By John G. Hodnette Under the claim of right doctrine, a taxpayer who receives income under a claim of right that is free of restrictions must include the amount in income in the year of receipt. That is the case even if the taxpayer may, in a future year, be required to return to the payor […]
By Keith A. Wood I. No Reasonable Cause Penalty Defense where CPA did not Give Specific Advice about Erroneous Items; Johnson v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2023-116 Mr. and Mrs. Johnson hired a CPA to prepare their tax returns for 2015-2018. From 2006 to 2013, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson improperly claimed depreciation deductions on certain commercial […]
By John G. Hodnette Congress adopted new partnership audit rules as part of Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (“BBA”), replacing the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 (“TEFRA”). As part of that change, the role referred to as the tax matters partner has been replaced by the partnership representative. The partnership representative can take […]
By John G. Hodnette The allocation of income when the ownership of an S corporation changes is discussed in my previous article Section 1377(a)(2) Elections for S Corporations. That article explains the default method for allocations of income when an ownership change occurs as to an S corporation is the proration method. However, one can make […]
By John G. Hodnette Revenue Ruling 99-5 discusses the tax treatment of the purchase of some but not all of the membership interests in a wholly-owned LLC. Pursuant to Reg. § 301.7701-3(b)(1)(ii), unless electing otherwise, a domestic LLC with only one owner is treated as an entity disregarded as separate from its owner for income tax […]
By John G. Hodnette The tax benefit rule was originally established by case law but later codified as Section 111. It provides a taxpayer is not permitted to retain the tax benefit of a deduction when later events demonstrate she is not entitled to it. The rule prevents taxpayers from receiving the benefit of a […]
By John G. Hodnette Employers often issue incentive stock to employees to promote retention and performance. Restricted Stock Units or “RSUs” are one of many ways to do so. Unlike similarly named restricted stock, an RSU does not initially provide the recipient with any ownership in the corporation. Rather, they are a contractual obligation of […]
By Keith A. Wood I. Termination of S Corporation Status was Inadvertent where Shares were Owned by an IRA. In PLR 202319003, the IRS again demonstrated its willingness to grant amnesty to inadvertent S corporation terminations. The IRS waived an S termination where shares were issued to an IRA. The corporation elected to be an […]
By John G. Hodnette Section 1239 provides gain on the sale or exchange of certain depreciable property between related taxpayers is taxed at ordinary income rates rather than the more typical capital gain or unrecaptured 1250 gain rates. Section 1239 applies to property that, in the hands of the transferee, is subject to depreciation under […]
By John G. Hodnette The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 made changes effective in 2022 for the R&D deduction under Section 174 as well as the interaction between that deduction and the R&D credit under Section 41, as provided in Section 280C. Although the changes generally reduce the deduction in the first year […]