Talking Tax

Opportunity zones and opportunity funds were created by the 2017 tax act to encourage business investment in low-income communities. They have attracted a lot of interest because of the tax incentives, including exclusion and deferral of capital gains. IRS released proposed regulations on October 19 that gave practitioners some answers. Bradley T. Borden, a professor of law at Brooklyn Law School,...

Intel subsidiary Altera Corp.'s cost-sharing structure—and that of other Silicon Valley companies—lies in the hands of one appellate court judge: Susan Graber. The judge's questioning during recent oral argument in the company’s dispute with the IRS could signal a victory for the government, but all agree Altera probably wouldn’t take that lying down. Will the company find itself at war again over...

Several lawmakers on tax-writing committees in both chambers of Congress are facing tough races in the November midterm elections. The outcome of those races will dictate the tax agenda through the end of the year and into 2019. Bloomberg Tax’s Allyson Versprille and Kaustuv Basu discuss the path forward for both the House and Senate, legislation that is dependent on the political party in control...

Intel subsidiary Altera Corp. and the Internal Revenue Service will meet again this month in the 9th Circuit in a case watched by Facebook, Google, and others. A loss for the computer chip-maker could be detrimental to Silicon Valley. A central question in the case turns on the complicated question of allocating costs. But is the case anything more than procedural foofaraw? And was it appropriate...

The House will turn its attention to the tax cut 2.0 package this week, with a floor vote possible during the latter half of the week. The House is also eyeing a vote on a budget bill that will fund the Internal Revenue Service through Dec. 7. And a Ways and Means subcommittee hearing on Sept. 26 will focus on how the IRS uses online tools to protect taxpayers. Bloomberg Tax’s Kaustuv Basu talked...

House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) wants the House to vote by the end of the month on a second round of tax cuts known as Tax 2.0. The package would make some of the temporary provisions in the 2017 tax law permanent and create new retirement and innovation tax incentives. But GOP leaders could face resistance from some members in their party opposed to making the cap on state and local tax deductio...

Intel subsidiary Altera Corp., in a case being closely watched by tech companies, suffered a setback when an appeals court reversed a tax court ruling in its favor. Yet before the three-judge panel could issue its written opinion, one of the judges died. The appeals court withdrew its opinion, and now another judge will step in to break the tie. In this week’s special edition of Talking Tax, Bloom...

Jim Kehl of Weil, Akman, Baylin & Coleman, in Timonium MD, joins Talking Tax host Andrea L. Ben-Yosef to talk about the complicated subject of §199A, a tax code provision added by the 2017 tax act, and the proposed regulations, released on August 8, implementing §199A’s 20% deduction for businesses taxpayers own directly and indirectly through interests in pass-through entities.” The proposed regu...

In Part 2, George D. Karibjanian and Richard S. Franklin of Franklin Karibjanian & Law PLLC join Talking Tax host Andrea L. Ben-Yosef to talk about how the 2017 tax act’s repeal of §682 impacts existing trusts, including alimony trusts and lifetime QTIPs. Without §682, starting in 2019 the taxability of these trusts may remain with the spouse putting money into the trust even post-divorce. Existin...

Taking the CPA exam, studying technology, and setting career goals that fit your personality should be top priorities for young female accountants, two winners of the Most Powerful Women in Accounting award told Bloomberg Tax. Abby Dupree, managing partner at Carroll and Company, CPAs in Tallahassee, Fla., and Kimberly Ellison-Taylor, global strategy leader for the financial services industry at O...

The House of Representatives was busy last week passing a set of tax bills related to health savings accounts and a measure to repeal the medical device tax permanently. The House is on summer recess now, but the Senate is set to vote on a package of bills that include a funding boost for the IRS. Capitol Hill reporter Allyson Versprille spoke with Talking Tax host Amanda Iacone on July 30 about t...

George D. Karibjanian and Richard S. Franklin of Franklin Karibjanian & Law PLLC join Talking Tax host Andrea L. Ben-Yosef to talk about how the 2017 tax act affects alimony by taking away the deduction for the spouse making the alimony payments. This is a revenue raiser and “the most sinister provision” in the 2017 tax act, they said. This new regime, beginning in 2019, will impact the negotiatio...

