American Taxpayer Relief Act

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 is a United States federal statue enacted in 2012 to address certain aspects of the so-called Fiscal Cliff, i.e. certain mandatory tax increases and budget cuts set to take effect at the beginning of 2013. ATRA extends certain tax cuts, modifies the estate tax and tax rates on income. The Act also provides for certain Medicare, unemployment and farm payments.

less -

News & Analysis as of May 25, 2013

The Corporate Law Report: First-to-File Patents, Hiring for Cultural Fit, Roth Conversions Post-Fiscal Cliff, and Global Corporate Insights

The Fallout from the American Taxpayer Relief Act – What a Relief?

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

Because the media cycle moves so quickly these days, you may have already forgotten about the frantic last few days of 2012, during which Congress and the White House worked feverishly to save us all from going off the...more

2013 Estate Planning – Still Not The Time To Be Complacent

by Gary Phillips | Cole Schotz on 5/13/2013

The end of 2012 saw an unprecedented surge of activity for estate planning attorneys and advisors counseling clients to implement estate plans before the 2013 changes in the law, which would have reduced gift and estate tax...more

ATRA 2012 – How Does it Affect You?

by Vance E. Antonacci | McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC on 5/9/2013

The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (the “Act”) was signed into law on January 1, 2013. Among other things, the Act amended the federal estate, gift, and generation skipping transfer tax laws. The amendments of the Act...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

Dodgeball - The Tax Version

by Gerald Nowotny on 4/29/2013

Since the passage of The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 and the submission of the President's federal budget proposal for 2014, it is clear that high net worth and high income taxpayers continue to be under attack....more

The New Federal Estate Tax Laws – Permanent?

by Lawrence Hunt, David Raymon | Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP on 4/26/2013

In January, the President signed the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which among other things, permanently raised the federal estate, gift and generation skipping transfer tax exemptions to $5,000,000, indexed for...more

Estate Planning with Portability: Not a Panacea

by Lauren Jenkins, William Rich, David Shayne | Holland & Knight LLP on 4/24/2013

When Congress resolved the fiscal cliff crisis early this year, it brought permanence to estate, gift and generation-skipping transfer tax laws that had been in flux for over a decade. In short, the American Taxpayer Relief...more

IRS Issues Additional Payroll Tax Refund Procedures

by Rena Pirsos | XpertHR - Partnered with LexisNexis on 4/22/2013

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has posted additional procedures explaining how employers and employees can obtain refunds of overpaid federal income, Social Security and Medicare (FICA) taxes after the 2012 transportation...more

IRS Releases “Start Construction” Guidance for Renewable Energy Facilities

by Douglas Davidson, Paul Gordon, Kenneth Kulak, Gabriel Quihuis, Richard Shortz, Wayne Song | Morgan Lewis on 4/19/2013

Long-awaited guidance regarding eligibility for production or investment tax credits largely tracks guidance under the Section 1603 cash grant program....more

Modification of Roth In-Plan Conversion Rules Provides Participants Greater Flexibility

by John Boyd, Deborah Bracy | BakerHostetler on 4/19/2013

Tucked in the provisions of the year-end financial cliff legislation (the "American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012") was a provision which creates greater flexibility in the conversion of qualified plan dollars to tax-free...more

No Such Thing as Forever: President Obama’s 2014 Budget Proposes to Reduce Estate Tax Exemption Amount in 2018

by Janice Tam | Carr, McClellan, Ingersoll, Thompson & Horn -... on 4/19/2013

Just when many of us believed that, after years of changes and uncertainty, the federal estate tax exemption had stabilized at $5.0 million, subject to inflation adjustment (for 2013, it is a $5.25 million exemption), we have...more

Treasury Releases “Green Book” of Obama Administration FY 2014 Tax Priorities

by Mary Burke Baker, Michael W. Evans, Andrés Gil, Karishma Shah Page, Stefanos Roulakis, Ryan J. Severson | K&L Gates LLP on 4/18/2013

On April 10, the Treasury Department released its “General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2014 Revenue Proposals.” Known as the “Green Book,” the document provides an explanation of the Administration’s FY...more

Energy Alert: IRS Identifies Two "Begun Construction" Standards To Qualify For Two Tax Credit Opportunities

by Allison Woodbury Leppert | Leonard, Street and Deinard on 4/18/2013

The renewable electricity production tax credit and the energy investment tax credit currently offer taxpayers a tax credit for energy produced from qualified facilities. For the PTC, the tax credit covers a ten-year period....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

Structured Settlement Planning for Trial Attorneys: The Benefits of Using Qualified Settlement Funds and Private Placement...

by Gerald Nowotny on 4/3/2013

Overview - Trial attorneys are extremely vulnerable to a tax landscape that is becoming hostile territory. The result of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2013 (ATRA) is that earned income is taxed at substantially...more