Most people believe that assets held in trust for their benefit, at least to the extent the trust assets were left in trust by a third party (such as, for example, a parent), to be exempt from the claims of their creditors. As a general rule, this belief is well founded. However, as for claims…
Read More
Passive Activity Loss Rules Lead To Yet Another Taxpayer Loss In Court – Why Keeping Adequate Records Is Essential In a recently issued Memorandum Opinion[1], the United States Tax Court found that a husband and wife who owned and operated real estate investment properties were not entitled to deduct losses derived from properties owned in…
Read More
In a recent Tax Court case[1], the Court held that the combined value of ten checks written prior to the decedent’s death, but cashed after his death, was included in the gross estate of the decedent. However, as discussed below, the IRS had conceded that three of the ten checks were not included in the…
Read More
“Portability” is the ability of a surviving spouse to elect to add his or her predeceased spouse’s unused estate tax exemption to their own estate tax exemption. For many clients, adoption of portability in 2010 (and making portability permanent in 2012) meant that complicated estate plans could be greatly simplified. Prior to portability, any unused…
Read More
In a recent case out of the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, the Court held that attorney fees awarded plaintiff’s counsel who was handling the case pro bono, that is, free of charge, were not income to the plaintiff who was represented by the attorneys receiving the fees.[1] In the…
Read More
On November 26, 2019, the Treasury Department and the IRS issued final regulations under Section 2010 which provided taxpayers with some much needed assurance that they would not be punished for utilizing their gift and estate tax exclusion (“Exclusion”) during their lifetime if Exclusion amounts were lower when they died (“Anti-Clawback Regulations”).[1] See Josh Sage’s…
Read More
Generally speaking, tax follows the facts. One can of course change those facts, but when done so merely superficially, intended results may not follow. Some may be more familiar with the phrase “putting lipstick on a pig.” Well, that seems to be more or less the case in the recent opinion released in the Eighth…
Read More
In a recent Tax Court case[1], the Court held that husband and wife taxpayers failed to meet the so-called real estate professional exception to the passive activity rules resulting in the Court denying their excess deductions from rental real estate. The passive activity rules related to rental real estate activities are a little more complex…
Read More
In a recent Chief Counsel Advice (“CCA”) issued by the IRS, the IRS concluded that the taxpayer’s sale of stock did not qualify for the gain exclusion as Qualified Small Business Stock (“QSBS”) under Section 1202 since the business of the corporation was akin to brokerage services.[1] The IRS concluded that the corporation’s business, one…
Read More
The IRS Office of Chief Counsel recently issued CCA 202152018 (“CCA”), in which the IRS is attacking yet another business valuation.[1] The IRS takes the position in the CCA that because the valuation used failed to account for a potential acquisition, the grantor retained annuity trust (“GRAT”) failed to properly qualify as a GRAT even…
Read More