Two of three recent federal court rulings held that the premium tax credit (PTC) is only available to individuals obtaining coverage through their state exchange, not the federal exchange. This is a big deal because the PTC serves to help make health insurance affordable to individuals with income between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty line. Also, the majority of states did not create their own exchange, forcing individuals in need of insurance to go to the federal exchange (if they are eligible for a PTC).

Resolution of this big issue likely won’t happen until next year. Meanwhile, the upcoming filing season will involve millions of individuals having to reconcile the PTC they may have received in advance, with their true amount. There is also a lot of complexity for practitioners too. Another key piece of the Affordable Care Act that comes into play in 2014 Read More

A properly designed and implemented Construction Tax Planning engagement will proactively identify additional tax savings related to new and / or planned construction projects. It should be duly noted that a Construction Tax Planning engagement should not be confused with a Cost Segregation engagement. As a reminder, there are several noteworthy differences between a Cost Segregation Engagement and a Construction Tax Planning Engagement.

A Cost Segregation Engagement will methodically review property, plant and equipment and properly reclassify real property (e.g., property that is generally depreciated for tax return purposes over a period of either 27.5 or 39 years) into personal property (e.g., property that is generally depreciated for tax return purposes over a period of either 3, 5, 7 Read More

Utilize Preservation Tax Incentives to Reduce Expenditures for Renovations

The Historic Preservation Tax Incentives Program, jointly administered by the National Park Service and the State Historic Preservation Offices, is the nation’s most effective Federal program to promote urban and rural revitalization and to encourage private investment in rehabilitating historic buildings. These tax incentives apply explicitly to preserving income-producing historic property and have generated billions of dollars in historic and rehabilitation preservation activity since the program’s commencement in 1976. Read More

After the horrible 2013 winter doomed by one polar vortex after another, we couldn’t wait for summer to get around. It did finally arrive but amazingly was gone in the blink of an eye! I am always amazed by how quickly every summer flies by and before we know it, school is back in session. This year, summer was a huge deal in our household, we had a kid to send off to college!

Handy-dandy tax consultant that I am, with major life events, tax planning cannot be far behind. So, I thought I should remind my readers of the the college tax credits that are out there for 2014. Now would be a perfect time to see if they would qualify for college credits.

American Opportunity Tax Credit {AOTC} & The Lifetime Learning Credit {LLC}: These Read More

In a highly strategic effort to mitigate the exodus of filming to other states throughout the United States as well as other countries, California lawmakers enacted an increase to its Film Tax Credit Program on September 18th to more than triple the annual credits available from $100 million to $330 million, and to extend the program through the year 2020.

The new California law significantly enhances the California Film Tax Credit Program which will now allocate the available annual pool of credits 5% to independent films; 35% to feature films from major players; 20% to relocating television series; and 40% to new television series, pilots, movies-of-the-week and mini-series. Read More

Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., has introduced new legislation that if passed into law would amend I.R.C. § 181 to disqualify certain movie and television producers from receiving tax incentives from the federal government if any of the production is performed outside the United States or its possessions. The bill, known as the Film Incentive Reform Act of 2014, would amend I.R.C. § 181, to change the requirements required to expense the cost of qualified film, television, and theatrical productions.

As a background, The American Federation of Musicians (hereinafter “AFM”) strategically lobbied Congress in 2003 and 2004 to add § 181 to the Code through the American Job Creation Act of 2004 which outlines the treatment of qualified film and television production expenditures for the purposes of providing tax incentives for domestic film Read More

Special Assignee Relief Programme

The Special Assignee Relief Programme or S.A.R.P. applies to secondments in Ireland in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and lasts for five calendar years for each employee.

How does an employee qualify for this relief?

To qualify, the employee:

• Must work full time with the seconding employer (i.e. the U.S. employer) before the secondment for at least twelve months prior to moving to Ireland.
• Must not be Irish resident in the five years prior to the secondment. Read More

In a pivotal strategic effort to mitigate the exodus of filming to other states and countries, California lawmakers take aim to quadruple tax subsidies for location shooting to $400 million a year.

On Thursday, August 14th, Legislation was approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee with a 5-0 vote which would eliminate a controversial system in which film and television productions were awarded tax credits based upon a lottery system, regardless of the economic effect of the production. The bill, AB 1839, must still be approved by the full Senate and signed by Gov. Jerry Brown. However, legislative supporters indicate they are highly confident the measure will clear all remaining hurdles, saying there is widespread acknowledgment that California is quickly losing one of its signature Read More

Movie Production Incentives (hereinafter “MPIs”) are tax benefits offered on a state-by-state basis throughout the United States to entice, as applicable, in-state film production and post-production activities. The state-by-state legislative histories and policies driving MPIs are clearly aimed at increasing economic growth at the state and local levels through filmmaking and television production throughout the United States while curtailing the departure of movie production to other countries.

While the applicable qualifying production activities vary from state-to-state many common qualified production activities include, but are not limited to, feature films, television series, relocated television series, television pilots and television movies. Furthermore, the structure, type, and size of the incentives vary from state to state. Many MPIs include tax credits and Read More

Bonus depreciation is just that – a bonus amount of depreciation you get to claim in the first year. Bonus depreciation allows for an extra 50% depreciation on certain assets purchased in 2013. Currently the law for bonus depreciation expires in 2014. When tax bills are brought up in Congress and tax incentives are discussed, bonus depreciation is one of the items frequently discussed so it is possible that it gets extended for 2014.

Not all business assets purchased qualify for bonus depreciation. The assets must be placed in service during the year and they must have been new. Buying a used piece of machinery would not be eligible for bonus depreciation. Also, assets must have a depreciable life of 20 years or less, so you can’t go out and buy a building then write it all off with bonus depreciation. Taking 50% depreciation in the first year can be a real tax savings Read More

Man’s Best Friend is his dog. That’s the cat’s meow! Just a bird in a gilded cage. A horse of a different color, Elsie the milk cow and lipstick on a pig. Animals are a huge part of our everyday lives. For some folks their world revolves around these four-legged friends. (Not all of which have legs, I had a client in the office once, for a very short time, with a boa constrictor around her neck, shudder….) So that got me thinking about my other favorite subject, taxes.

Pets have long been the subject of some of the tax professions best “Let me tell you what my client tried to deduct” stories. Who hasn’t heard of the “Cat lady” who wanted to take her babies as dependents and actually applied for SS numbers for them? Or the homeowner who wanted to deduct the costs of his dog because he was a guard dog, all Read More

On February 5, 2014, the North Carolina Department of Revenue (the “Department”) began its Trust Tax Recovery Program, which offers amnesty to qualifying companies owing collected but unpaid trust taxes. The Department describes trust taxes as those taxes paid by a customer to a seller or withheld from an employee, and held in trust by the business until filed and paid to the Department. This broad definition encompasses taxes owed on motor vehicle leases and rentals, sales and use taxes, scrap tire and white goods disposal taxes, and certain other withholdings. Also included are use taxes collected on a remote sale to an individual in North Carolina. Use tax liability for certain transactions where tax was not paid to a seller at the time of purchase is not within the definition of trust taxes, as the tax is not the possession of the seller. Read More