Personal Income Tax Planning

This PocCast is about the definition of an employee. We look at the matter in the case of Maimon v. Commissioner, TC Summary Opinion 2009-53. Dr. Maimon attempted to argue that he was not an employee of the professional corporation he worked in (and owned some shares in), but rather was an independent contractor. He was interested in holding this position because he had ended up personally paying over legal fees and, ultimately, a $1 million settlement, in a case involving his medical services. The case is interesting because the Court held Dr. Maimon was not an officer and thus actually stepped through the common law tests for employment status. In the end the court found Dr. Maimon was an employee, but the case gives a good outline of the analysis to go through even in cases that aren't quite as "bad facts" as this one. Materials for the podcast are available at http://www.edzollars.com/2009-04-25_Employee.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergser

This PodCast is about the "Innocent Spouse Provisions" of Section 6015. The Tax Court recently decided a pair of cases related to the innocent spouse provisions of "6015 and time limits on filing for relief. In the case of Mannella v. Commissioner, 132 T.C. No. 10 the Tax Court held that even if the notice of intent to levy and rights under the innocent spouse provisions were never seen by the taxpayer, the two year period for relief under "6015(b) and (c) that is specifically imposed by statute begin to run. However, the Court held in this case and the earlier case of Lantz v. Commissioner, 132 T.C. No. 8 that the IRS regulation that imposed a similar two year time limit on equitable relief under "6015(f) was invalid, thus allowing the taxpayers to move forward with a claim for equitable relief. The materials for this podcast are at http://www.edzollars.com/2009-04-19_6015.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our softw

This PodCast is about the distinction between "active" and "passive" activity. The IRS has shown recent interest in disputing whether real estate agents meet the requirements to be treated as real estate professionals that can use the rules of "409(c)(7) to treat rental real estate under the standard passive activity rules rather than having such items automatically treated as passive. The IRS position is that since the law refers to a "brokerage" trade or business and such individuals generally are not licensed as real estate brokers, they cannot qualify. In the case of Agarwal v. Commissioner, TC Summary 2009-29, the Tax Court did not agree with the IRS on that matter, instead allowing the taxpayer, who was a real estate agent who worked as an independent contractor under contract with a licensed brokerage firm, to qualify for "409(c)(7) treatment. The podcast also discusses a 2007 case where it was the IRS who was (successfully) arguing that you can't use state law licensing definitions when the iss

This PodCast is about valuation - and overvaluation. Can nonexistent cattle be overvalued? Certainly not a mooo t point! The Ninth Circuit, disagreeing with the Tax Court and other circuits, says it cannot be in the case of Keller v. Commissioner, 2009 TNT 37-17 reversing on this issue the Tax Court's decision in TC Memo 2006-131. The materials for this podcast can be downloaded at http://www.edzollars.com/2009-03-02_Cattle.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 a case dealing with the trust fund recovery penalty under "6672. In the case of Richard A. Smith v. United States, 2009 TNT 30-6, CA10, (http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/2009/02/07-4210.pdf) the Tenth Circuit refused to overturn the holding in the US District Court of Utah that Mr. Smith was a responsible person, even though he had no ownership interest in the entity in question. The case highlights the dangers for employees in accounting functions when the organization they work for begins to have cash flow problems, and payroll tax payments begin to be skipped.The materials are available at http://www.edzollars.com/2009-02-23_Responsible.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 American Recovery Reinvestment Act of 2009. It has a number of tax provisions, and this podcast looks at the small business net operating loss provisions of the Act. This provision will require action for some taxpayers within 60 days after the bill is signed into law, as well as giving us a "sliding" window for when we start using a net operating loss for the year we elect to have it apply to. The podcast materials are located at http://www.edzollars.com/2009-02-16_NOL.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

Housing problems are all over the news (and with some of our clients), but today's story is a housing problem of a different sort. We look at a case where lots of things went wrong in building a taxpayers' dream home where the taxpayers attempted to claim a casualty loss on their tax return. In the cases of Grief v. Commissioner and Bui v. Commissioner, TC Summary Opinion 2009-18, the Tax Court finds that this couple is not going to get any relief from the IRC.The materials for this week's podcast can be downloaded at http://www.edzollars.com/2009-02-09_Casualty.pdf .I also note in the podcast that I'm posting updates on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com) . My Twitter name is "edzollars" and if you want to follow me there that's fine.The podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, located on the web at http://www.leimbergservices.com . Direct download: 2009-02-09_Casualty.mp3 This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our softw

