It is not unreasonable to anticipate that there will be a federal tax policy transformation following a change in the political control of the White House, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. What may be unreasonable, however, is making knee-jerk tax planning decisions in anticipation of possible modifications to the Internal Revenue Code (the "Code"). Reactionary planning, unless it is well thought out and is based upon sound business judgment, could end up being disastrous. During the present times, tax advisors and their clients need to be cautious in their tax planning and any related decision-making.
Looking through a lens solely focused on federal taxation, it seems that commentators, tax advisors and taxpayers alike are all worried about the future. Possible tax policy changes on the horizon that are being bantered about include:
The NYU 77th Institute on Federal Taxation (IFT) is taking place in New York City on October 21-26, 2018, and in San Diego on November 11-16, 2018. This year, I will be presenting my latest White Paper, Subchapter S After The Tax Cuts And Jobs Act – The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. My presentation will include a discussion about the direct changes made by the TCJA to Subchapter S as well as the impact on Subchapter S by other provisions of the TCJA, including creation of a single corporate tax rate under Section 11, creation of the Section 199A deduction, elimination of personal property exchanges under Section 1031, and elimination of the corporate alternative minimum tax. I will also discuss the ongoing benefits of Subchapter S and new traps that exist for the unwary.
The IFT is one of the country's leading tax conferences, geared specifically for CPAs and attorneys who regularly are involved in federal tax matters. The speakers on our panel, Taxation of Closely Held Businesses, include some of the most preeminent tax attorneys in the United States, including Jerry August, Terry Cuff, Wells Hall, Stephen Looney, Ronald Levitt, Stephen Kuntz, Mark Peltz, and Bobby Philpott. I am proud to be a part of IFT.
This will be my eighth year as an IFT presenter, and I am again speaking as part of the Closely Held Business panel on October 25 (NYC) and November 15 (San Diego). As in previous years, the IFT will cover a wide range of fascinating topics, including tax controversy, executive compensation and employee benefits, international taxation, corporate taxation, real estate taxation, partnership taxation, taxation of closely-held businesses, trusts and estates, and ethics. The IFT is especially important this year given the recent passage of the TCJA and the many new tax provisions that were added to the Code, including Section 199A.
I hope you will join us this year for what will be a terrific tax institute. Looking forward to seeing you in either New York or San Diego!
View the complete agenda and register at the NYU 77th IFT website.
The NYU 76th Institute on Federal Taxation (IFT) is taking place in New York City on October 22-27, 2017, and in San Francisco on November 12-17, 2017. This year, I will be presenting my latest White Paper, The Built-in Gains Tax Revisited. My presentation will include a discussion about the history of the tax; application and impact of the tax; ways to avoid or potentially minimize the tax; the complexities of Code Section 1374 and the regulations promulgated thereunder; valuation issues; planning opportunities; traps that exist for the unwary; relevant cases and rulings; and practical tax practitioner guidance.
The IFT is one of the country's leading tax conferences, geared specifically for CPAs and attorneys who regularly are involved in federal tax matters. The speakers on our panel include some of the most preeminent tax attorneys in the United States, including Jerry August, Terry Cuff, Wells Hall, Karen Hawkins, Stephen Looney, Stephen Kuntz, Mark Peltz and Bobby Philpott. I am proud to be a part of IFT.
This will be my fifth year as an IFT presenter, and I am speaking as part of the Closely Held Business panel on October 26 (NYC) and November 16 (San Francisco). As in previous years, the IFT will cover a wide range of fascinating topics, including tax controversy, executive compensation and employee benefits, international taxation, corporate taxation, real estate taxation, partnership taxation, taxation of closely-held businesses, trusts and estates, and ethics.
I hope you will join us this year for what will be a terrific tax institute. Looking forward to seeing you in either New York or San Francisco!
View the complete agenda and register at the NYU 76th IFT website.
