Federal Income Tax Archives

Tax Planning for Demolished Buildings

It is often said that bad things happen in threes. This is a nice way of saying that too many bad things have happened in quick succession, so hopefully, the person will not suffer further calamities in the short term. Tax attorneys view calamities in terms of tax losses and/or net operating losses. As tax…

Rental Tax Losses for Those With Irregular Hours

Tax cases are interesting in that they apply a fairly well-developed set of rules to varying fact patterns. These varying fact patterns can result in surprising, and often unintended, consequences. The more complex the tax law in question, the more likely it is that the outcome will be something other than what Congress may have…

Qualifying for Section 1244 Stock Losses

The Tax Cuts & Jobs Act of 2017 changed the choice of entity decision quite a bit. It affords corporate taxpayers the benefit of the lower flat 21 percent tax rate. It provides non-corporate businesses a 20% qualified business income deduction. There were other changes too. This is in addition to the existing tax rules…

Tax Deductions Associated With “Other Income”

The IRS was recently given a significant increase in its budget. Its request for more money was premised on the need to hire more IRS revenue agents to audit more non-compliant tax returns. While the IRS has in fact reduced its headcount significantly, it has also benefitted from recent tax law changes. Some of these…

Tax Consequences of a Loan vs. Capital Contribution

Taxpayers often structure their affairs to their advantage. Our legal system and even our tax laws allow for this. With many transactions, one way this is done is structuring transfers as either loans or capital contributions. The tax ramifications for the transfers can vary widely based on this type of broad classification. This distinction is…

Investment vs. Business Tax Losses

Our tax laws make a distinction between income and losses attributable to capital assets. The distinction draws a line in the sand. Assets that are capital produce capital gain and losses. Other assets do not. This in turn has a number of other impacts, such as on the timing of when income and losses are…

Sale of Residence: Poor Financial Decision

We all have financial ups and downs in life. Some of these ups and downs are due to circumstances beyond our control. Be it good luck, bad luck or something else. Many of these circumstances are not foreseeable. There are also circumstances that are due to our own making. Be it poor financial decisions or…

Tax Planning for Start-Up Costs

New business ventures will typically incur losses in the first year or years. These losses can sometimes be used to offset the business owner’s other income. In a way, this tax loss offset and the tax savings is akin to an interest-free loan from the Federal government. Congress has imposed some limitations on this type…

Is a Divorce a Divorce for Tax Purposes?

Each state has its own laws. This includes laws that say how one gets married and how one gets divorced. State laws provide a method for accomplishing both acts. The laws of foreign countries usually have similar laws and processes. Religious bodies and affiliations have similar rules and processes. This raises some interesting questions as…

Is a Gift to a Former Employee Taxable?

Our gift tax rules impose a tax on certain transfers. This gift tax is required given our income tax rules. Absent a gift tax, taxpayers could simply sidestep income taxes by making non-taxable gifts to everyone rather than paying for goods and services. So what happens when a business makes a gift? Does the recipient…