This PodCast involves a Northwest Airlines mechanic who was laid off and ended up using his "bumping" rights in other cities while hoping to return to his original home base. The question of whether the taxpayer could deduct the expenses of working in the various locations is considered by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals after the Tax Court decided no deduction was allowed in the case of Wilbert v. Commissioner, 2009 TNT 12-12, CA7, affirming TC Memo 2007-152. The materials can be downloaded at http://www.edzollars.com/2009-01-25_TaxHome.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 first-time homebuyer credit - and unmarried individuals. Last year when Congress added the first-time homebuyer credit found in Section 36, they included the ability for unmarried individuals who jointly acquire a residence to allocate the credit among themselves, and gave the IRS the ability to write the rules to allow this to happen. In Notice 2009-12 the IRS has outlined those rules, and they proved to be very taxpayer friendly. The materials for the podcast can be downloaded at http://www.edzollars.com/2009-01-20_UnmarriedCredit.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 based on a topic that was part of a panel Ed Zollars participated in at the Arizona Forum for Improvement of Taxation's winter conference. He spoke with attorney Tracy Essig of Phoenix regarding these matters. The materials can be downloaded at http://www.edzollars.com/ForeclosureDebtandTaxes.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 deduction of Medical expenses and the case of Magdalin v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2008-293. In this case the taxpayer had paid expenses for obtaining eggs and the services of a surrogate mother, and argued that these expenses should be treated as deductible medical expenses, pointing to the IRS's 2003 private letter ruling (PLR 200318017) that allowed a woman the expenses related to in vitro fertilizaiton, including expenses paid for an egg donor. The IRS (and the Tax Court) didn't find the situations to be comparable and denied the deduction. The case gives us a chance to look at the rules around "213. The materials are at http://www.edzollars.com/2008-12-28_Medical.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

Hear about the many factors to consider when deciding the right time for you to retire and start collecting Social Security benefits. 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 self-employment taxes and employee status and focuses on the Tax Court's ruling in McWhorter v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2008-263 where a taxpayer argued he was not subject to self-employment tax because he should have been treated as an employee. The materials can be downloaded at http://www.edzollars.com/2008-11-27_Self_Employed.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 late elections. Here, another taxpayer found out well after filing his return with less than stellar results from his trading activities that there had been an option to file an election under "475(f) to use mark to market accounting which also converts the transactions from short term capital gain/loss to ordinary gain/loss. The taxpayer had over $90,000 in net losses. The materials can be downloaded at http://www.edzollars.com/2008-09-29_LateElection.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 issue of a CPA that got 'creative' in planning with himself and his clients, and in his case he finds the Tax Court isn't amused. The case is Baisden v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2008-215 where a CPA attempted to get around the self-employment tax by paying 'royalties' from his sole proprietorship to himself. The case doesn't deal with that issue (he had conceded that matter by then) but rather deals with whether he was subject to the fraud penalty. The materials are available for download at http://www.edzollars.com/2008-09-22_Fraud.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 Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmation of the Tax Court's decision in the case of Johanson and Melzig v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2006-105 involving alimony. In its original decision, the Tax Court expressed exasperation at having to yet again decide an issue the parties could have resolved in the decree itself-whether the payments would cease on the death of the recipient spouse as required by 71(b) for the payments to be treated as alimony. Yet again, the recipient claimed the payments would not and the payor claimed they would, and the Tax Court had to then divine how a California state court would have ruled under California law. The materials can be found at http://www.edzollars.com/2008-09-08_Alimony.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 reviews the requirements found in the regulations for obtaining the required support for a tax position, concentrating on the methods outlined in Reg. "1.6662-4(d) in the definition of "substantial authority" which are cross referenced multiple times when considering other levels of authority. The materials can be downloaded from http://www.edzollars.com/2008-08-25_Penalty.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 examines the United States Court of Federal Claims decision in Fisher, Trustee v. United States, 2008 TNT 154-7 where the court sided with the taxpayer and held that the proper treatment of amounts received in lieu of shares in the demutualization of Sun Life were to be treated under the open transaction doctrine rather than treated as a sale of shares with a zero basis. More on this topic can be found on LISI as Estate Planning Newsletter # 1330. The materials can be found at http://www.edzollars.com/2008-08-18_OpenTrans.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

The IRS issued proposed regulations to explain the reduction of the NOL substitute in an S corporation setting when cancellation of debt is excluded from the S corporation's income under Section 108. While the regulations are in proposed form only, the "deemed NOL" rules have existed in the IRC since 2002, and Section 108 is likely to be an issue for S corporations who face economic challenges. The materials for this podcast can be found at http://www.edzollars.com/2008-08-04_108andS.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 the sequel to a November 2006 podcast on the same case--that of Kadillak v. Commissioner where an individual who was caught by the "dot bomb" crash of the technology stock of his former employer attempted to mitigate the damage caused by his ISO exercise and 83(b) election made at the height of the craze. A year later, Mr. Kadillak was no longer employed by the organization, the stock price had tanked, and when he sold the stock that he didn't have to surrender got stuck with a $3,000 per year AMT capital loss deduction (probably for lifetime) to "offset" a large prior year AMT liability. The Ninth Circuit has now ruled on the case and, unfortunately for Mr. Kadillak, agreed with the Tax Court's decision. We look at the Section 83(b) election, it's downside risk that Mr. Kadillak obtained "up close and personal" experience with, and some general observations on counseling clients about the "what if" problem when they are sure they know what the future will hold. The materials are available a