Cases, Rulings, Regulations

This PodCast considers an IRS memorandum that argues against the position taken by a taxpayer arguing that his transaction literally complies with Code Sections 731 and 732.  The IRS argued that the transaction, which involved the partnership acquiring a residence for the partner to redeem his interest, actually represented the equivalent of a distribution of cash followed by the purchase of the house--a transaction that would have triggered a significant taxable gain.The materials for this podcast can be downloaded from http://edzollars.com/2007-01-20_Literally_Too_Good.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast concerns IRS Notice 2007-7 that explains the distribution provisions in the Pension Protection Act of 2006.  We focus on some of he provisions contained in this notice that would be of special interest to advisers of closely held businesses and their owners.The materials for the podcast can be downloaded from http://edzollars.com/2007-01-12_IRS_PPA_Notice.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast is about stock options.  Sometimes life just doesn't seem fair.  Like when you exercise stock options from your former employer, and the stock price drops 20% from the date you told your employer to exercise the options until just a few days later.  And, even worse, at the last minute you revoked instructions to your former employer to immediately sell the shares upon exercise and instead decided to hold the shares.  Here, the taxpayer attempted to salvage something from this by arguing that the later date was the measuring date for the compensation value since that was the date that the employer actually received the funds for the shares.This is the story we look at in the case of Walter v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2007-2, a story that doesn't have a happy ending for the taxpayer.The printed materials are found at http://edzollars.com/2007-01-06_Options.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit ou

This PodCast is about the Section 475(f) mark-to-market election.  The mark to market election under Section 475(f) can have a major impact for individuals that were unsuccessful in their attempt to become a day trader (which turns out to be the majority of those who try).  However, the election has rather strict requirements on when the election must be filed  - as the taxpayer in Knish v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2006-268, learned as he tried to unsuccessfully argue for the validity of his election  -  filed 18 months after the date that Revenue Procedure 99-17 required it have been filed.The materials for this podcast can be downloaded at http://edzollars.com/2006-12-31_Mark_to_Market.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast is about the IRS warning to accrual basis taxpayers that the Service has some very specific ideas on the proper application of the recurring item exception.  We focus on Revenue Ruling 2007-3 and the issues it raises for deductions on contracts entered into near year end.The materials for this podcast can be downloaded from http://edzollars.com/2006-12-23_Accrued_Expenses.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast covers the issue of whether an individual is or isn't considered an active participant in a retirement plan.The determination can be complex, as the taxpayer found out in the case of Colombell v. Commissioner, TC Summary 2006-184.  As the taxpayer discovered, the mere fact she was not earning any benefit under the plan (nor was she likely ever to do so) did not mean she was not an active participant, as the regulations define that term.The materials can be downloaded from http://edzollars.com/2006-12-02_Participant.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This is Part II of the PodCast interview between Randy Zipse of the John Hancock and Steve Leimberg on the subject of life insurance in charitable planning.  Part I covered some of the problems and issues a life insurance professional must anticipate and questions a charitable development officer should be considering when contemplating the use of life insurance to meet charitable objectives.Part II covers the advantages of using life insurance as a tool in charitable planning and discusses 13 ways it can be implemented. This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This is the first of two PodCasts with discussions between Randy Zipse of the John Hancock and Steve Leimberg on the topic of life insurance in charitable planning.  This first Podcast discusses some of the issues a charity's development officer must consider before considering a life insurance proposal - and some of the roadblocks a life insurance agent faces when trying to present a proposal involving the use of life insurance in charitable planning.Part II considers some of the many positive, ethical, and highly beneficial ways life insurance can be used in charitable planning. This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This is PART II of our two part PodCast, THE FUTURE VISION OF ESTATE PLANNING, a special presentation of Leimberg Information Services, Inc. (LISI) and is courtesy of the Wilmington Trust Company of Wilmington, Delaware.    Wilmington Trust Company has been hosting panel discussion seminars entitled, "The Future Vision of Estate Planning" in major U.S. cities throughout 2006.  WTC was kind enough to allow LISI to tape and share with LISI members its Wednesday, November 8th, 2006 program which was presented in Philadelphia.     The panel was moderated by Wilmington Trust's Managing Director and Trust Counsel for Wilmington Trust's Wealth Advisory Services (and frequent LISI commentator) Richard (Dick) Nenno and included other three renowned attorneys as panel participants, Francis (Frank) J. Mirabello, Esquire - partner and manager of the Personal Law Practice of Morgan Lewis, Pam H. Schneider, Esquire - founding partner of the law firm of Gadsden Schneider &

This is PART I of a two part PodCast, THE FUTURE VISION OF ESTATE PLANNING, a special presentation of Leimberg Information Services, Inc. (LISI) and is courtesy of the Wilmington Trust Company of Wilmington, Delaware.    Wilmington Trust Company has been hosting panel discussion seminars entitled, "The Future Vision of Estate Planning" in major U.S. cities throughout 2006.  WTC was kind enough to allow LISI to tape and share with LISI members its Wednesday, November 8th, 2006 program which was presented in Philadelphia.     The panel was moderated by Wilmington Trust's Managing Director and Trust Counsel for Wilmington Trust's Wealth Advisory Services (and frequent LISI commentator) Richard (Dick) Nenno and included other three renowned attorneys as panel participants, Francis (Frank) J. Mirabello, Esquire - partner and manager of the Personal Law Practice of Morgan Lewis, Pam H. Schneider, Esquire - founding partner of the law firm of Gadsden Schneider &