Judge Ruwe ruled in Jeremy M. Jacobs and Margaret J. Jacobs v. Commissioner, 148 T.C. 24 (June 26, 2017), that a free lunch may exist today under Federal tax law. In this case, the taxpayers, owners of the Boston Bruins of the National Hockey League, paid for pre-game meals provided by hotels for the players and team personnel while traveling away from Boston for games.
Pursuant to the union collective bargaining agreement governing the Bruins, the team is required to travel to away games a day before the game when the flight is 150 minutes or longer. Before the away games, the Bruins provides the players and staff with a pre-game meal and snack. The meal and snack menus are designed to meet the players’ nutritional guidelines and maximize game performance.
During the tax years at issue, the taxpayers deducted the full cost of the meals and snacks. Upon audit, the IRS contended the cost of the meals and snacks were subject to the 50% limitation under Code Section 274(n)(1) which provides in part:
As a reminder, you are invited to join me at the NYU 75th Institute on Federal Taxation (IFT) taking place on November 13-18, 2016 at Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, California. The IFT is one of the leading tax conferences in the country, geared specifically for CPAs and attorneys who regularly are involved in federal tax matters. I hope you can attend.
Effective October 1, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) changed its approach to conducting appeals conferences. The changes were likely adopted by the government under the guise of efficiency and cost savings. With that said, the changes probably will result in increased negative taxpayer perception of the IRS administrative process, and a significant reduction in prompt and fair resolution of matters at the conference level.
In a nutshell, the major change adopted by the IRS, subject to limited exceptions, is that the government will conduct all appeals conferences by telephone (or a virtual conference, if available). IRM § 8.6.1.4.1. An in-person conference generally will only be allowed if the appeals conferee (i.e., the “Appeals Technical Employee” or “ATE”) and the Appeals Team Manager (“ATM”) concur that it is appropriate and reasonable. As such, they must agree:
Please join me at the NYU 75th Institute on Federal Taxation (IFT) taking place in New York City on October 23-28, 2016, and in San Diego, California on November 13-18, 2016.
The IFT is one of the leading tax conferences in the country, geared specifically for CPAs and attorneys who regularly are involved in federal tax matters. Now in my fourth year as an IFT presenter, I am pleased to once again speak on the closely-held business panel on October 27 (NYC) and November 17 (San Diego). My presentation this year will focus on entity classification under the Check-the-Box regulations. I plan to provide an in-depth view of the regulations, including planning opportunities, traps that exist for the unwary and practical tax practitioner guidance.
As in previous years, the IFT will cover a wide range of fascinating topics, including tax controversies, executive compensation and employee benefits, international taxation, corporate taxation, real estate taxation, partnership taxation, taxation of closely-held businesses, trusts and estates, and ethics.
I look forward to seeing you at IFT in either New York or San Diego!
View the complete agenda and register at the NYU 75th IFT website.
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Larry J. Brant
Editor
Larry J. Brant is a Shareholder and the Chair of the Tax & Benefits practice group at Foster Garvey, a law firm based out of the Pacific Northwest, with offices in Seattle, Washington; Portland, Oregon; Washington, D.C.; New York, New York, Spokane, Washington; Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Beijing, China. Mr. Brant is licensed to practice in Oregon and Washington. His practice focuses on tax, tax controversy and transactions. Mr. Brant is a past Chair of the Oregon State Bar Taxation Section. He was the long-term Chair of the Oregon Tax Institute, and is currently a member of the Board of Directors of the Portland Tax Forum. Mr. Brant has served as an adjunct professor, teaching corporate taxation, at Northwestern School of Law, Lewis and Clark College. He is an Expert Contributor to Thomson Reuters Checkpoint Catalyst. Mr. Brant is a Fellow in the American College of Tax Counsel. He publishes articles on numerous income tax issues, including Taxation of S Corporations, Reasonable Compensation, Circular 230, Worker Classification, IRC § 1031 Exchanges, Choice of Entity, Entity Tax Classification, and State and Local Taxation. Mr. Brant is a frequent lecturer at local, regional and national tax and business conferences for CPAs and attorneys. He was the 2015 Recipient of the Oregon State Bar Tax Section Award of Merit.
