Relying on Audit Techniques Guides
Before meeting with taxpayers and their professional representatives, IRS examiners usually do their homework. This includes reviewing any relevant Audit Techniques Guides (ATGs) that typically focus on a specific industry or audit-prone business transaction. ATGs are...
Remember the New FBAR Filing Deadline
If you have an authority over or interest in a foreign financial account, then the IRS wants you to provide information about the account by filing a form called the "Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts" (FBAR). The annual deadline for filing FBARs has been...
‘Persuasive’ Defense Expert Testimony Defeats ESOP Overpayment Claims
Fish v. Greatbanc Trust Co., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 137351 (Sept. 1, 2016) In an important ESOP decision, the court dismissed claims that the defendants had committed breaches of fiduciary duty and engaged in a prohibited transaction. The case turned on the soundness...
Spring Cleaning: When Can You Purge Your Old Financial Records?
The deadline for Maine individuals and C corporations to file their federal income tax returns for 2016 (or to file for an extension) was April 18. After all that digging and filling, you may be feeling the urge to purge. It's important to make sure you won't be...
The Ins and Outs of Deducting Legal Expenses
Currently under the federal income tax rules, legal expenses incurred by individuals are typically not deductible. Instead, they're most often treated as either part of the cost of acquiring an asset, such as real estate, or as personal outlays (which are...
Daubert: It’s About Reliability of Testimony, Not Power of Persuasion
Post-Confirmation Comm. for Small Loans, Inc. v. Martin, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 44270 (March 31, 2016) A recent ruling in a complex bankruptcy case teaches that Daubert can accommodate differing views on determining solvency for multiple debtor entities. Consolidated...
Recent Developments May Affect Passive Investors with Losses
Are you a passive investor who isn't directly involved in a project's day-to-day operations, or do you materially participate in a business or rental activity in Maine? To help individuals classify income, gains and losses from activities as passive or nonpassive, the...
Health Savings Account Limits for 2018
Businesses in Maine and individuals can buy less expensive health insurance policies with high deductibles with Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Contributions to the accounts are made on a pre-tax basis, and the money can accumulate year after year tax free. It can...
Employer’s Parking Arrangement Doesn’t Qualify for Tax-Free Treatment
If a Maine employer purchases parking spots from a vendor and then charges employees for using them — via paycheck deductions — do the employees qualify for tax-free fringe benefit treatment? The employees in one case asked the IRS for an answer to this question. The...
Remember RMDs this Tax Season
You must start taking mandatory annual withdrawals from your traditional IRAs once you turn age 70½. This includes any simplified employee pension (SEP) accounts and SIMPLE IRAs that you set up as a small business owner. These mandatory IRA payouts are called required...