Finance & Banking, Wills, Trusts, & Estate Planning

IRS Releases "Dirty Dozen" Tax Scams for 2013

by Ronald Adams on 5/16/2013

Some of this year's top scams are directed at innocent taxpayers, while others are committed by taxpayers in a futile and costly attempt to avoid taxes. For each of the last several years, the Internal Revenue Service has...more

Tax Changes Loom in the President’s 2014 Budget Proposal

by Les Williams | Niles, Barton & Wilmer, LLP on 5/15/2013

The White House recently released its Fiscal Year 2014 budget proposal, and there are many suggested changes that will impact individuals, businesses, and estates. Several of these proposals—particularly on the estate and...more

Obama Revenue Raising Proposals

by Vance E. Antonacci | McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC on 5/13/2013

The Obama Administration recently released its budget proposal for the federal government’s upcoming fiscal year of October 1, 2013 to September 30, 2014. The budget proposal contains a variety of changes to the tax laws...more

IRS Announces Information Sharing Agreement With Australia And The UK To Combat Tax Evasion

by David Gair | Looper Reed & McGraw, P.C. on 5/13/2013

The IRS continues to aggressively pursue offshore tax evasion. Another example of which is plan to share tax information with Australia and the United Kingdom....more

SEC Settles Suit for Misleading Advisory Contract Approval Disclosure

by David Freese, Sean Graber, Daniel Levin, Richard F. Morris, John O'Brien, Zachary E. Vonnegut-Gabovitch | Morgan Lewis on 5/10/2013

Settlement with mutual fund directors and service providers serves as a reminder of responsibilities for disclosures relating to the approval of investment advisory contracts and provides insight into SEC enforcement...more

Tales from the Crypt -- Post-Mortem Planning Using Private Placement Insurance Products

by Gerald Nowotny on 5/9/2013

Overview - This article discusses the use of private placement products - private placement deferred variable annuities (PPVA) and private placement life insurance (PPLI)- in post mortem income tax and transfer tax...more

Mcnees Insights - Asset Planning and Federal Taxation - Spring 2013

by Vance E. Antonacci, Scott Alan Mitchell | McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC on 5/8/2013

In This Issue: ATRA 2012 – How Does it Affect You?; Planning and Paying for Long-Term Care; and Obama Revenue Raising Proposals. Excerpt from ATRA 2012 – How Does it Affect You?: The American Taxpayer...more

SEC Settles with Service Providers and Trustees of two Mutual Fund Trusts for Inaccurate Disclosures Regarding Section 15(c)...

by Ropes & Gray LLP on 5/7/2013

On May 2, 2013, the SEC filed an order instituting settled administrative proceedings against the trustees (“Trustees”) and certain service providers of two “turnkey” open-end series investment companies, Northern Lights Fund...more

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Registration

by Darren Mills | Berkeley Research Group, LLC on 5/6/2013

Beginning on December 31, 2013, the qualified intermediary (QI), withholding foreign partnership (WP), and withholding foreign trusts (WT) will be subject to the requirements of a foreign financial institution (FFI). As a...more

Planning For The Affordable Care Act's Net Investment Income Tax

by Arianne Plasencia | Carlton Fields on 5/3/2013

The new Internal Revenue Code ("IRC") Section 1411, which imposes a 3.8 percent tax on net investment income ("NII") was passed as part of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 ("ACA") and is effective for tax years beginning on or...more

Ontario Budget 2013 – More Pension Reform to Come

by Lesha Van Der Bij | Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP on 5/3/2013

In today’s budget, the Ontario government announced that it is continuing with its pension reform agenda, but it is not all “old news”. Perhaps of most interest to employers and plan administrators will be the government’s...more

SEC Sanctions Fund Trustees for Inadequate Disclosures and Failure to Follow Compliance Policies

by Jay G. Baris, Kelley A. Howes | Morrison & Foerster LLP on 5/3/2013

The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged the trustees of two “turnkey” mutual fund trusts with causing untrue or misleading disclosures about their review of the funds’ advisory contracts. The Commission also...more