Republicans are preparing a timeline for passing a series of tax law changes, including making the tax cuts for individuals permanent and eliminating taxes that form a key part of the Affordable Care Act. Meanwhile, a bill that would increase the fiscal year 2019 budget for the Internal Revenue Service continues to advance in the House. Capitol Hill reporter Kaustuv Basu spoke with Talking Tax hos...

Alden Bianchi of Mintz Levin and Christopher Condeluci of CC Law & Policy join Talking Tax host Andrea L. Ben-Yosef to discuss the new rules for association health plans, which change the standards for determining which small employers are permitted to join with other small employers to form, maintain, and participate in single, large group health plans. These health care law experts discuss how a...

Fewer opinions, frequent disputes about business expense deductions, and the importance of representation. These are takeaways from a Bloomberg Tax analysis of U.S. Tax Court opinions released during the second quarter of 2018. Legal editor Carolina Vargas and reporter Courtney Rozen reviewed every Tax Court case from early April through mid-June, tallying aspects such as judge, winner, and issue....

Charles Rettig, President Donald Trump’s nominee for IRS commissioner, appeared before the Senate Finance Committee June 28. Committee Chairman Orrin G. Hatch (R-Utah) told Bloomberg Tax that he wants to wrap up Rettig’s confirmation process in three to four weeks. Capitol Hill reporter Kaustuv Basu spoke with Talking Tax Host Amanda Iacone July 2 about Rettig, House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin...

The focus of the tax community this week will be on a June 28 Senate Finance Committee hearing on the nomination of Charles Rettig for Internal Revenue Service commissioner. In other congressional business, some lawmakers are also pondering what they can do in the aftermath of a June 21 U.S. Supreme Court decision that removed a barrier to taxation of online sales. Capitol Hill reporters Allyson V...

This summer is shaping up to be an important one for tax lawyers as they await regulations on some of the new tax law's most complicated provisions. Top Treasury Department officials have said guidance on the law's 20 percent deduction for pass-through businesses could come in early summer and proposed regulations on a one-time tax on companies' accumulated offshore earnings may follow shortly the...

The advent of blockchain’s ledger technology brings both opportunities and challenges for accountants. A set of working groups has been tasked this summer to sort through those technical challenges—as many as 200 issues have been identified so far. The groups are expected to make recommendations to the American Institute of CPAs later this year. Accountants' work is expected to change dramatically...

Congress takes a look at IRS funding this week as lawmakers continue to hammer their partisan talking points on the 2017 tax act.

Tax professionals will descend on Washington, D.C., May 10 for the American Bar Association tax section's spring meeting. The conference serves as an opportunity for top government officials to address recent developments and get feedback from practitioners on the year's regulatory agenda. A topic on nearly everyone's mind this year is the new tax law enacted at the end of 2017. The tax section's...

The Senate could use Federal Aviation Administration legislation recently passed by the House as a vehicle for technical corrections to the 2017 tax act. The FAA bill (H.R. 4) that advanced April 27 would reauthorize the agency to collect aviation excise taxes and fund its operations with federal money deposited into the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, among other provisions. Programs would be auth...

Congressional tax writers are aiming to shore up several tax issues—retooling the Internal Revenue Service, dealing with temporary tax provisions, and requiring online retailers to collect sales tax—left out of the 2017 tax act. The House just passed a package of bills that would establish an independent Office of Appeals at the IRS, boost cybersecurity, and update online systems. House Ways and M...

The IRS faces a long list of tasks if it plans to complete all of the items on its priority guidance plan to implement the new tax law. The Internal Revenue Service has highlighted several projects, including the pass-through deduction under tax code Section 199A and new international base erosion measures, to address by June 30, the end of the agency's business year. Pam Olson, the U.S. deputy ta...

On April 17, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the biggest state and local tax case in years. South Dakota v. Wayfair is a direct challenge to the high court’s 1992 ruling in Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, which prohibits states from imposing sales tax collection obligation on vendors lacking an in-state physical presence. The Justices explored a handful of topics during arguments, nota...