Ex-Wifes Share of Military Retirement Payments Is Subject to Tax

Article:  The Tax Court held that a taxpayer’s share of her ex-husband’s military retirement payments was subject to tax despite the fact that a domestic relations order specified that taxes were to be withheld from the payments before the taxpayer’s share of the payments was determined.
Published on January 28, 2011

Decision Not to Reinstate Offer Upheld

Article:  The Tax Court held that an IRS Appeals officer’s decision in a collection due process hearing not to reinstate a taxpayer’s offer in compromise after the taxpayer failed to meet a condition of the offer in compromise was not an abuse of discretion.
Published on January 28, 2011

Current Corporate Income Tax Developments (Part I)

Article:  During 2008, there were many changes in the area of state and local corporate income taxation. This article focuses on some of the more interesting items in the following corporate income tax areas: nexus, tax base, allocable/apportionable income.
Published on January 28, 2011

Partner Cannot Sue for Refund of Penalty Paid by Partnership

Article:  The Eighth Circuit reversed a district court and held that where a partnership paid a penalty under a closing agreement with the IRS, a partner in the partnership did not have standing to sue for a refund of part of the penalty payment.
Published on January 28, 2011

Retaining Key Employees in a Tough Economic Environment

Article:  Employee retention has long been an issue in public accounting. Firms across the country are implementing unique as well as time-tested strategies to deal with this concern.
Published on January 28, 2011

Sec. 121 Planning Opportunities After the Housing Assistance Tax Act

Article:  The Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008 (the Housing Act) implemented major revisions to Sec. 121.
Published on January 28, 2011

Claiming Ordinary Losses for Sec. 1244 Stock

Article:  Sec. 1244 encourages new investment in small business by permitting investors to claim an ordinary (rather than a capital) loss on the disposition (including worthlessness) of qualifying small business stock.
Published on January 28, 2011

New Material Adviser Reporting Rules

Article:  The IRS has issued proposed regulations relating to the reporting rules for material advisers (REG-160872-04).
Published on January 28, 2011

Employment Tax Reporting for Disregarded Entities

Article:  Many tax-exempt organizations have formed single-member limited liability companies (SMLLCs) as integral parts of their entity structure. However, SMLLCs with employees have new reporting requirements effective January 1, 2009.
Published on January 28, 2011

Regulations Eliminate Hot Stock Rule for Certain Reorgs.

Article:  The IRS issued regulations that generally hold that the so-called hot stock rule is inapplicable in reorganizations where a subsidiary is a member of the distributing corporation’s separate affiliated group.
Published on January 28, 2011

Guidance on Unbundling Trust Fees

Article:  The IRS announced that for tax years beginning before January 1, 2008, nongrantor trusts and estates would not be required to unbundle their fiduciary fees to determine what portion is subject to the Sec. 67(a) 2% threshold for itemized deductions.
Published on January 28, 2011

IRS Explains How Unmarried Taxpayers Allocate First-Time Homebuyer Credit

Article:  The IRS has issued Notice 2009-12, explaining how the Sec. 36 first-time homebuyer credit should be allocated between unmarried taxpayers who buy a principal residence together.
Published on January 28, 2011

Must LIFO Go to Make Way for IFRS

Article:  Currently, IFRS do not allow for the use of the LIFO inventory method, jeopardizing its use for U.S. tax purposes due to the LIFO conformity requirement in Sec. 472. The disallowance of the use of LIFO for tax purposes would result in a large current tax bill for many of
Published on January 28, 2011

The Importance of Proper and Timely Hedge Identification

Article:  In general, failure to properly identify a hedge for tax purposes may expose a taxpayer to ordinary treatment of gains and capital treatment of losses (i.e., character whipsaw).
Published on January 28, 2011

New Information Reporting Requirements for Payment Card and Third-Party Network Transactions

Article:  A provision in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 contains new information return reporting requirements related to the settlement of reportable transactions involving payment card (e.g., credit and debit cards) and third-party network transactions.
Published on January 28, 2011