Starting any business has risk, and most businesses take time to become profitable. Unfortunately, the IRS sees multiple years of losses from a business as a red-flag that usually results in further scrutiny. That scrutiny can result in disallowance of legitimate business losses and potential penalties for the underreporting. However, with the proper documentation and testimony, legitimate losses over multiple years can be taken and upheld. A recent Tax Court case on a miniature donkey businesses, Huff v. Comm’r, T.C. Memo 2021-140, outlines the factors needed to defend multiple years of losses in a business.
Continue Reading Taxpayer’s Testimony on Businesses Losses Defeats IRS Arguments and Penalties
Obtaining Information from the IRS
There is a wealth of information available from the IRS that is not generally made available to the public. Most of this information can be obtained by asking. This information includes files the IRS assembles about a taxpayer, and various training manuals used by the IRS to train its employees. In addition to training given to its employees, the IRS, like most professional organizations, conducts continuing education on an annual basis for its various divisions. Most of the training manuals and annual training materials are available to the practitioner pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
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Renewable Energy Tax Credits: Green Energy Saving Greenbacks
The new Biden administration is clearly signaling that renewable energy will be a key focus of its plan going forward. For example, the Biden administration has set a goal to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind generation capacity by the year 2030. Therefore, it can be expected that tax advisors will be seeing more questions
Understanding IRS Rules on Passive Activity Losses
Several abusive tax shelters in the 1970s and 1980s caused Congress to enact rules to prevent taxpayers from deducting losses when a taxpayer doesn’t materially participate in the activity. These passive loss rules apply to individuals (including partners and S Corp shareholders), trusts, estates, personal service corporations and sometimes closely held corporations. In short, these rules are a wide net that catches a lot of businesses and can impact a lot of taxpayers. If an activity is determined to be a passive activity it may not only effect the losses claimed but could trigger a 3.8 percent increase from the net investment income tax. Knowing the passive activity rules, and how they apply, can help avoid a dispute or streamline arguments if the IRS questions business activities.
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The Tax Benefits of Research and Development Expenses (IRC Section 41)
“No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking.”
— Voltaire
Businesses are started with good ideas and a lot of hard work. Companies are sustained by applying that same hard work to the challenges and problems they face along the way. The Internal Revenue Code benefits businesses for dedicating funds to the pursuit of new and improved business components. Section 41 of the Internal Revenue Code provides a tax credit of 20 percent of a taxpayer’s Qualified Research Expenses (QREs) over a base amount related to previous research expenses. Essentially, it rewards taxpayers for increasing the amount of money they spend on research and development to improve of develop new business components that will benefit the economy and their customers. However, as with any tax benefit, there are strings attached. In order to qualify, taxpayers must meet a four part test and certain identified expenses don’t count. Also, the IRS has scrutinized these credit claims regularly during audit and, if necessary, forced taxpayers into court to defend their claims. Preparation and documentation is key to surviving IRS scrutiny and, if necessary, prevailing in any subsequent litigation.
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Deduct the Dogwoods: Tax Deductions for Winter Storm Uri Landscaping Expenses
When Texas froze in February, I learned a couple of things: i) snow storms have names, and ii) people in my neighborhood aren’t great at covering plants. Those poor sago palms never had a chance.
Compared to the damages to homes and burst pipes throughout the state, clearing out the flower beds after Winter Storm Uri may be just a minor inconvenience, but there was a lot of dead foliage that needed to be replaced and removed all over Texas. Taxpayers should remember that those storm-induced landscaping expenses could qualify for a casualty loss deduction on their income tax returns. Because special tax rules apply to federally declared disaster area losses, potential deductions for property owners include the cost of removing the damaged plants, measures taken to preserve the shrubbery and any replanting costs necessary to restore the property to its approximate value before the casualty.
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IRS Commissioner and President Biden Draw Battle Lines
The battle outside ragin’
Will soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin’
-Bob Dylan
A change in presidential administrations brings with it the uncertainty of what the political, legal and tax landscape will look like in the future. Statements from the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service and the President of the United States are starting to provide clarity of what things will look like going forward. Here’s what we know and what you, as a taxpayer, should be thinking about as you adjust your financial planning.
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Is Your Partnership IRS Audit Ready?
“Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.”
― Abraham Lincoln
The Bipartisan Budget Act (BBA) was signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2015 and fundamentally changed the way partnerships are audited. Under the BBA, the IRS generally assesses and collects any understatement of tax (called an imputed underpayment) at the partnership level. The new rules were applicable to all entities starting on January 1, 2018, unless they are eligible to elect out. A significant uptick in BBA audits hasn’t, for the most part, occurred because of other demands on the IRS. However, a ramp up in BBA audits in 2021 is expected given IRS plans to increase audits on small businesses, usually operating as partnerships, by 50 percent. Preparation prior to any audit is a good idea, but it is imperative for partnerships navigating new audit rules under BBA. Here are some ways to sharpen your axe before the audit notice arrives.
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IRS Issues New Rules for Gain Deferral in Business Exchanges of Real Property
Even if you are not a tax professional, many people have heard of a 1031 exchange or like-kind exchange. This tax deferral provision has been a permanent part of the Internal Revenue Code for a long time. Usually, if a taxpayer swaps an asset for another asset it is usually a taxable sale. However, if the exchange comes within Section 1031, then it can generate no tax or limited tax due. Essentially, a taxpayer can change their investment without, according to the IRS, cashing out or recognizing capital gain.
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Collecting Separate Tax Debts from Community Property
Texas is a “community property” state; but all property in Texas is not “community property”.
In Texas, each spouse can have his or her own “separate” property, which generally consists of property that was acquired by gift or inheritance, and that which was owned by the spouse prior to marriage. All other property is generally presumed to be community property.
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