Wealth Management Update - May 2013

by Maggie Mouradian | Proskauer Rose LLP on 5/3/2013

The May § 7520 rate for use with estate planning techniques such as CRTs, CLTs, QPRTs and GRATs is 1.2%, which is a slight decrease from April's rate of 1.4%. The applicable federal rate ("AFR") for use with a sale to a...more

Takeover Code Amendments Extend the Rights of Pension Scheme Trustees

by Iain Wright | Morgan Lewis on 4/30/2013

Amendments include new requirements regarding offerors' intentions, documents provided to trustees, trustees' opinions on offers, and publication of agreements between offerors and trustees....more

Bad Planning In Foreign Asset Protection Trust Scenario

by Charles (Chuck) Rubin on 4/29/2013

Foreign asset protection trusts are often established by U.S. persons to shield their assets from creditors. Typically, assets transferred to the trust can be paid to or applied for the benefit of the U.S. grantor(s) and...more

Superannuation Funds - Enhanced Investment Management Governance

by Jim Bulling, Daniel Knight, Gabrielle Palmieri | K&L Gates LLP on 4/26/2013

The Australian Government has been rolling out a series of significant regulatory reforms of the superannuation industry, many of which will commence in 2013. These reforms are fundamentally designed to enhance the prudential...more

Soy Boricua - Rethinking Inbound Tax Planning for Wealthy Latin American Moving to the U.S.

by Gerald Nowotny on 4/24/2013

Overview - In case you did not know, Miami is the capital of Latin American. It is the port of entry for Latin Americans from Central and South America. Historically, wealthy Mexicans have liked California and Texas...more

I Want to Live in America!- Part I Tax Planning Considerations for Foreign Scientists and Engineers

by Gerald Nowotny on 4/17/2013

Overview - As discussions regarding immigration reform continue to unfold, one point that is not under discussion or subject to debate is the contribution of foreign scientists and engineers to the New Economy. The statistics...more

So Much For "Permanent" - Transfer Tax Rates And Exemptions Are Back In Play

by Charles (Chuck) Rubin on 4/12/2013

Late last year, Congress and the President agreed to "permanent" transfer tax revisions that set the unified credit equivalent exemption at $5.25 million in 2013, indexed it for inflation, and set the maximum rate at 40%. At...more

German Federal Tax Court: Distributions from U.S. Trusts Are Subject to German Gift Tax

by Florian Reichthalhammer, J. Andrew Stone | McDermott Will & Emery on 4/10/2013

The German Federal Tax Court clarified that distributions from foreign trusts to beneficiaries resident in Germany are subject to German gift taxation, but did not address the possible imposition of both gift and income tax...more

Personal Planning Can Help Private Equity Pros Save on Taxes

by Bradley Van Buren | Holland & Knight LLP on 4/10/2013

When private equity or venture capital fund principals and managing partners look to roll out a new fund, in addition to reconciling general fund formation issues, they should consider the personal-planning opportunities...more

Grandfathered Buy-Sell Agreements

by Charles (Chuck) Rubin on 4/8/2013

Code §2703 severely restricts the ability of a buy-sell agreement to control estate tax values in a closely held entity. A recent private letter ruling reminds us that older agreements are not subject to Code §2703....more

Becoming Puerto Rican - The Tax Benefits of Puerto Rican Residency for U.S. High Net Worth Taxpayers

by Gerald Nowotny on 4/8/2013

Overview - My last article focused on the attractiveness of Puerto Rico for hedge fund managers . Poor John Paulsen cannot make a move without the financial press reporting on the story. If he bought a Big Gulp at...more

Why the Classic Legal Terminology of the Anglo-American Trust is in French, Not English: The “Law French” Phenomenon

by Charles E. Rounds, Jr. on 4/1/2013

The institution of the trust, a creature of the English Court of Equity, evolved deep in the bosom of the Anglo-American legal tradition. France, a civil jurisdiction, lacks a legal institution that is truly comparable. Her...more

Carrigan Case: Supreme Court of Canada Dismisses Leave to Appeal

by Douglas Rienzo | Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP on 3/29/2013

This morning, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed the application for leave to appeal in Carrigan v. Carrigan Estate. As a result, the Ontario Court of Appeal’s new interpretation of the priority scheme for the payment of...more

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Finance & Banking › Wills, Trusts, & Estate Planning