Few provisions of the Code have a single, clear meaning that leaves no room for interpretation. Even many of those that, on the surface, appear fairly straightforward, are usually open to alternative “understandings.”...more
4/11/2025
/ 501(c)(3) ,
Charitable Organizations ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Employment Tax ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Nonprofits ,
Penalties ,
Tax Exemptions ,
Tax Liability
A parent will sometimes transfer money to a child to enable the child to make an investment that the child could not otherwise make on their own. For example, the child may have identified an attractive business opportunity...more
4/1/2025
/ Borrowers ,
Estate Tax ,
Fair Market Value ,
Gift Tax ,
Interest Rates ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investment ,
IRS ,
Loans ,
Tax Court ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Planning ,
Trusts
Charitable organizations are dependent, in no small part, upon the financial support of many successful business owners. The generosity of these individuals and their organizations may be a manifestation of several factors...more
3/21/2025
/ Business Ownership ,
Charitable Organizations ,
Closely Held Businesses ,
Compliance ,
Estate Planning ,
Family Businesses ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Partnerships ,
Private Foundations ,
Tax Avoidance ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Planning
Many successful business owners attribute some part of their success to their community. For some of these owners, it is not enough to simply acknowledge this “debt”; they feel an obligation to share some of their financial...more
2/10/2025
/ Business Entities ,
Charitable Organizations ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Governance ,
Donations ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Loans ,
Nonprofits ,
Private Foundations ,
Tax Exempt Entities ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Planning
If you’ve worked with the owners of closely held businesses for even just a few years, you have realized they are only half joking when they complain about having the government as a partner. Consider how much federal, state,...more
1/28/2025
/ Business Entities ,
Business Ownership ,
Closely Held Businesses ,
Enforcement ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Partnerships ,
Tax Court ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Planning ,
Tax Returns ,
Withholding Tax
Just a few weeks ago, many individual taxpayers, driven by what they viewed as the relatively imminent expiration of the enhanced federal transfer tax exemptions, sought advice on how to leverage their remaining exemption and...more
1/14/2025
/ Estate Planning ,
Estate Tax ,
Federal Taxes ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Limited Partnerships ,
Partnerships ,
Tax Exemptions ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Planning ,
Tax Returns ,
Trusts
You may recall that earlier this year the IRS launched an initiative to pursue 125,000 “high-income, high-wealth” taxpayers who have not filed taxes since 2017. These were cases where the IRS received third party information...more
9/18/2024
/ Bank Secrecy Act ,
Citizenship ,
Civil Forfeiture ,
Excessive Fines Clause ,
Failure-to-File ,
FBAR ,
Foreign Bank Accounts ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Tax Appeals ,
Tax Avoidance ,
Tax Debt ,
Tax Penalties ,
Taxable Income ,
Voluntary Compliance ,
Voluntary Disclosure ,
Willful Violations
There is no denying that many parts of the Code are complex and, in some cases, too obscure for many “laypersons” to comprehend. Over time, this reality spawned the need for advisers who are both knowledgeable and experienced...more
8/12/2024
/ Business Expenses ,
Capital Gains ,
Fair Market Value ,
Foreign Persons ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Non-Resident Aliens ,
Partnership Interests ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Deductions ,
Taxable Income
It is a basic principle of the income tax that the gain or loss realized by a taxpayer from the conversion of property into cash, or from the exchange of property for other property that differs materially in kind from the...more
6/11/2024
/ Beneficiaries ,
Capital Gains ,
Corporate Restructuring ,
Equity Investors ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Like Kind Exchanges ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Liquidation ,
Partnerships ,
Property ,
Reorganizations ,
Shareholders ,
Tenancy-in-Common ,
Transfer of Assets ,
Trustees ,
Trusts ,
Wills
Assume that X and Y agree to the following: X will transfer ownership of Prop to Y, and Y will transfer cash to X.
