an appeals court ruled that it was ok for the IRS to interpret and define residents as employees rather than students.  So as it stands now, the tax refund is off the table unless a resident works less than 40 hours during a normal week.   I am sure the hospital that was defeated by the appeals court ruling will appeal to the Supreme Court, but who knows if they will hear the case or not.  Until then, both the teaching hospitals and their residents should be paying their FICA taxes.

Here is the WSJ article link:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124484480481711085.html

And here is the link to the Court of Appeals opinion:
http://www.ca8.uscourts.gov/opndir/09/06/073242P.pdf

Georgia Credit Counseling

Rick DiGiorgio June 24th, 2009

Georgia- Credit Counseling Companies: In the State of Georgia Credit Counseling Companies are limited by law from accepting fees and contributions which exceed 7.5% of the amounts being paid to repay the client’s debts.  Many clients connect with the Credit Counseling Companies through the Internet so the Companies ignore that the client is from Georgia and ignore the Georgia law.  If any Georgia resident has paid fees or contributions in excess of the amount allowed by law then they may be entitled to be reimbursed for the fees and contributions, plus collect a penalty of $5,000.  If you are a Georgia resident, the attorneys at Cory, Watson can review your payment history and determine if you are entitled to a reimbursement or to collect the penalty.  Contact G. Rick DiGiorgio at rdigiorgio@cwcd.com or phone toll free (800)852-6299.