Related party transactions can raise difficult tax questions. This is especially true for management fees paid by one legal entity to another legal entity that has the same or similar owners or that are controlled by the same owners. As noted in the recent Wycoff v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2017-203 case, related-party management fees often…
Category: Federal Income Tax
Federal Income Tax
Get expert guidance on all issues related to federal income tax, including tax planning, preparation, and representation before the IRS. Give us a call to see how we can help, (713) 909-4906.
IRS Rejects Court’s Passive Activity Loss 5% Owner and Grouping Decision
The passive activity loss (“PAL”) rules can limit the ability to deduct losses from passive activities, such as rental losses. The real estate professional and activity grouping rules can allow taxpayers to avoid having their losses limited by the PAL rules. Earlier this month, the IRS issued AOD 2017-007, IRB 2017-42, to note its formal…
Facts Needed to Support a Bad Debt Deduction
When taxpayers claim a deduction for a bad debt, it can trigger an audit by the IRS. The IRS has a vested interest in ensuring that taxpayers are not taking advantage of tax laws to reduce their tax liability. As a result, they will closely scrutinize bad debt deductions to ensure that they meet the…
Mortgage Broker Not a Real Estate Professional
The passive activity loss rules can prevent real estate investors from being able to deduct their real estate losses. That is the intent and purpose of the rules. The rules and how they have been interpreted draw some known but arbitrary lines in the sand. The recent Hickam v. Commissioner, T.C. Summary Opinion 2017-66, case…
Tax Court Says Royalties Paid to Roth IRA Were Excess Contributions to IRA
The U.S. Tax Court recently issued another opinion involving a LLC owned by a self-directed IRA. The case is Block Developers, LLC v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2017-142. The case invovles an IRA LLC that purchased a patent and then licensed the patent back to the prior owner, with the intent of the IRA LLC collecting…
Cash-Basis Taxpayers Can Deduct Reclamation Costs Under Sec. 468
Section 468 allows a current deduction for mining and solid waste reclmation costs even though the expenses may not be incurred for several years–if not decades–in the future. It has traditionally been thought that only accrual-method taxpayers can benefit from Sec. 468. The court recently dispelled this notion in Gregory v. Commissioner, 149 T.C. 2…
Double Trouble: Taxability of Repeated Injury Lawsuits
As human beings, we strive to understand the laws of nature and our place in the world. Despite the advancements in technology, research, and science, there still remains much that is unknown. However, we do observe patterns and repetitions in both the natural world and human behavior. With each passing experience and as we age,…
Tax Law is Not Determined by Common Industry Term
Just because businesses in a particular industry commonly use a term to describe a particular transaction or event, the industry term does not necessarily have any bearing on the Federal income tax consequences of the transaction or event. The court addresses this in Greenteam Materials Recovery Facility PN v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2017-122, in the…
Court Considers Economic Substance in S Corp Transactions
The IRS challenges some tax positions by asserting that the transactions lack economic substance. This can allow the government to unwind or ignore transactions that comply with our tax laws if there is no legitimate business purpose for the transactions other than tax savings. There is a growing body of court cases that helps define…
S Corporation Losses Limited by Tax Basis
One of the benefits of Subchapter S corporations is the ability to have losses flow through from the business’ tax return to the individual shareholder’s tax return. These flow-through losses are limited by the shareholder’s tax basis in the S corporation stock. The court recently addressed this limitation in Tinsley v. Commissioner, T.C. Summary Opinion…