What just happened? Obviously, X has sold Prop to Y. If the amount of cash that X receives is greater than...more
5/6/2024
/ Anti-Abuse Rule ,
Disguised Sales ,
Equity Partners ,
Financial Transactions ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investment ,
Investment Adviser ,
IRS ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Membership Interest ,
Partnership Distributions ,
Partnership Interests ,
Partnerships ,
Promissory Notes ,
Suppliers ,
Tax Avoidance ,
Tax Court
Over the years, I have observed there is only one thing that a taxpayer fears more than being notified by the IRS that their income tax return for a particular taxable year has been selected for audit, and that is being...more
4/24/2024
/ Audits ,
Court of Federal Claims ,
Debt Collection ,
Deficiency Notices ,
Filing Deadlines ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Lack of Jurisdiction ,
Petition for Writ of Certiorari ,
Redeterminations ,
SCOTUS ,
Tax Court ,
Tax Penalties ,
Tax Returns
Imagine the IRS notifies Taxpayer that they have an outstanding tax liability with respect to Tax Year, and that the agency intends to levy on Taxpayer’s property to collect the allegedly unpaid tax. Taxpayer challenges the...more
4/19/2024
/ Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Overpayment ,
Popular ,
Spouses ,
Tax Appeals ,
Tax Court ,
Tax Debt ,
Tax Levy ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Refunds ,
Tax Returns
As we approach the deadline for paying federal individual income taxes and, generally, for filing the returns on which such taxes are determined, some of you may be recalling how the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022...more
4/11/2024
/ Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) ,
Attendance ,
Compensation & Benefits ,
Federal Employees ,
Income Taxes ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Misleading Statements ,
Paid Time Off (PTO) ,
Performance Reviews ,
Privately Held Corporations ,
Sick Leave ,
Surveillance ,
Tax Returns ,
Termination ,
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) ,
U.S. Treasury
Would you be surprised to learn that most shareholders of closely held corporations, and especially those with minority or merely passive interests, believe they cannot be held responsible for the tax obligations of their...more
2/15/2024
/ Closely Held Businesses ,
Corporate Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Limited Liability ,
Liquidation ,
Securities ,
Shareholders ,
Stock Purchase Agreement ,
Stock Sale Agreements ,
Stock Transfer ,
Tax Court ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Shelters ,
Transferees
The Long-Term View-
Among its core functions, federal tax policy seeks to encourage those behaviors among businesses that, in the long run, will have a lasting positive effect upon the nation’s economy as a whole. ...more
1/26/2024
/ Federal Taxes ,
Gift Tax ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Itemized Deductions ,
MACRS ,
Modification ,
Sunset Provisions ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Exemptions ,
Tax Legislation ,
Tax Rates
New York Governor Kathy Hochul signed a bill on Friday, November 20, 2023, that allows New York City cannabis businesses to deduct business expenses paid or incurred in carrying on such business for purposes of determining...more
11/21/2023
/ Business Expenses ,
Business Taxes ,
Cannabis-Related Businesses (CRBs) ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Marijuana Related Businesses ,
New Legislation ,
New York ,
Schedule I Drugs ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Liability
It appears that many of the country’s colleges and universities believe they have not already contributed enough to the decline of American education and to the erosion of our society, generally.
