Category Archives: Tax Law
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A Legislative Solution for Conservation Easements
A Legislative Solution for Conservation Easements: Jackson & Campbell’s Tax Chair, Nancy Ortmeyer Kuhn, provides insightful commentary on charitable conservation easements and the proposed tax legislation that caps charitable deductions for taxpayers. She also discusses the Supreme Court’s recent decision in West Virginia v. EPA, and how that may impact Treasury Regulations. Read more here: CE Legislation Article ... Read More
TAGGED: Real Estate Law, Tax Law
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Nancy Ortmeyer Kuhn on the latest development regarding charitable conservation easements
Is the Supreme Court likely to take up a tax case regarding a clear split between the 6th and 11th Circuits regarding conservation easements? Read an analysis in this Bloomberg article written by our own attorney, Nancy O. Kuhn. Conservation Easements: A Circuit Split on the Validity of a Treasury Regulation Adds to Uncertainty for Donors ... Read More
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Charitable Conservation Easements Found A Friend In The 11th Circuit
Many Tax Court cases have been decided based upon an obscure Treasury Regulation, upholding the IRS’ 100% disallowance of charitable conservation easement deductions. The 11th Circuit struck down the Regulation, holding that it is “arbitrary and capricious”. A rare win for taxpayers. The Bloomberg article attached below was written by our own attorney, Nancy O. Kuhn. A Rare Victory For Taxpayers ... Read More
TAGGED: irs, tax, Treasury Regulation, 11th Circuit, taxpayers
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Estate Tax Considerations for 2022: How Clients Can Plan in an Uncertain Time
The Internal Revenue Service ("IRS") has released annual inflation adjustments for 2022. These include increased gift, estate, and generation-skipping transfer (“GST”) tax exemptions (the “unified credit”), annual gift tax exclusions, and retirement account limits. The changes are as follows: The unified credit will increase to $12.06 million for an individual (from $11.7 million in 2021). This means that a married ... Read More
TAGGED: news, Tax Law, legislation, estate planning, trust and estates, taxes & IRS
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Client Alert: CIC Services, LLC v. Internal Revenue Service – A Rare Victory for the Taxpayer
On May 17, 2021, a unanimous Supreme Court issued its opinion in the long-awaited case interpreting the Anti-Injunction Act as applied to the Internal Revenue Service. CIC Services, LLC v. Internal Revenue Service was a rare loss for the government. The Supreme Court held that CIC Services has jurisdiction to question the IRS’ ability to demand burdensome record-keeping information from ... Read More
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Client Alert: Exempt Organizations Engaged in Illegal Activities – Will They Be Held Accountable?
In the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 insurrection, the focus has shifted to the entities that may have financed the insurrection. Thousands of individuals travelled to Washington, D.C. for the rally and insurrection, and news reports have alleged that charitable organizations may have assisted in funding the participants’ expenses. On January 13, 2021, members of the Ways and Means ... Read More
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Client Alert: Employers Liable for Deferred Payroll Taxes
The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidance for employers who, in response to the President’s Executive Memorandum dated August 8, 2020, choose to defer payroll taxes for employees from September 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020. In Notice 2020-65, issued August 28, 2020, the IRS specified that the deferred payroll taxes are due to the IRS prior to ... Read More
TAGGED: irs, Tax Law, Payroll Taxes, Notice 2020-65
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Client Alert: Economic Impact Payments & The IRS’ Return Policy
In the past several weeks the IRS has issued millions of checks to certain individuals, compliments of a Congress which is desperately trying to keep our economy running. On May 6, 2020, the IRS issued several new Q&A’s on its website addressing what recipients should do if an Economic Impact Payment (“EIP”) is received and the name on the check is ... Read More
TAGGED: irs, COVID-19, Economic Impact Payments
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Client Alert: Additional Help For Individuals From The Tax Code
The COVID-19 pandemic was designated under the Stafford Act as a national emergency on March 13, 2020. By doing so, the federal government opened a new area for tax-free help to those impacted directly by the disease, or indirectly due to the shelter-in-place directives. Section 139, enacted after 9/11, allows employers, or really anyone so inclined, to provide “qualified disaster relief ... Read More
