Erin Callan Montella was the CFO of Lehman Brothers in the months before it collapsed in 2008. After leaving Wall Street, marrying and having a daughter, she wrote a memoir, Full Circle, about the balance between work and...more
On August 8, 2018, the U.S. Department of the Treasury (the "Treasury") and the Internal Revenue Service (the "IRS") issued proposed regulations regarding the "pass-through deduction" for qualified trade or business income...more
Our client, The Universal Hip Hop Museum, which started two years ago as a “virtual” museum, will break ground in 2019 on a new 60,000 square foot facility in the birthplace of hip hop. The museum will open to the public in...more
On Friday December 22, 2017, the President signed into law H.R.1, commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). This is the most sweeping change to the US federal income tax laws in over three decades, and it will...more
1/17/2018
/ Base Erosion Tax ,
Carried Interest ,
Controlled Foreign Corporations ,
Corporate Taxes ,
EBITDA ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Taxpayers ,
Income Taxes ,
Pass-Through Entities ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Deductions
The IRS announced yesterday, in IR 2017-210 (the “Advisory”), that state property taxes must be “assessed” in 2017 in order for such taxes to be prepaid in calendar year 2017 and therefore deductible in 2017. The Advisory...more
On Friday, December 15, the U.S. House of Representative and Senate conferees reached agreement on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) (the “Final Bill”), and released legislative text, an explanation, and the Joint Committee...more
12/19/2017
/ 501(c)(3) ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Alternative Minimum Tax ,
Base Erosion Tax ,
Controlled Foreign Corporations ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Deferred Compensation ,
EBITDA ,
Excise Tax ,
Income Taxes ,
Individual Mandate ,
International Tax Issues ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Pass-Through Entities ,
PFIC ,
REIT ,
Section 179 Property ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform ,
Tax-Exempt Bonds ,
UBIT
In the early hours of Saturday morning, the U.S. Senate passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) (the “Senate bill”), just over two weeks after the U.S. House of Representatives passed its own version of the same legislation...more
12/12/2017
/ 401k ,
501(c)(3) ,
501(c)(6) ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Alternative Minimum Tax ,
Base Erosion Tax ,
C-Corporation ,
Controlled Foreign Corporations ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Deferred Compensation ,
EBITDA ,
Excise Tax ,
Income Taxes ,
Individual Mandate ,
International Tax Issues ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Pass-Through Entities ,
PFIC ,
Popular ,
Proposed Legislation ,
REIT ,
Section 1031 Exchange ,
Section 179 Property ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform ,
Tax-Exempt Bonds ,
UBIT
Yesterday afternoon, the House of Representatives passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (H.R. 1) (the “House bill”). The House bill is identical to the draft bill approved by the House Ways and Means Committee on November 10. Late...more
11/20/2017
/ 401k ,
Adjusted Gross Income ,
Affordable Care Act ,
Alternative Minimum Tax ,
Charitable Deductions ,
Controlled Foreign Corporations ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Deferred Compensation ,
EBITDA ,
Employee Benefits ,
Excise Tax ,
Foreign Earned Income ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Independent Contractors ,
Individual Mandate ,
IRS ,
New Legislation ,
Pass-Through Entities ,
Personal Property Tax ,
PFIC ,
Popular ,
REIT ,
S-Corporation ,
Section 179 Property ,
Senate Finance Committee ,
Shared Responsibility Rule ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
Tax Rates
UPDATE: The Senate Finance Committee last night released a revised version of the Chairman’s Mark of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. We are reviewing these changes and will release an update soon...
On Thursday, November 9, the...more
11/15/2017
/ 401k ,
403(b) Plans ,
457(b) Plans ,
501(c)(6) ,
Alternative Minimum Tax ,
Capital Gains ,
CFC ,
Charitable Deductions ,
Child Tax Credit ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Cost Recovery ,
DBCF Tax ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Domestic International Sales Corporation ,
EBITDA ,
Employee Benefits ,
FDIC ,
Foreign Corporations ,
GAAP ,
Generation-Skipping Transfer ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Independent Contractors ,
Mortgage Interest ,
Partnerships ,
Pass-Through Entities ,
PFIC ,
Section 179 Property ,
Section 199 ,
Section 482 ,
Section 956 ,
Senate Finance Committee ,
Social Security Benefits ,
Sports ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
Tax Exemptions ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform ,
UBTI ,
Ways and Means Committee
The tax reform bills introduced in the House of Representatives and the Senate dramatically reduce the corporate tax rate from 35% to 20% and create added incentives for taxpayers to invest capital into U.S. businesses with...more
11/14/2017
/ Adjusted Gross Income ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Deferred Compensation ,
Excise Tax ,
Hedge Funds ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investors ,
IRS ,
Mark-To-Market ,
Net Investment Income ,
Pass-Through Entities ,
Section 409A ,
Section 457A ,
Self-Employment Tax ,
Surtax ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
Tax Planning ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform ,
