United States Supreme Court official portrait on November 30, 2018, in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Getty Images The Supreme Court issued a decision in North Carolina Department of Revenue v. The Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust – and it’s unanimous. The Court ruled that a trust beneficiary’s residence is not sufficient
Taxes
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures while speaking during a rally in Orlando, Florida, U.S., on Tuesday, June 18, 2019. Florida’s booming job market may be a key factor in the 2020 election. Photographer: Marco Bello/Bloomberg © 2019 Bloomberg Finance LP Since President Trump signed the big tax cut and reform act in December 2017, the
Getty “Taxes are what we pay for a civilized society.” That quote from Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr., can be found over the main entrance of the Internal Revenue Service office in Washington, D.C., noted Judge Robin Rosenbaum, writing for the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. But, she added, “even Justice Holmes would
The Freedom From Religion Foundation is throwing in the towel in its struggle against the exclusion from taxable income granted to “ministers of the gospel”. Code Section 107(2) grants the exclusion: In the case of a minister of the gospel, gross income does not include— (1) the rental value of a home furnished to him as part of
A health savings account (HSA) is an ideal way to set aside money for future health expenses because any money you don’t use this year can be used in future years. If your HSA administrator allows, that money can be invested so it can compound and grow like the money you would put into an
Getty The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has issued additional guidance on state or local tax (SALT) cap workarounds, and there are no real surprises. The guidance largely puts an end to the benefits of those workarounds aimed at mitigating the consequences of SALT caps following the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TJCA). Under the TCJA,
What To Do While We Wait To See If The Stretch Provisions Are Gone! Getty Getty A great many conscientious tax lawyers and other professionals have spent countless hours learning how to allow IRA and pension accounts that are payable to trusts for children or other non-spouse beneficiaries to remain under the IRA or pension
Most people spend too much time worrying about things they can’t control or influence and not enough time on factors over which they have some influence. When considering retirement plans, many people think first about the investment markets, the future of Social Security and what Congress will do about taxes. They can’t influence any of
Getty I can tell from the letters piling up on my desk: it’s officially correspondence season! Correspondence season is the term that tax professionals use to describe the period after tax season officially ends. Many taxpayers think that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) takes a break just after tax season, but that’s not the case.
Deferred Sales Trust (DST) looks like a tax concept. Arguably, it is, but that’s not all. DST Deferred Sales Trust is a trademarked term, not something you will find in the body of tax authority. This creates a bit of confusion and arguably a situation that smacks of bait and switch. DST is presented to people
Charities feared that the 2017 tax law would lead to a drop in charitable giving by individuals. The chief reason: the doubling of the standard deduction (to $24,000 for married couples filing jointly) would mean it wouldn’t pay for many to itemize on their 2018 tax returns, and without a charitable contribution deduction, they’d be
Gay Marriage is Now Legal in the US. Which Means LGBT Couples can now benefit from the Spousal IRA. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images) Getty It has come to my attention that many people have no idea what a Spousal IRA is, and who should be using one. Lack of specific retirement planning knowledge appears
Social Security may be one of your largest assets. What and when you collect will make a huge difference to your lifetime benefits. Today’s column addresses whether lower earnings before retirement will decrease benefit amounts, how benefits can be reinstating after suspending them, how to ensure benefits begin at full retirement age, whether to file
People don’t understand annuities. They often confuse how annuities are used, how they work, and how they are taxed. In fact, research commissioned at The American College of Financial Services found that while consumers often hear about and have had annuities recommended to them, almost none of those surveyed understood the specifics of annuities. And
Getty Getty The Heath Savings Account Revolution is in full swing. Consumers are starting to adopt these plans at a greater rate than ever before. In fact, Alegeus, the leading provider of HSA healthcare funding platforms found that HSAs are expected to overtake Flex Spending Accounts (FSAs) as the most common health benefit account by
Rawpixel.com On Friday, I asked a client for some additional documents so I could prepare for an upcoming meeting. He said he’d get to it soon, but not before Monday. He was slammed getting ready for a big party. He closed the email “Happy Pride!” I responded “Happy Pride” and reminded him “pictures or it
If you want to know what a machinegun really is, consult your tax adviser. I pride myself on being something of an Internal Revenue Code geek. Shortly after our large regional firm was acquired by a not quite Big 4 (more nimble, you know) we had a general get together in the Boston office. My
Sign on IRS headquarter building in downtown Washington, DC Getty If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. And again. After a number of iterations, the Taxpayer First Act has finally passed the House and the Senate. The key provisions in the Taxpayer First Act have been reform talking points for well over a
A new International Monetary Fund (IMF) study shows that USD$5.2 trillion was spent globally on fossil fuel subsidies in 2017. The equivalent of over 6.5% of global GDP of that year, it also represented a half-trillion dollar increase since 2015 when China ($1.4 trillion), the United States ($649 billion) and Russia ($551 billion) were the largest subsidizers.
Euro banknotes in fan in male hand Getty It is the age-old quick fix solution that politicians across Europe have fallen back on. When growth is slow or stalling, the government should boost its spending to revive economic activity. This is a throw back to the Keynesian idea that by boosting the “Government Expenditure” (G)