TAGGED: Tax Law, COVID-19, Families First Act, CARES Act, Stafford Act, Section 139, reimbursements
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Client Alert: The Families First Act, the CARES Act, and IRS Guidance for Employers
The Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FAMILIES FIRST ACT), Public Law No. 116-127 (March 18, 2020), and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES ACT), Public Law No. 116-136 (March 27, 2020) provide relief to employees and employers (including nonprofits) during this pandemic. The relief provided by the FAMILIES FIRST ACT is in the form of additional paid ... Read More
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Client Alert: Internal Revenue Service Suspends Certain Collection Actions
On March 25, 2020, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) introduced its “People First Initiative” in which it will suspend certain tax collection activities currently ongoing and limit the number of new collection actions. These limitations will run initially from April 1, 2020, through July 15, 2020. The implication from the IRS is that the July 15th end date ... Read More
TAGGED: irs, People First Amendment
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SCOTUS Opinion: Court Strikes Down The “Bob Richards Rule”
The IRS allows affiliated corporations to file a group tax return. When the IRS issues a tax return to the group as a whole, federal law does not describe how to allocate the funds. The Ninth Circuit created a rule for that when it decided In re Bob Richards Chrysler-Plymouth Corp., 473 F.2d 262 (1973). The "Bob Richards Rule" mandated ... Read More
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End of the Calendar Year: A Good Time to Confirm Compliance Issues for Businesses
Corporations, limited liability companies (LLCs), and other business entities are certainly aware of the need to make certain end of year decisions for income tax purposes, but it also is a good time to perform a business audit for possible state, local, and personal property tax return deadlines. It is also advisable for businesses to review other corporate compliance issues, such ... Read More
TAGGED: washington dc, maryland, nonprofits, Corporations, limited liability companies, business entities, District of Columbia, duty of loyalty, duty of care, LLC, Corporate Filing Requirements, Virginia, biennial reports, Annual Reports, property tax return (Form FP-31), l Business Tangible Personal Property Returns, Arlington County, Fairfax County, Fairfax County Department of Tax Administration, Corporate Formalities, Boards, Meetings, Elections, and Recordkeeping, Corporate Requirements, Corporate Bylaws, Fiduciary Duties, Breaches of Fiduciary Duties, Payroll Taxes
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Commercial Recordation/Transfer Tax Increase and Mandatory Use of New FP7
The Washington, D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue has issued an official notice of the increase on transfer and recordation tax on commercial properties where the consideration (real or imputed) is more than $2 million. The increase is effective on October 1, 2019 and is scheduled to expire on September 30, 2023. A ... Read More
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Washington, D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue Homestead Unit Suspending Processing Of Homestead Applications
The division of the DC Office of Tax and Revenue that processes homestead, senior, and disabled applications (FP-100) has announced that, as of July 17, 2019, it will suspend the processing of applications, grant benefits, and tax account adjustments. This action was “taken to meet a demanding billing timeline to reconcile tax accounts” associated with the upcoming 2019 second half ... Read More
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Conservation Easements: Saving Our Green Spaces or Illegal Tax Shelters?
A property owner who donates an easement of his or her property to a charitable organization for conservation or historical purposes is permitted to take a charitable deduction for the value of that donated property easement. The statutory requirements are set forth in Internal Revenue Code §170(h). There are many conservation easements that are fulfilling the intent of the legislation ... Read More
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SCOTUS Opinion: Fractured Court Upholds 1855 Indian Treaty Against State Gasoline Tax
A company owned by the Yakama Nation Indian tribe transported gasoline from Oregon to the tribe’s land in the State of Washington, using the public highways. Washington sought to tax those imports. The Yakama Nation objected, citing to an 1855 treaty with the federal government granting the Nation the right to use the public highways. The Washington state courts held ... Read More
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Revocable Trusts and Real Property in Washington, D.C.
