December 29, 2020
There were some long awaited tax changes contained in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (the “CAA”), but there were also some interesting additions.
For example, the CAA clarified that taxpayers can deduct expenses paid with PPP Loan proceeds overturning the IRS guidance on this issue. This benefit is substantial for taxpayers and effectively increases the PPP Loan proceeds by the amount…
November 19, 2020
The IRS has released guidance on the tax issues related to forgiveness of a PPP loan. In general, under the CARES Act, forgiveness of a PPP Loan is excluded from gross income for federal income tax purposes. The IRS has clarified that expenses covered by PPP Loan proceeds, namely payroll, are not deductible if the PPP Loan is forgiven. IRS Notice 2020-32.
Recent IRS guidance takes…
September 3, 2020
Business Interest Expense Deduction
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act revised § 163(j) of the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) to limit the deduction available for business interest expenses in a taxable year to an amount no greater than the sum of:
August 31, 2020
Recent IRS proposed regulations outline new accounting method procedures for businesses who want to use the cash method for accounting and how they can qualify to do so under expanded statutory requirements.
The IRS recently issued proposed regulations to implement changes made to the permissible accounting method used by small businesses under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“TCJA”). While…
May 18, 2020
In June 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted Regulation Best Interest. Regulation BI (as it is known) imposes a new standard of conduct for broker-dealers when making recommendations of any securities transaction or investment strategy (including account recommendations) to a retail customer. Regulation BI also applies to associated persons of broker-dealers that are natural…
March 18, 2020
Breaking News: U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced on March 20, 2020 that the IRS is moving Tax Day to July 15, 2020 from April 15. Accordingly, taxpayers can now delay filing and paying taxes until July 15. Taxpayers can also still delay paying first quarter 2020 estimates until July 15. For details click here.
The Treasury announced yesterday, March 17, 2020, invoking the…
January 23, 2020
The SECURE Act1 makes sweeping changes to the required minimum distribution (“RMD”) rules for retirement accounts. Except for a few types of beneficiaries, it eliminates the most popular tax-advantaged planning feature - the ability of a retirement beneficiary to stretch RMDs over the beneficiary’s life expectancy. The elimination of the stretch fundamentally changes how beneficiaries are taxed…
January 23, 2020
The SECURE Act, signed into law on December 20, 2019, may help alleviate some of the burdens small employers face when providing retirement plans. Here are a few key things you need to know when evaluating what, if any, changes you should make to take advantage of this new legislation.
OPEN MULTIPLE EMPLOYER PLANS
While Multiple Employer Plans (or MEPs) are not new to the retirement industry, they…
April 7, 2019
The United States Supreme Court recently put an end to West Virginia’s practice of exempting pension income of certain State law enforcement officers from the State’s income tax while disallowing the exemption for similarly situated federal retirees. At issue was a provision in the State’s tax code that exempts from West Virginia income tax pension payments received from a number of pension funds…
January 22, 2018
On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Act”) into law which makes significant changes to the estate, gift, and generation skipping taxes.
The Tax Act doubles the estate, gift, and generation skipping tax exemptions to approximately $11.2 Million per person for 2018, which provides significant relief for high net worth individuals and families with valuable…
November 14, 2016
Over the last several years, much has been written in connection with the surge of “excessive fee” litigation against Section 401(k) plans. The surge continues and has now been extended to Section 403(b) plans which are often referred to as Tax Deferred Annuities. One commentator estimates that over twenty class action excessive fee litigation cases were filed during the first quarter of 2016…
February 11, 2016
The federal government continues to focus on what various agencies refer to as “misclassified” employees -- workers who should be treated as employees but whom the employer classifies as independent contractors. Many businesses prefer to utilize independent contractors rather than employees. With independent contractors, businesses are not subject to FICA/FUTA obligations, federal and state…
December 29, 2020
There were some long awaited tax changes contained in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 (the “CAA”), but there were also some interesting additions.
For example, the CAA clarified that taxpayers can deduct expenses paid with PPP Loan proceeds overturning the IRS guidance on this issue. This benefit is substantial for taxpayers and effectively increases the PPP Loan proceeds by the amount…
November 19, 2020
The IRS has released guidance on the tax issues related to forgiveness of a PPP loan. In general, under the CARES Act, forgiveness of a PPP Loan is excluded from gross income for federal income tax purposes. The IRS has clarified that expenses covered by PPP Loan proceeds, namely payroll, are not deductible if the PPP Loan is forgiven. IRS Notice 2020-32.
Recent IRS guidance takes…
September 3, 2020
Business Interest Expense Deduction
The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act revised § 163(j) of the Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) to limit the deduction available for business interest expenses in a taxable year to an amount no greater than the sum of:
August 31, 2020
Recent IRS proposed regulations outline new accounting method procedures for businesses who want to use the cash method for accounting and how they can qualify to do so under expanded statutory requirements.
The IRS recently issued proposed regulations to implement changes made to the permissible accounting method used by small businesses under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“TCJA”). While…
May 18, 2020
In June 2019, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission adopted Regulation Best Interest. Regulation BI (as it is known) imposes a new standard of conduct for broker-dealers when making recommendations of any securities transaction or investment strategy (including account recommendations) to a retail customer. Regulation BI also applies to associated persons of broker-dealers that are natural…
March 18, 2020
Breaking News: U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced on March 20, 2020 that the IRS is moving Tax Day to July 15, 2020 from April 15. Accordingly, taxpayers can now delay filing and paying taxes until July 15. Taxpayers can also still delay paying first quarter 2020 estimates until July 15. For details click here.
The Treasury announced yesterday, March 17, 2020, invoking the…
January 23, 2020
The SECURE Act1 makes sweeping changes to the required minimum distribution (“RMD”) rules for retirement accounts. Except for a few types of beneficiaries, it eliminates the most popular tax-advantaged planning feature - the ability of a retirement beneficiary to stretch RMDs over the beneficiary’s life expectancy. The elimination of the stretch fundamentally changes how beneficiaries are taxed…
January 23, 2020
The SECURE Act, signed into law on December 20, 2019, may help alleviate some of the burdens small employers face when providing retirement plans. Here are a few key things you need to know when evaluating what, if any, changes you should make to take advantage of this new legislation.
OPEN MULTIPLE EMPLOYER PLANS
While Multiple Employer Plans (or MEPs) are not new to the retirement industry, they…
April 7, 2019
The United States Supreme Court recently put an end to West Virginia’s practice of exempting pension income of certain State law enforcement officers from the State’s income tax while disallowing the exemption for similarly situated federal retirees. At issue was a provision in the State’s tax code that exempts from West Virginia income tax pension payments received from a number of pension funds…
January 22, 2018
On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Act”) into law which makes significant changes to the estate, gift, and generation skipping taxes.
The Tax Act doubles the estate, gift, and generation skipping tax exemptions to approximately $11.2 Million per person for 2018, which provides significant relief for high net worth individuals and families with valuable…
November 14, 2016
Over the last several years, much has been written in connection with the surge of “excessive fee” litigation against Section 401(k) plans. The surge continues and has now been extended to Section 403(b) plans which are often referred to as Tax Deferred Annuities. One commentator estimates that over twenty class action excessive fee litigation cases were filed during the first quarter of 2016…
February 11, 2016
The federal government continues to focus on what various agencies refer to as “misclassified” employees -- workers who should be treated as employees but whom the employer classifies as independent contractors. Many businesses prefer to utilize independent contractors rather than employees. With independent contractors, businesses are not subject to FICA/FUTA obligations, federal and state…
