Insights
How to Leave Your Digital Legacy
As we continue to expand our digital footprint, it is important to incorporate our digital lives into an estate plan so our digital legacy may be preserved. Some call these instructions a “digital will.” This set of instructions is a section of your estate plan that covers email addresses, social media accounts, passwords, website login…
Read MoreYear-End Tax Planning for Individuals
As we closed out the 2018 tax filing season, we saw significant changes over the last year with most of the tax provisions in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) taking effect. The last few months of 2019 will provide taxpayers with the opportunity for year-end tax planning as we enter another round of…
Read MoreYear-End Tax Planning for Businesses
The first year of filing under the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) is in the books. With most of the provisions taking effect for the 2018 tax year, corporations saw a substantial reduction in their tax rate from 35% to a flat 21%, and some owners of pass-through entities saw a large reduction…
Read MoreRequired Reporting on Cooperative Commissions in Real Estate Transactions
If you are a real estate broker or agent, you may not be aware of the IRS reporting requirements surrounding cooperative commissions. This article explains what you need to know about 1099s, W-9s and CDAs. As part of every real estate transaction where commissions are distributed, the IRS requires listing brokers to complete Form 1099-MISC…
Read MoreExpanded Sec. 152 for Dependents
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act broadened the Child Tax Credit and introduced some big changes to more qualifying taxpayers. Child Tax Credit If you have children or dependents under the age of 17, you may be able to annually reduce your federal tax bill by up to $2,000 (an increase of $1,000) for each…
Read MoreIRS Sends Warning Letter to Cryptocurrency Users About Reporting
Taxpayers who exchange cryptocurrency may receive a letter this month from the IRS regarding reporting issues. Due to the increase in popularity of cryptocurrency, the IRS is drawing its attention to taxpayers who may not accurately report or fail to report income and not pay taxes related to those transactions. The IRS began sending out…
Read MoreUncertain Future for CA Estate Tax
California is currently among 30 states that do not impose a state estate tax. State legislature, however, recently introduced Senate Bill SB 378 that would have imposed gift, estate and generation-skipping transfer taxes starting on January 1, 2021. California Estate Tax Proposal While the bill did not make a floor vote earlier in 2019, the…
Read MoreTop 5 Real Estate Accounting Mistakes
Even some of the savviest real estate brokers can get trapped in the most common accounting mistakes. There’s a similar thread of accounting mistakes woven throughout the real estate industry that creates challenges and complications come tax time. Many of these mistakes are financial oversights that end up causing complexity, and in some situations, extra…
Read MoreCA, You’re Not Alone – Treasury Bans All SALT Deduction Workarounds
The Treasury Department and the IRS recently issued final regulations blocking all states from trying to circumvent the tax reform’s $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions. In September 2018, CA Governor Jerry Brown vetoed the proposed bill to workaround the federal SALT cap, anticipating future federal regulations to ban these state circumvention strategies.…
Read MoreCorporations Receive Tax Clarity for Offshore Profits
The IRS released highly-anticipated clarity for multinational corporations on how U.S. tax will be calculated on foreign income. Since the 2017 tax reform went into effect, American companies have expressed the ambiguity surrounding taxation on foreign profits, requesting more direction and transparency. Last month, the IRS responded with a new set of guidelines that lessen…
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