When thinking about transferring a Washington, D.C. real property into a revocable trust, there are several considerations to take into account. Beginning Steps: To ensure the transfer occurs properly, a deed has to be recorded. A transfer is usually exempt from transfer and recordation taxes, provided that the trust is revocable and that the grantor remains the beneficiary. Deductions: In most circumstances, the property ... Read More
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Court Applies Intergovernmental Tax Immunity In Favor Of Federal Retirees
In Dawson v. Steager, West Virginia sought to tax a federal law enforcement retiree’s pension. Under 4 U.S.C. §111, the federal government permits this so long as the state tax does not discriminate on the basis of the source of the compensation, otherwise known as the intergovernmental tax immunity doctrine. However, West Virginia, by statute, did not tax ... Read More
TAGGED: scotus, Dawson v. Steager, 4 U.S.C. §111
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Tax Planning for Nonresident Aliens Who Own US Property
Individuals who are not citizens or residents of the United States, known as nonresident aliens (NRA), need to be aware of the U.S. estate and gift taxes that will be applicable to their U.S. fixed assets, for example, U.S. real estate. If an NRA owns fixed assets located in the ... Read More
TAGGED: real estate, irs, nonresident aliens, property, qdot, taxes, trust & estates
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Excise Tax on Nonprofits: Executive Compensation
Many tax-exempt organizations will now be required to pay an excise tax on any compensation over $1 million paid to each of their top five employees. That amount of compensation, including end-of-career parachute payments, may be subject to the corporate tax rate, which is currently 21 percent. Internal Revenue Code section 4960, enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs ... Read More
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Tax Treaty Interpretation: Nonjusticiable Political Question?
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia reversed and remanded the lower court’s decision in a case involving the interpretation of the US-Switzerland tax treaty. In Starr International Company, Inc. v. United States, No. 1:14-cv-01593 (D.C. Cir. Dec. 7, 2019), Starr sought a tax refund for a portion of the 30 percent withholding taxes automatically ... Read More
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Are Business Lunches Entertainment?
The new tax legislation, called the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) eliminated most deductions for client entertainment expenses. Prior law allowed a 50 percent deduction for both meals and entertainment expenses, and so there was no need for businesses to differentiate between the two categories. The newly enacted TCJA eliminated deductions for entertainment, amusement, and recreation expenses, but ... Read More
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Pending Emergency Legislation to Affect Tax Sales and Recordation Tax on Leases
The Washington, D.C. Council is considering B22-922: Fiscal Year 2019 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2018 which, among many provisions, contains a few changes of interest to real estate practitioners which are found here. Recordation Tax: On leases in excess of 30 years, the Washington, D.C. government may determine the fair market value of the leasehold interest ... Read More
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D.C. Tax Rate Changes Effective October 1, 2018
The District of Columbia’s Office of Tax and Revenue has issued a notification of changes in various tax rates that will become effective on Monday, October 1, 2018. The real property tax for Class 2 properties will increase to $1.65 per $100 of value for properties worth less than $5,000,000; $1.77 from $5 million to $10 million; and $1.89 for ... Read More
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Government Must Prove Specific Interference With Targeted Tax-Related Proceedings For Tax Obstruction Charge
IRS code makes it a crime under 26 U.S.C. sec. 7212(a) to “obstruct or impede, or endeavor to obstruct or impede, the due administration of” the Internal Revenue Code, either “corruptly or by force or threats of force.” The IRS investigated Carlo Marinello, and ultimately charged him with several violations of the tax code, including for tax obstruction under Section ... Read More
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Exempt Organizations: Tax Reform Provisions to Watch
Part II: Senate and House proposals By Nancy Ortmeyer Kuhn, Chair of Jackson & Campbell's Tax Group The Joint Committee on Taxation released the Senate’s “Description of the Chairman’s Mark of the ‘Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’” on November 9, 2017. The Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives previously released its long-awaited tax bill on November 2, ... Read More
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Exempt Organizations: Tax Reform Provisions to Watch
By Nancy Ortmeyer Kuhn, Chair of Jackson & Campbell's Tax Group The Ways and Means Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives released its long-awaited tax bill on November 2, 2017. The bill is entitled Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, H.R. 1 (“TCJA”). Note that there is nothing in the title referencing “tax simplification”. The full text of the bill ... Read More
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Charitable Conservation Easements
RP Golf, LLC, lost its appeal and its claim of a $16.4 million charitable tax deduction for its donation of a conservation easement on its two golf courses. On June 26, 2017, the Eighth Circuit affirmed the U.S. Tax Court’s opinion, holding that not all of the detailed requirements for charitable conservation easements had been complied with in a timely ... Read More
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The United States as a Tax Haven for Non-Citizens: QDOT’s to the Rescue
Now that Switzerland and other off-shore locations are not as attractive to those wishing to safeguard their funds, the United States has emerged as a tax haven, of sorts, with several states providing friendly incentives for investors who are not U.S. citizens. However, foreign investors need to be aware of their potential liability for estate taxes. U.S. property owned by ... Read More
TAGGED: qdot, Qualified Domestic Trust