CPAs have an unprecedented opportunity to demonstrate their value in the following ways before the end of 2012, when the Bush-era tax cuts are set to expire, estate and gift tax exemptions are scheduled to shrink back to $1 million, and current proposals could diminish the planning advantages of grantor
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Tax
Unmarried co-owners must allocate mortgage interest limits
The Tax Court held that, in calculating qualified residence interest, unmarried taxpayers must apply the debt limits for home acquisition and home equity loans to their total joint indebtedness on qualified residences rather than to each of their shares of the indebtedness. Sec. 163(h)(3)(A) permits taxpayers to deduct interest paid
New portability rules: A cure for incomplete estate planning
Many CPAs are involved in representing estates of decedents who died in 2011 and 2012. In dealing with such estates, it is important to focus on the new Code provisions allowing portability of the decedent’s unused lifetime gift and estate exclusion amount to the surviving spouse. A failure to do
Waitress’s lottery win shared with family ruled taxable gift
In Dickerson, the IRS prevailed when the Tax Court ruled that a waitress’s transfer of her winning lottery ticket to an S corporation with herself and family members as shareholders was a taxable gift. In 1999, a regular customer at a Waffle House restaurant in Alabama where Tonda Lynn Dickerson
Prop. regs. allow local lodging deduction
The IRS issued proposed regulations that permit employees to treat certain expenses paid or incurred for local lodging as deductible business expenses (REG-137589-07). Living expenses paid or incurred when not traveling away from home generally are considered nondeductible personal expenses under Sec. 262. The proposed regulations state that under certain circumstances,
Supreme Court affirms Home Concrete on overstated basis
The U.S. Supreme Court in a 5–4 decision affirmed the Fourth Circuit’s holding in Home Concrete & Supply, LLC, that a taxpayer’s overstatement of basis in property sold was not an omission from gross income for purposes of the extended six-year statute of limitation under Sec. 6501(e)(1)(A). The Supreme Court’s
Supreme Court upholds health care law
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday declared the mandate in Sec. 5000A, requiring U.S. citizens and legal residents to maintain minimum essential health coverage, to be a permissible exercise of Congress’s taxing powers under the Constitution (National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, Sup. Ct. Dkt. No. 11-393 (U.S. 6/28/12)).
IRS releases new FAQs for Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program, announces other rules
The IRS said Tuesday that it has collected more than $5 billion in its offshore voluntary disclosure programs (IR-2012-64), the third of which was announced in January this year. At the same time, it also released 55 questions and answers updated for the 2012 program. On Jan. 9, the IRS
Sample text for Sec. 83(b) election released by IRS
On Tuesday, the IRS released a ruling under Sec. 83(b), the election to include property received in connection with the performance of services in income in the year the property is received even if there is a substantial risk that the property will later be forfeited (Rev. Rul. 2012-29). The
Guidance clarifies when dividends are qualified performance-based compensation
In Rev. Rul. 2012-19, the IRS ruled on whether dividends and dividend equivalents paid on restricted stock were qualified performance-based compensation excluded from the applicable employee remuneration to which the $1 million limitation on the deduction for compensation by publicly held corporations applies. The revenue ruling addressed two situations involving
IRS suspends issuing ITINs without original documentation
Beginning June 22, 2012, and continuing until the IRS issues new rules (which it says it will do by the beginning of the 2013 filing season), the IRS will not issue individual taxpayer identification numbers (ITINs) unless the applicants provide original documents such as passports or birth certificates, or certified
IRS distinguishes between tips and service charges, explains notice and demand for payment
The IRS issued Rev. Rul. 2012-18, which provides question-and-answer guidance for distinguishing between tips and service charges for FICA tax purposes, the credit under Sec. 45B for the excess employer Social Security tax an employer pays on tips, and the rules for employer reporting of tips under the notice and
PTPs can use safe harbor to determine COD income that is “qualifying income”
In Rev. Proc. 2012-28, the IRS issued a safe harbor for publicly traded partnerships (PTPs) that want to avoid corporate taxation by qualifying under Sec. 7704(c) as partnerships with 90% or more of their income from qualifying sources. Under the safe harbor, the IRS will not challenge a PTP’s determination
IRS issues rules on portability election
The IRS has issued temporary regulations on how to elect to use a deceased spouse’s unused exclusion from estate taxes, also known as the portability election (T.D. 9593). The rules apply to married spouses where the death of the first spouse to die occurs on or after Jan. 1, 2011,
Proposed regs. on basis for S corporation shareholders from bona fide indebtedness
On Monday, the IRS issued proposed regulations on the contentious subject of when an S corporation shareholder can increase his or her basis in the S corporation’s stock, based on loans to the corporation, and thereby increase the amount of the corporation’s losses and deductions the shareholder can recognize (REG-134042-07).
Eleventh Circuit says PTIN user fees are valid
The Eleventh Circuit held that the fee the IRS charges to issue preparer tax identification numbers (PTINs) to tax return preparers, who are required to use the PTINs on returns they prepare, is valid because the PTIN confers a special benefit on the preparers: the privilege to prepare tax returns
IRS issues regulations on “expatriated entities” under Sec. 7874
On Thursday, the IRS issued temporary regulations governing whether a foreign corporation has “substantial business activities” in the foreign country in which, or under the law of which, the corporation is created or organized, compared to the total business activities of the expanded affiliated group (T.D. 9592). At the same
Refusal to refund sewer assessments is not Equal Protection violation, Supreme Court holds
On Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court held that Indianapolis’s refusal to refund sewer assessments paid in a lump sum by residents to fund a sewer project did not violate the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution because the city had a rational basis for distinguishing between those who had
Pioneer specialists
CPAs have been the leaders in offering clients tax preparation, planning, and advice since the early 20th century, when landmark legislation instituted taxes on corporate and individual incomes. This article traces the history and development of the CPA tax practitioner over the past century.
Appeals court invalidates associated property rule in capitalization regulations
In a case of first impression, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (reversing the Court of Federal Claims) held that the “associated property” rule requiring capitalization of interest expense under Sec. 263A was invalid insofar as it applies to property temporarily withdrawn from service (Dominion Resources, Inc., No.
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