The art of estate planning is affected by a number of variables that change over time. The currently low-interest-rate environment and the imminent return of a lower estate tax exemption are among the factors shaping estate planning today. A sale to an intentionally defective grantor trust is one vehicle which works well to transfer wealth
Month: June 2020
The logo of Amazon Web Services (AWS) is seen during the 4th annual America Digital Latin American Congress of Business and Technology in Santiago, Chile, September 5, 2018. Ivan Alvarado | Reuters Amazon Web Services, the cloud-computing branch of the e-commerce giant, is further expanding its services in the growing space industry. The company announced
Iowa’s HF 2614, which passed both chambers of the legislature and now waits for the governor’s signature, makes several changes to the state’s tax code, which, although they will affect revenue, will encourage economic growth and make the state’s tax code more competitive. This bill decouples from GILTI and the net interest limitation and exempts
Bloom Productions Financial advisors are largely an optimistic bunch when it comes to growing their practices, new research shows. Yet they know they have some work to do to make that happen. While most advisors expect growth in their assets under management to come primarily from new and existing clients rather than market returns, they
Removing the tax code’s bias against long-term investment by implementing a neutral cost recovery system (NCRS) for structures and full expensing for other assets is estimated to increase economic growth and job creation. Using the Tax Foundation General Equilibrium Model, we estimate that permanent full expensing and neutral cost recovery for structures will add more
The Internal Revenue Service has released its annual IRS Data Book for 2019 with a new format that aims to showcase the IRS’s work in fiscal year 2019, along with an additional message about its response this year to the novel coronavirus pandemic, which delayed publication. The redesigned IRS Data Book includes the usual annual
National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins released her first report to Congress Monday, discussing some of the difficulties confronting taxpayers and the IRS during the COVID-19 pandemic, which has only exacerbated problems with taxpayer service as the IRS struggled to implement the provisions of the CARES Act and the Taxpayer First Act. Collins took over from
People walk by a Wells Fargo bank branch on October 13, 2017 in New York City. Spencer Platt | Getty Images Wells Fargo warned on Monday that it will likely cut its dividend after the Federal Reserve announced it would cap dividends for banks based on earnings. Wall Street analysts pointed to Wells Fargo as
Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill. Ralf-Finn Hestoft | Corbis | Getty Image The bill, called the Student Recovery Eligibility for Low-Income Individuals to Exact Funds (RELIEF) Act of 2020, would make students receiving Pell Grants eligible to receive $1,200 stimulus checks. Federal Pell Grants are need-based funds given to low-income students to help them complete their
The Sustainability Accounting Standards Board voted during an online meeting last week to open a new standard-setting project to address single-use plastics and bio-alternatives in the chemicals and pulp and paper industries. Increased public scrutiny of the environmental impacts of plastics use has led to increased regulation and changing customer demands for packaging, creating risks
The IRS initiated 71% fewer corporate audits this spring compared with the same time period a year ago as the coronavirus pandemic halted many agency operations. The Internal Revenue Service began 718 corporate audits from April 1 to June 1 this year, compared with 2,445 in 2019, according to a National Taxpayer Advocate report released
Fracking giant Chesapeake Energy’s bankruptcy filing comes following a financial mess at the company that included no budgets, a massive wine collection and a nine-figure bill for parking garages, sources told CNBC’s David Faber. CEO Robert D. “Doug” Lawler found in examining the company’s books a $110 million bill for two parking garages, Faber reported
Klaus Vedfelt If you took a mandatory distribution from an inherited retirement account this year, the IRS will let you put the money back. The CARES Act, which became law on March 27, allowed individuals to skip required minimum distributions for 2020. This is the annual withdrawal you must take from your individual retirement account and
Andrew Oswalt, senior tax analyst at TaxAct, explains why your stimulus money will not impact your 2020 tax outcome when you file next year. Click to watch! [embedded content] Have more questions? Visit our Everything You Need to Know About the Stimulus Payments blog post for additional details regarding your stimulus payment.
It is important to develop a specialty, but it needs to be balanced with the needs of the practice and your interests. In this age of specialization and niche expertise, being a generalist is a negative to most people, indicating a lack of competency in an area. When someone professes to be an “expert” in
A worker on a Chesapeake Energy natural gas rig in Fort Worth, Texas Matt Nager | Bloomberg | Getty Images Chesapeake Energy, the poster child of the U.S. shale revolution, filed for bankruptcy protection on Sunday. The move comes as the company and industry more broadly has been rocked by a drop in oil and
The reception desk at luxury boutique property Diamond Mills Hotel & Tavern in Saugerties, New York, features sneeze guards. Guests and staff must wear face masks in public areas. Gina Hornbeck/Diamond Mills Hotel & Tavern Like most components of travel in the Covid-19 era, hotel check-in has changed — perhaps, in many ways, for good.
The Internal Revenue Service wasted $22.7 million auditing tax returns that resulted in no additional revenue for the federal government, according to an agency watchdog. Almost half — 47.2% — of the audits on large companies from fiscal years 2016 through 2018 resulted in the IRS concluding that no additional tax was due, the Treasury
Mastercard credit cards Roberto Machado Noa/ LightRocket via Getty Images How to find compelling stocks primed to outperform during a volatile second half of the year? Here are a few of the names the best-performing Wall Street analysts are betting on right now. As fears of a resurgence in the coronavirus sweep the globe, it could
PeopleImages | E+ | Getty Images Deciding when to take your Social Security retirement benefits is a crucial decision no matter when you make it. Making that call during the coronavirus pandemic can raise the stakes. That’s because the age at which you decide to claim will lock in the amount of monthly income you
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 14
- Next Page »