These institutions of...more
11/9/2023
/ Activist ,
Annuities ,
Bad Actors ,
Business Income ,
Colleges ,
Dividends ,
Donors ,
Endowment Funds ,
Executive Compensation ,
Exempt Organizations ,
Federal Funding ,
Hate Speech ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Non-Taxable Income ,
Operational Requirements ,
Public Charities ,
Public Policy ,
Rent ,
Royalties ,
Student Loans ,
Students ,
Tax Benefits ,
Tax Deductions ,
Tax Exemptions ,
Tuition ,
Universities
Many of you, perhaps most, may have read about a case that will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court during its current term. The case, Moore v. United States, comes out of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Supreme Court...more
10/13/2023
/ Amicus Briefs ,
Apportionment ,
Certiorari ,
Controlled Foreign Corporations ,
Duties ,
Equitable Distribution ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Partner ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Net Investment Income ,
Pass-Through Entities ,
Reinvestment Funds ,
SCOTUS ,
Shareholders ,
Sixteenth Amendment ,
Subpart F ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Taxation ,
Ways and Means Committee
It’s wonderful to be part of a successful business, especially in a strong economy. The owners are probably enjoying a more than just decent return on their investment and, in most cases, are getting along well enough. The...more
10/6/2023
/ Business Expenses ,
Business Ownership ,
Corporate Officers ,
Directors ,
Economic Downturn ,
FICA Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Medicare ,
Payroll Taxes ,
Recovery Plans ,
Responsible Party ,
Social Security ,
Summary Judgment ,
Tax Debt ,
Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (TFRP) ,
Trust Funds ,
Wages ,
Willful Violations ,
Withholding Tax
Another Mess-
Congress has only a few days to avert a “shutdown” of the federal government.
It’s not looking good in the House, as Speaker McCarthy has struggled to bring certain members of the majority into line, while...more
9/29/2023
/ Business Assets ,
Capital Assets ,
Distribution Rules ,
Government Shutdown ,
Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Liquidation ,
Partnership Interests ,
Partnerships ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Retirement ,
Speaker of the House
Approaching Year End-
Which holiday do you dread the most? For me, it has always been, and likely will always be, Labor Day. Of course, with each passing year, anything that I describe as “always” is less meaningful than...more
9/7/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
CFC ,
Controlled Foreign Corporations ,
Equity ,
FICA Taxes ,
Grantee ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Medicare ,
Qualified Restricted Stock Units (RSUs) ,
Remuneration ,
Selling a Business ,
Social Security ,
Stocks ,
Taxable Income ,
Taxation ,
Vesting ,
Wages ,
Withholding Tax
Death of a Parent-
In the context of a family-owned business, it is often the case that the matriarch or patriarch of the family is also the chief executive of the business. They may have founded the business, or they may...more
8/11/2023
/ Closely Held Businesses ,
Estate Planning ,
Estate Tax ,
Family Businesses ,
Heirs ,
Insolvency ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Spouses ,
Surviving Spouse ,
Tax Court ,
Tax Liability ,
Tax Liens ,
Tax Returns ,
Transfer Taxes ,
Trusts
It’s Complicated-
The Code includes a number of complex rules that are aimed at those overseas business and investment activities of U.S. taxpayers that Congress has determined may result in the improper deferral or...more
7/11/2023
/ CARES Act ,
Controlled Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Corporations ,
Foreign Earned Income ,
Foreign Investment ,
Foreign Ownership ,
Foreign Tax ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
IRS ,
Parent Corporation ,
Senate Finance Committee ,
Stock Ownership ,
Subpart F ,
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ,
Tax Deferral
The Supremes-
The Constitution has figured prominently in the news of late. In the days preceding the initial discussions among members of the Administration and the Congressional leadership regarding the debt ceiling,...more
5/24/2023
/ Debt Ceiling ,
Debt Collection ,
Federal Budget ,
Financial Records ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investigations ,
IRS ,
Notice Requirements ,
SCOTUS ,
Summons ,
Tax Liability ,
Third-Party
At war with Russia in eastern Europe, a nascent competing world order, mass shootings and bank failures at home, questionable audit practices by the Big 4 . . . everywhere, debt ceilings and the risk of default, inflation,...more
5/12/2023
/ Capital Contributions ,
Capital Gains ,
Capital Investments ,
Fair Market Value ,
Future Profits ,
Income Taxes ,
Internal Revenue Code (IRC) ,
Investors ,
IRS ,
Limited Liability Company (LLC) ,
Liquidation ,
Partnership Interests ,
Partnerships ,
Profits Interests ,
Safe Harbors ,
Tax Court ,
Term Sheets