Personal Income Tax Planning

This PodCast provides a look at recent cases where the IRS lost a statute of limations argument.  In the case of Bakersfield Energy Partners, LP, 128 TC No. 17, the question was whether an overstatement of basis used in computing a Section 1231 gain could result in omission from gross income that triggers the six year statute of limitations under Code Sections 6629 and 6501.   The Tax Court decided the answer was "No". The materials can be downloaded at http://www.edzollars.com/2007-06-22_Limits.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 pertains to IRS Notice 2007-54 which grants partial relief from some of the changes made to the preparer penalties under Section 6694(a), delaying full implementation of the provisions until next year.  We discuss the extent of the relief granted, as well as some of the reactions to this change noticed in online discussion groups. The materials for this podcast, including the above notice, can be found at www.edzollars.com/2007-06-15_Delay_of_Game.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 a follow-up to our last.  Kaye Thomas noted that though prior drafts of the bill and the Joint Committee's report on the bill indicated expanding the general rule on the Kiddie Tax one more year, that provision is not included in the final bill.  Rather, only the "student" provision is added to the bill. The materials have now been updated, and can be downloaded from the original link at http://edzollars.com/2007-05-25_New_Law.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 first major tax bill of the 2007 Congress with changes that are meant to grant relief to small businesses, but which also have revenue raisers that will impact a number of clients.  The President has indicated he will sign the bill, so over the Memorial Day weekend we can all read up on the new law to start our summer.The materials are available for download at http://edzollars.com/2007-05-25_New_Law.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 Proposed Regulations under Section 152 to clarify the treatment of divorced parents, regulations that would both serve to document what has developed under the current temporary regulations and case law and add some new quirks-including the ability to revoke a waiver that was to apply to a future year by the custodial parent. The materials for the podcast can be found at http://www.edzollars.com/2007-05-08_Dependent.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 travel deductions.  A taxpayer without a regular place of business can still obtain a deduction for travel away from home if the taxpayer can establish that he/she has a home.  In two cases (Jason Ayala v. Commissioner and Manuel Ayala, Jr. v. Commissioner) the taxpayers failed to show they had a home and lost the deduction.  But the IRS also failed in its attempt to assess a negligence penalty on these taxpayers. The materials for the podcast can be downloaded from http://www.edzollars.com/2007-04-27_Home.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 provides guidance on Circular 230 issues.  The IRS on April 23 released guidance on the application of monetary penalties to practitioners, their employers, firms and related entities for violations of Circular 230 as authorized by the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 This guidance gives some insight into the IRS's views on how they will make use of this new enforcement tool, as well as some indication of what the IRS might view as an appropriate quality control system for a tax practice.  If, as expected, SSTS No. 9 goes from an exposure draft to a final standard for CPAs, this document may be one to consider when a CPA firm sets out its tax quality control standards. And given the existence of the 'aspirational' standard for best practices in Circular 230 Section 10.33, the importance of SSTS No. 9 may not be limited to CPAs. The materials for this podcast can be found at http://www.edzollars.com/2007-04-24_Monetary_Penalties.pdfThere's an excellent book on this topic by Jonathan Bl

This Podcast concerns the income tax statute of limitations.  When Code Section 6501(c) refers to a false and fraudulent return, does the IRS need to show that the taxpayer was involved in the fraud to be able to use the unlimited statute of limitations to assess tax?  Or is it enough to show only that the preparer was involved in preparing a false return with the intent to evade income tax on behalf of the taxpayer?  That's the issue the Tax Court considered in the case of Allen v. Commissioner, 128 TC No. 4.The supporting materials for this podcast can be downloaded from http://edzollars.com/2007-03-10_Preparer_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 is Part II in a discussion on Insurable Interest between Steve Leimberg and Randy Zipse of the John Hancock. 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 first in a 3 part series on Insurable Interest.  In this Podcast, Steve Leimberg and Randy Zipse of the John Hancock discuss the underlying philosophy and legal background.  In the following Podcasts, Steve and Randy will cover more specific situations such as the insurable interest between spouses, unmarried couples, parents and children, partners and their partnerships, and employers and employees. 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 IRS guidance indicating their displeasure with a marketed FLP shelter that promises benefits via the literal application of partnership provisions in the IRC.  In CCA 200704028 the IRS outlines both the shelter that was marketed that claimed the magic of returning most of the investment via a credit against state taxes and then a capital loss deduction for the investment for federal tax purposes as well.  The IRS outlines three separate rationales for disallowing the claimed treatment.The materials for the podcast can be downloaded from http://edzollars.com/2007-02-24_Credit_Denied.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 pertains to what must be done to otain certain income tax benefits for Code Sections 469, 179, 1362/1375 and 1402.  Congress doesn't necessarily make the law work as consistently as practitioners would like it to work.  This PodCast examines these four different Code provisions and their somewhat different view on whether "enough" is being done to get a tax benefit.The materials for the podcast can be found at http://edzollars.com/2007-02-17_Passive.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 Medical Reimbursement Plans (MRPs).  In the 2006 Speltz case the taxpayer prevailed in a medical reimbursement plan provided for her husband who worked for the taxpayer's daycare business as an employee.  That was a case where the taxpayer kept excellent records and truly kept track of all the necessary details.  This Podcast reflects the results in two cases where taxpayers were not as meticulous with such plans and the results were not nearly as good.We look at the cases of Snorek v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2007-34 and Francis v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2007-33 for taxpayers who adopted medical reimbursement plans but found that there was more to sustaining the deduction than just doing that. The materials for this week's presentation can be downloaded from http://edzollars.com/2007-02-17_Medical.pdf We also share early experiences with Microsoft Vista, Word 2007 and Excel 2007.  You can also find a tipcard for Excel 2007  at the following site: http

This PodCast is about HSAs.  Congress passed a number of incentives in the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 meant to make Health Savings Accounts (or HSAs) more attractive to taxpayers.  We'll take a look at these provisions and consider their impact on our clients.The materials for the podcast can be downloaded from http://edzollars.com/2007-02-03_HSAs.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 timing.  We examine the case of a traveler who got bitten when she attempted to make use of the hotel to get a package picked up by a private delivery service-a package that happened to contain her petition to the Tax Court which she was filing on the last day available.  When the delivery service reported picking up the package the following day, the IRS argued that she had blown her chance to file in Tax Court--and the Tax Court agreed.The case is Austin v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2007-11 and the materials can be downloaded at http://edzollars.com/2007-01-27_Late_Filing.pdf.We also discuss the IRS announcement that 2006 returns won't be due until April 17 due to April 16 being a city holiday in the District of Columbia and its impact at the state level. Finally, this PodCast covers this week's release by Microsoft of the consumer version of Windows Vista and Office 2007. This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservic

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 covers the extenders in the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 .  These include a number of the items that expired at the end of 2005 and had not yet been extended.  One provision added in the bill gives relief to individuals who have old, unused minimum tax credit which is discussed in this podcast.The materials can be downloaded at http://edzollars.com/2006-12-09_Giving_Credit.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