This PodCast deals with rulings related to the accountable plan rules, and how the IRS interprets the options for implementing those rules.  Specifically, we will focus on Revenue Rulings 2006-56 and 2005-52.The materials can be downloaded at http://edzollars.com/2006-11-25_Accountable_Plan_Per_Diem.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast is about the simplified method that businesses can elect to use to compute the amount of their refund for the federal long distance excise tax that the IRS finally agreed the law did not allow them to collect.  The simplified method is elective, and uses April and September 2006 phone invoices to compute a percentage that is applied to all telephone expense throughout the relevant period.Materials, including the IRS notice and questions and answers, can be downloaded at http://edzollars.com/2006-11-18_Telephone_Tax_Refund.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast is about Section 83 elections.   83(b) elections were all the rage, especially for those with stock options during the dot com bubble--and now many of those individuals regret the election.   The Tax Court considered the case of Anthony Kadillak (Kadillak v. Commissioner, 127 TC No. 13) who sought to escape the consequences of his 83(b) election and subsequent forfeiture of a portion of the shares through various means. The materials can be downloaded at http://edzollars.com/2006-11-11_83b_and_AMT.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This podcast deals with the case of Estate of Landers, TC Memo 2006-230, where an estate's co-administrator attempted to seek a finding that there was reasonable cause for late filing based upon his reliance upon his (now deceased) co-administrator, who was a tax professional, and who suffered a broken hip two months before the extended due date of the estate tax return.The case offers a look at what does and doesn't constitute reasonable cause for late filing, as well as the issue of whether a nonprofessional can be excused for not being aware of the due date of a return if he claims he relied upon a professional to inform him of the due date.The materials are located at http://edzollars.com/2006-11-01_Late_Filing_Tax_Professional.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast is about the Eliot Spitzer suit against Coventry First, the life settlement company.  LISI thanks John Hancock Life's Randy Zipse who, with Ray Iddings of the John Hancock, are involved in this Podcast.  More information on this suit, which alleges bid-rigging fraud and other charges, can be found in Estate Planning Newsletter # 1045 at http://www.leimbergservices.com   You can also find Barry Flagg's economic analysis of investor-initiated life insurance which was just posted as Estate Planning Newsletter # 1046. This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This Podcast is about the GST.  The Tax Court reasserted its previously stated position on the treatment of the GST grandfathering provision for trusts in existence on September 25, 1985 when a party holds a general power of appointment under that trust.  It held that the IRS final regulations that treat such a power as removing the trust transfers from the protection of the grandfathering provisions are valid, despite cases decided by the Eighth and Ninth Circuit where it was held the plain language of the grandfathering provisions meant that such powers were to be ignored for this purpose. The Tax Court and the Second Circuit had previously held such a position to be a valid interpretation of the law.  Now it appears the Sixth Circuit, which has not yet been heard on this matter, will gets its say in the Gerson Estate case (127 TC No. 11). The materials can be downloaded from http://edzollars.com/2006-10-28_Plain_Language.pdf .  This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services,

This PodCast pertains to the proposed IRS regulations that will radically change the taxation of private annuities, making Revenue Ruling 69-74 obsolete as of October 18.  It discusses the new treatment the IRS is proposing, and how it would impact such transactions.  See Steve Leimberg's Estate Planning Newsletter # 1037 for more on this change. This PodCast also summarizes some other recent developments, including the new updated numbers for qualified plan limitations.  See Steve Leimberg's Employee Benefits and Retirement Planning Newsletter # 388 for more on this IRS release of the 2007 key numbers.  This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This Podcast deals with the coordination of the capital loss rules of 1211 and the alternative minimum tax.  In the case of Palahnuk v. Commissioner, 127 T.C. No. 9 the Tax Court once again dashed the hopes of a taxpayer who exercised highly appreciated incentive stock options only to see their value plummet before the year had expired that would allow the taxpayer to sell the shares and get long term capital gain treatment for regular tax purposes.The materials can be downloaded from http://edzollars.com/2006-10-14_Lets_Try_This_Again.pdf .Be sure to check out Michael Kitces' recent article on the AMT ( Qureshi v. U.S., 96 AFTR2d 2005-5949 (67 Fed. Cl. 783), 8/31/2005, Qureshi v. U.S., 98 AFTR2d 2006-6473, 9/6/2006)  at http://www.leimbergservices.com This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This podcast covers a number of recent tax developments, including dealing with the burning issue of whether a preparer must sign the client's copy of the return, a recent case involving again the question of what is alimony and the IRS's recent reprieve from the requirement that nonqualified deferred compensaton plans be in compliance with the (as of yet) not issued final regualtions by January 1, 2007.Documents for this podcast are available at http://edzollars.com/2006-10-06_ThisandThat.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast is about the definition of the term, "employee".  The issue of whether a service provider is properly treated as a contractor or employee is an important issue for many small businesses.  In the case of Orion Contracting Trust v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2006-211, the Tax Court looked at this issue.  As well, the Court also took a look at the issue of what actions would indicate the proper "bad faith" to allow the imposition of a fraud penalty.The materials for the podcast can be downloaded from http://edzollars.com/2006-09-30_Who_Is_An_Employee.pdf .. This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com