Every year, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) releases its “Dirty Dozen.” The Dirty Dozen, as written previously about by my colleague, Devin Mills,[1] is a list of twelve prevalent scams the IRS bodes taxpayers to be weary of during tax season, as they “put taxpayers, businesses, and the tax professional community at risk of losing…
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Split dollar life insurance arrangements can take on a number of forms, and the exact structure of the arrangement determines the tax consequences, which can become complicated quickly. In a recent case out of the District Court of Ohio, the court held that an insurance arrangement between a single member C corporation, Peter E. McGowan…
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Currently (and since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017), we, like many other practitioners, have seen an incredible uptick in inclusion planning[1] instead of the traditional exclusion planning (getting assets out of one’s taxable estate). A primary driving force for this major shift was the essential doubling of the estate tax exemption (from…
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It is estimated that approximately 52% of all Americans have some form of life insurance. On the other hand, there are also estimates that only 27% percent of Americans have some form of an estate plan in place. This article provides a brief and simple overview of how the two are not mutually exclusive, and…
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Generally, expenses related to activities that are not engaged in for profit are not deductible.[2] In a recent memorandum opinion[3], the United States Tax Court reiterated the criteria upon which the Court considers if an activity is engaged in for profit. While the recent decision was not a landmark case[4], it provides some cautionary guidance…
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A recent Chief Counsel Advice Memorandum (“CCA”) discusses certain tax consequences pertaining to a taxpayer owning cryptocurrency native to a blockchain that undergoes a protocol upgrade. CCA 202316008. In the hypothetical scenario discussed in the CCA, a hypothetical blockchain, very similar to Ethereum, underwent a change in the method in which it approved and processed…
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It is fairly common to make charitable gifts of property prior to a sale transaction. Often, those gifts are of real property or closely-held business interests. This is for good reason. Structured properly, not only do donors generally receive a charitable income tax deduction equal to the fair market value of the donated property, they…
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In a recent Notice issuance, the IRS and Treasury put taxpayers on notice that they intend to issue guidance related to the treatment of certain nonfungible tokens (“NFTs”) as collectibles under IRC § 408(m). Notice 2023-27 does not itself pass any regulations but instead puts taxpayers on notice for future guidance and that the IRS…
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So, you mooned in the short term on a completely degenerate gamble and want to offset income with charitable giving. First off, good on you for wanting to do the right thing. Second, don’t mess up. It may seem really simple that if you send some cryptocurrency to a qualifying organization, you should be able…
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Have you ever heard someone referred to as a “trust fund baby?” Such term usually carries a negative connotation and references a younger person whose parents established a trust fund which provides for the child’s financial security for life. Such term also perpetuates an unfortunate misconception: that trusts are only available to, and utilized by,…
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