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TaxConnections Spotlight Interview Part 2: Chuck Levun And Michael Cohen On Partnership Tax Planning Challenges, And Surprising Cases And Mistakes They Have Seen

ax Connections Spotlight Interview Part 2: Chuck Levun And Michael Cohen On Partnership Tax Planning Challenges, And Surprising Cases And Mistakes They Have Seen

For more than thirty-seven years, Charles R. Levun and Michael J. Cohen have been presenting the preeminent seminars on flow-through taxation. The two flagship Tax Forum programs are Fundamentals of Flow-Through® and Tax Planning Forum®.  Tax Forum is expanding its programs to include self-study (on-demand) training, as well as working on an additional course, which they will share with us soon.

Please read through Part 2 of this special interview, featuring Chuck Levun and Michael Cohen. Part 1 is focused on Tax Forum, its flow-through tax planning training programs, and the importance of education for CPAs, attorneys and other tax planning professionals.

To get a sense of how the Tax Forum programs are unique in the partnership, LLC and S Corporation tax training space, please register for Tax Forum’s complimentary webinar:

Avoiding Costly Mistakes: Four Essential Tax Concepts for the Non-Tax Business Attorney or CPA taking place on Thursday, May 16th at Noon CDT

Kat Jennings’ Question: Let’s jump right in …Do you see an increase in controversy in partnership taxation? Why or why not?

Michael Cohen’s Answer: For the most part, not yet. However, with the new budget for the IRS and the commitment to go after “large” partnerships, I would think that controversy will increase. However, for this commitment to be successful in shutting down “abusive” transactions, the partnership knowledge base of the IRS auditors will need to be expanded. I will note that virtually every year we have at least a half dozen IRS professionals attend either our Forum or Fundamentals courses.

Kat Jennings’ Question: What is the biggest challenge for partnerships going forward?

Chuck Levun’s Answer: Staying on top of developments is a biggie. There have been proposals floating around from Senator Wyden and others that would make substantive changes to some of the basic partnership principles. These changes are designed to hit perceived abuses of the partnership rules by large partnerships. Unfortunately, if enacted, they also would complicate life for the smaller partnerships, which are by far a large number of business entities and growing. Moreover, there are always new structuring techniques, new thought processes, etc. that are constantly being developed. Partnerships are such a dynamic area, given, as I said before, that partners have a tremendous amount of flexibility in structuring their transactions. It’s not like the S corporation arena where everything has to be shared on a pro rata basis, there can be only one class of stock, etc.

Kat Jennings’ Question: Tell us about any cases in partnership taxation that really surprised you.

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Spotlight Interview: Chuck Levun On Educating CPAs And Attorneys On Partnership, LLC, And S Corporation Flow-Through Planning On Four Costly Business Mistakes They Make (Part 1)

Spotlight Interview: Chuck Levun On Educating CPAs And Attorneys On Partnership, LLC, and S Corporation Flow-Through Planning On Four Costly Business Mistakes They Make (Part 1)

Each year there is a must attend complimentary webinar hosted by Tax Forum educators Chuck Levun, Michael Cohen, and Scott Miller.  This is a special presentation for educating attorneys and CPAs on the four biggest and costly business mistakes they make and how to avoid them. Once you attend one of Tax Forums training sessions, you will appreciate why they are the leading trainers in the tax profession on partnership, LLC, and S corporation flow-through programs for tax professionals.

Please read through this special interview, Part 1 with Co-Founder of Tax Forum, Chuck Levun: Part 2 will be another spotlight interview with Michael Cohen. If you desire cutting edge training in partnership, LLC, and S corporation flow-through, you will want to Register For Their Complimentary Webinar. You will appreciate what you will learn spending time with these leading training experts.

Kat Jennings Question:
Please tell me about Tax Forum and its origin.

Chuck Levun Answer:
Back in 1985, I was engaged to be the consultant for the CCH Partnership Tax and Practice Guide. When the project was close to being finalized in the summer of 1987, I asked myself – “How can I help market this product?” I remember pitching the Tax Forum® concept to CCH and meeting with Dick Merrill, CCH’s CEO, who said to the 6 VPs present in the conference room, and I quote, “You guys make this work.”

The Tax Forum started in the fall of 1987 as a 1-1/2 day in-person program presented in four cities. After four years, CCH indicated that they no longer were interested in being in the seminar business (although for many years CCH remained a Tax Forum sponsor), and my partner, Michael Cohen, and I took over the entire concept and grew it to what it is today. At one point, we were presenting in-person in seven cities, as well as presenting private seminars to national CPA firms in another seven or so cities.
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Written by | Posted in Flow Through Training • S Corp Training