Estate and gift exclusion clawback addressed in proposed regs.

In proposed regulations issued Wednesday (REG-106706-18), the IRS addressed issues and made conforming revisions arising from the temporary increase in basic exclusion amount for estate and gift tax enacted by legislation known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), P.L. 115-97. For gifts made and estates of decedents dying before Jan. 1, 2018, prior …

Continue reading Estate and gift exclusion clawback addressed in proposed regs.

Five types of interest expense, three sets of new rules

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Individual taxpayers are subject to different rules for deducting different types of interest expense. The five primary types of interest for individual taxpayers are student loan interest, qualified residence indebtedness interest, investment interest, business interest, and personal interest. The law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act temporarily introduced new rules for …

Continue reading Five types of interest expense, three sets of new rules

Qualified small business stock gets more attractive

EXECUTIVESUMMARY Under Sec. 1202, gain on the sale of qualified small business (QSB) stock held for five years is partially or entirely excluded from income. Since Sec. 1202 was enacted, the maximum exclusion has ranged from 50% to the current 100% of gain on qualifying stock sales. For stock to be QSB stock, the corporation …

Continue reading Qualified small business stock gets more attractive

Filing ‘optional’ partnership return costly

Married couples that jointly own a business often by default choose to treat the business as a partnership, which requires the business to file a partnership return. However, in many cases, treating the business as a partnership and filing partnership returns is optional. A recent Tax Court case highlights how a married couple's choice to …

Continue reading Filing ‘optional’ partnership return costly

How the suspension of personal exemptions affects health-care-related provisions

The IRS on Thursday explained how taxpayers who may be eligible for the Sec. 36B premium tax credit or who may have to pay the Sec. 5000A shared-responsibility payment should determine their status now that the law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, P.L. 115-97, has reduced the personal exemption deduction under Sec. …

Continue reading How the suspension of personal exemptions affects health-care-related provisions

Rules issued on paid family and medical leave credit

The IRS on Monday issued 34 questions and answers on new Sec. 45S, which was added by the law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, P.L. 115-97, to provide a general business credit for employers who provide paid family and medical leave to their employees (Notice 2018-71). The credit equals a percentage of …

Continue reading Rules issued on paid family and medical leave credit

Meals continue to be deductible under new IRS guidance

The IRS on Wednesday issued guidance clarifying that taxpayers may generally continue to deduct 50% of the food and beverage expenses associated with operating their trade or business, despite changes to the meal and entertainment expense deduction under Sec. 274 made by the tax law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), P.L. …

Continue reading Meals continue to be deductible under new IRS guidance

Rules issued on paid family and medical leave credit

The IRS on Monday issued 34 questions and answers on new Sec. 45S, which was added by the law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, P.L. 115-97, to provide a general business credit for employers who provide paid family and medical leave to their employees (Notice 2018-71). The credit equals a percentage of …

Continue reading Rules issued on paid family and medical leave credit

IRS issues 2018–2019 per-diem rates

Business travelers who incur expenses while traveling away from home have new per-diem rates to use in substantiating certain of those expenses (Notice 2018-77). The new rates are in effect from Oct. 1, 2018, to Sept. 30, 2019. The IRS on Wednesday provided the 2018–2019 special per-diem rates, including the transportation industry meal and incidental …

Continue reading IRS issues 2018–2019 per-diem rates