Universities ,
Up-C Entity ,
W-2
House Republican Tax Bill Imposes Excise Tax on Wealthy Private Universities and Excess Compensation of Highly Paid Employees; Subjects State Pension Plans to UBTI Rules -
On Thursday, November 2, House Republicans led by...more
11/7/2017
/ 501(c)(3) ,
Adjusted Gross Income ,
Alternative Minimum Tax ,
Charitable Donations ,
Charitable Organizations ,
Covered Employees ,
Disqualified Persons ,
Educational Institutions ,
Establishment Clause ,
Form 990 ,
Grandfathered Status ,
Highly Compensated Employees ,
Income Taxes ,
IRS ,
Political Speech ,
Private Foundations ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Retirement Plan ,
Standard Deduction ,
State and Local Government ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
Tax Incentives ,
Tax-Exempt Bonds ,
Tuition ,
UBTI
Today, the Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives released their long-anticipated tax reform bill, entitled the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act”. While there have been multiple statements from the Republican majority in the...more
11/3/2017
/ 501(c)(3) ,
Alternative Minimum Tax ,
Charitable Deductions ,
Child Tax Credit ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Deduction Limitations ,
EBITDA ,
Educational Institutions ,
Estate Tax ,
FDAP ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Subsidiaries ,
Fringe Benefits ,
International Tax Issues ,
Like Kind Exchanges ,
Meal and Entertainment Expenditures ,
Medical Expenses ,
Multinationals ,
Net Operating Losses ,
Parent Corporation ,
Pass-Through Entities ,
PFIC ,
Private Foundations ,
Property Tax ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Religious Institutions ,
Retirement Plan ,
Roth IRA ,
Section 179 Property ,
Section 409A ,
Section 457A ,
Section 501 ,
Shareholders ,
Tax Cuts ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform ,
Tax-Exempt Bonds
Yesterday, the Trump Administration, the House Committee on Ways and Means, and the Senate Finance Committee proposed a “unified framework” for tax reform. The members of the working group are House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI),...more
9/29/2017
/ Alternative Minimum Tax ,
Business Taxes ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Estate Tax ,
Income Taxes ,
Personal Exemptions ,
Repeal ,
Retirement Plan ,
Standard Deduction ,
Tax Rates ,
Tax Reform ,
Trump Administration
On May 3, the Internal Revenue Service (the IRS) issued Revenue Ruling 2017-09 (the “Ruling”), which helpfully clarifies that the separate steps of a typical “north-south” spinoff transaction will be respected, and announced...more
On May 4, 2017, President Trump signed an executive order that directs the executive branch to limit its enforcement of the “Johnson Amendment.” As previously reported, the Johnson Amendment prohibits organizations that are...more
Last week, in McKelvey v. Commissioner¸ the U.S. Tax Court held that the extension of a typical variable prepaid forward contract (“VPFC”) did not give rise to a taxable exchange to the obligor because a VPFC is solely an...more
Yesterday the Trump Administration announced the outline of its tax reform proposal. The proposal combines elements of President Trump’s original tax reform proposal announced during the campaign and of the House Republicans’...more
On December 27, 2016, the Treasury Department (Treasury) and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released final regulations regarding the determination of ownership of a passive foreign investment company ("PFIC") and regarding...more
1/20/2017
/ Business Ownership ,
C-Corporation ,
Final Rules ,
Foreign Corporations ,
IRS ,
Passive Foreign Investment Company ,
PFIC ,
Reporting Requirements ,
S-Corporation ,
Stocks ,
U.S. Treasury
On December 16, 2016, FinCEN issued Notice 2016-1, extending the filing deadline for the Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR), for certain individuals with signature or other authority over...more
On October 13, 2016, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service issued final and temporary regulations under section 385 of the Internal Revenue Code. The final and temporary regulations recharacterize certain...more
11/2/2016
/ Acquisitions ,
Bifurcation ,
Corporate Taxes ,
De Minimus Quantity Exemption ,
Debt Instruments ,
Debt-Equity ,
Disregarded Entities ,
Distribution Rules ,
Expanded Group Instruments (EGIs) ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
New Regulations ,
S-Corporation ,
Section 385 ,
Securities ,
Stocks
On October 13, 2016, the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service issued final and temporary regulations under section 385. The final and temporary regulations recharacterize certain debt instruments as equity for...more
10/27/2016
/ Asset Stripping ,
Bifurcation ,
Debt ,
Debt Instruments ,
Disregarded Entities ,
Equity ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investment Funds ,
IRS ,
Publicly-Traded Companies ,
Section 385 ,
Securities ,
Stocks ,
U.S. Treasury
On July 15, 2016, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) published proposed regulations that would modify the device and active trade or business requirements for tax-free...more
7/29/2016
/ Active Trade or Business Test ,
Device Test ,
Grandfathering Rules ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Proposed Regulation ,
Section 355 ,
Shareholders ,
Spinoffs ,
Tax Avoidance ,
Tax-Free Transfers ,
U.S. Treasury ,
Yahoo!
It was widely reported that on the June 5 episode of the HBO program, Last Week Tonight, John Oliver forgave nearly $15 million of medical debt. That’s not quite right. This blog explains what really happened and why the...more