Take-Away:  In order for a spouse, or former spouse, to benefit from innocent spouse relief under the Tax Code,  the spouse must show more than just that he or she did not understand the tax return and/or the amounts on the return were either misstated or not reported on the return. Signing the return without […]

Take-Away: In something of a surprise, the IRS recently ruled that an irrevocable trust which was named as the beneficiary of several retirement plan accounts and IRAs qualified for see-through treatment so as to enable the life expectancy of the sole trust beneficiary to be used to calculate required minimum distributions (RMDs) from all of […]

Take-Away: There is more emotion and rhetoric associated with the federal estate tax than any other tax imposed by Congress. Placing that tax into context, and eliminating the emotion, adds a much needed perspective to the tax and just how many folks have to contend with it. Pending Proposals: The House Bill would double all […]

Take-Away: Ignoring for the moment the media’s rhetoric if the pending tax reform law is good policy or bad, a Christmas gift to the middle class to the 0.01% of the populace, or if the end result is a large step towards national insolvency, it is the law and we are obliged to advise our […]

Take-Away: The recent changes to the federal income tax code eliminates personal exemptions, expands the use of 529 accounts, and  it repeals the taxation of spousal support receipts. These rule changes may cause chaos in state divorce courts across the country for previously negotiated settlement agreement where the tax deduction and contractual obligations were critical […]

Take-Away: Pretty much all of the prior miscellaneous income tax deductions that individual taxpayers took advantage of disappeared with last week’s Tax Act. They cease to exist as deductions beginning in 2018. What Deductions are Disappearing? Tax Preparation Fees: Accounting fees for tax return preparation are no longer deductible. Tax Advice Fees: Fees incurred for […]

Take-Away: I know you spent most of the weekend reviewing the proposed tax law that the Committee released late last week. (Hopefully you have more of a life than I do!) So what follows is pretty much repeat of what you already know with a few thoughts of my own. Standard Deduction: This goes from […]

Take-Away: We are told that the pending proposals to change the Tax Code will result in simplification for millions of Americans. That may well be the case with the doubling of the standard deduction that both the House and Senate Bills propose. But there may be a lot more ‘gamesmanship’ afoot if the Senate Bill […]

Take-Away: It is a challenge for the trustee of a discretionary trust to address the addictions of a trust beneficiary. Key provisions need to be included in the discretionary trust to assist the trustee charged to work with a trust beneficiary who is challenged with substance abuse or other addictions. Background: Suppose a client comes […]

Take-Away: There were only a couple of surprises in the two Bills passed by the House and Senate with regard to retirement planning. A couple more surprises could result as the Conference Committee attempts to come up with a compromise Bill that would become the law beginning in 2018. The continuation of the stretch IRA […]