Taxes

Tax advisers are too conservative in claiming business losses for activities that seem to smack of being hobby loss cases and writers like me are partially to blame. That is my conclusion from a deep dive into studying decisions about Section 183 – Activities not engaged in for profit -. Don’t blame your adviser if

Getty Getty The Internal Revenue Service announced new, higher contribution limits for health savings accounts for 2020 today. HSAs are the best way to save courtesy of Uncle Sam, with triple tax benefits. You put money in on a taxfree basis (usually through salary deferrals), it builds up tax free (you can invest it), and

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 examines how married couples can file for benefits in sequence, qualifying for early Social Security benefits, logistics of applying, the earnings test and whether filing for early reduced retirement benefit

After talking with one of out nation’s top attorneys, who recently filed a class action suit against Social Security, it appears to be both legal and practicable to pursue class action suits against the Social Security Administration if it has scammed a class of beneficiaries out of their full, rightful, and hard-earned lifetime benefits. I’ve

Captive Insurance jda Stewart’s Shops runs convenience stores in New York and Vermont, and is subject to New York corporation franchise taxes. For the tax years 2006-2009, Stewart Shops made payments to its wholly-owned captive insurance company, called Black Ridge Insurance Company (hereinafter “BRIC”), and took a deduction for those premium payments. The New York

The fledgling U.S. cannabis market is a bit of a free-for-all. Well, maybe free isn’t the right word, given the cultivation taxes, excise taxes, income taxes, payroll taxes, and sales taxes that growers, retailers and consumers are contending with. A grow employee at Compassionate Care Foundation’s medical marijuana dispensary, trims leaves off marijuana plants in

Someone relaxing in a Persian Gulf café by smoking a shisha pipe may not realise it, but the burning coals carefully placed on top of the hookah to heat the tobacco are not just fuelling their pleasure; they are also helping to fund a campaign of violence in one of the world’s poorest countries. Globally,

Estate Planning Mistakes May Derail your Plan Getty In a recent email exchange with a colleague, Richard (Dick”) Oshins, Esq. who practices in Las Vegas NV, Dick identified what he thinks are three of the more sinister tax blunders that affect many estate plans. These seemed spot on and worth elaborating on.  As part of

American flags mark the gravestones of military members and their families as part of Memorial Day activities at Fort Logan National Cemetery, Sunday, May 26, 2019, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski) ASSOCIATED PRESS On Memorial Day, we’re supposed to honor our fallen soldiers. But some military families aren’t feeling very appreciated this year: Congress still

Bad news for billionaire Stephen Ross.  The DC Circuit has upheld the Tax Court in denying the $33 million charitable deduction for a $3 million contribution he made through a partnership to the University of Michigan in 2003.  And we have here another vindication of Reilly’s Seventh Law of Tax Planning – Read the instructions. Photocredit: Getty

FILE – This Friday, June 1, 2018, file photo, shows syringes of the opioid painkiller fentanyl in an inpatient pharmacy. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File) ASSOCIATED PRESS From the Church of Satan to Key Worldwide Foundation (a target in the recent college admissions scandal), what constitutes tax-exempt status has continued to be a hot button issue

Divided government in Washington isn’t stopping all action Even the President’s declaration that he won’t work with Congress as long as it is investigating him hasn’t put a hold on all work. A determined, bipartisan group of leaders in both houses of Congress wants to make significant changes in retirement plans, and they’re pushing forward

Senior disabled mother in a wheelchair with her daughter on South Pointe Park Pier. (Photo by: Jeffrey Greenberg/UIG via Getty Images) UIG via Getty Images The Trump Administration is (very quietly) looking at ways to reinvigorate the flagging private long-term care (LTC) insurance market. The recommendations are expected to surface later this year. And they

U.S. President Donald Trump (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images) Photo credit: Getty Images Getty The bond market suggests that president Trump will win the 2020 presidential election. Prices for corporate bonds point to a heating up of the U.S. economy early next year. And when it comes to who wins the White House, the strength of the

Credit: Getty Royalty Free Getty If you own a small business with just a handful of employees, and are worried about saving enough for retirement, here’s an idea: start an old-fashioned defined benefit plan for your company. Sure, sure, everyone knows the defined benefit plans (a.k.a., DB plans) are passé, the creatures of large corporations,

Low-Tax States Are Now Adding Jobs 80% Faster Than High-Tax States Texas Public Policy Foundation Job growth has been running 80% stronger in low-tax states than in high-tax states since the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 in December 2017. Understanding why holds important lessons for policy, economics, and politics. The

From the outset, 2019 looked like it might be “The Year Of Retirement Reform” for Congress. Last year closed out with a number of retirement bills making real headway through DC, committees, think tanks and lobbyists, and we’ve been poised for major legislation to emerge. And now we have the first real movement of the

Getty The House passed the SECURE Act before Memorial Day weekend, with a 417-3 vote, moving the fate of the biggest changes to retirement policy since 2006 to the Senate which plans to take up its version of the bill after the holiday. There’s good news for part-timers, new parents, older workers and employees at

Captive Insurance jda I’ve previously written about the attempt by captive manager CIC Services, LLC, and accounting firm Ryan, LLC, to stop the application of IRS Notice 2016-66 because that Notice would have the effect of warning CIC’s and Ryan’s clients that they might have been involved in abusive tax shelters through their participation in

O’Shares Chairman Kevin O’Leary visits the trading floor after ringing the New York Stock Exchange opening bell. The cast member of television’s “Shark Tank” program was marking the recent launch of the O’Shares FTSE US Quality Dividend ETF. (Photo by AP/Richard Drew) Kevin O’Leary is Chairman of O’Shares Investments, but you probably know him as