Tax news and information - Journal of Accountancy

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January 1, 2015

Canadian retirement plan beneficiaries get relief

Under the U.S.-Canada tax convention, beneficiaries in an arrangement exempt from taxation by Canada and operated exclusively to provide pension or employee benefits may defer U.S. recognition of income accrued in the plan but undistributed. A recently issued revenue procedure (Rev. Proc. 2014-55) provides new procedures for making this election,

January 1, 2015

Eighth Circuit weighs in on soil conservation payments

A taxpayer not engaged in the farming business who received payments from a government soil conservation program did not thereby have self-employment income.

January 1, 2015

Defined contribution plans can offer deferred annuities to older participants

The IRS confirms that target date funds restricted by age can comply with nondiscrimination requirements.

January 1, 2015

2015 pension contribution limits set

The IRS announced 2015 limitations and adjusted gross income (AGI) phaseout ranges for retirement plan contributions.

January 1, 2015

Tax-efficient investing in gold

Whether as bullion, coins, funds, stocks, or derivatives, gold holds an age-old fascination. Smart investing takes into account how gains are taxed.

January 1, 2015

IRS proposes scrapping COD nonpayment testing period

The Service says the 36-month period for reporting cancellation-of-debt income is ineffective and prone to confusion.

January 1, 2015

QLACs protect against outliving retirement savings

With longer retirements due to increasing life expectancies, today’s retirees have to worry about outliving their retirement savings.

January 1, 2015

Charitable trusts and the streamlined exempt-status application

It is not unusual for a tax adviser to suggest that a client involved in estate tax planning leave some assets to a charity.

January 1, 2015

Drawing the line: Providing tax advice related to the Affordable Care Act

CPAs who provide tax planning services may be well-positioned to provide clients with PPACA-related advice regarding the tax and cost issues associated with selecting health insurance plans. But other matters go beyond the scope of the CPA’s expertise.

December 24, 2014