As taxpayers head into the homestretch of 2019, some might be surprised that most of the year-end tax highlights for businesses refer to provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted in late 2017. It makes sense, though, when considering that the IRS has released a host of regulations and other guidance interpreting many of the new rules. Moving forward, there are five year-end tax items to consider for your business: revenue recognition; business interest deduction; qualified business income deduction; bonus depreciation; and transition and exit planning.
Trust and Estate Planning
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Maximizing Tax Benefits Through Charitable Giving
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Is there a better way for investors to donate to charity? Learn how to maximize a portfolio’s tax benefits—and increase the size of the gift—through charitable giving.
With the new year around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about what you can do now to manage your tax bill for 2019. To help you get started and avoid last-minute scrambling for tax deductions, there are five topics you should discuss with your tax advisor: capital gain opportunities; capital loss opportunities; making your K-1 a number one priority; deduction management; and giving while you’re alive.
Many states are imposing a millionaire’s tax with huge implications for top earners. Explore how aggressive tax-loss harvesting can soften the blow.
A trustee of family trusts must understand the legal duties and deliver them with a keen appreciation of family dynamics. We will discuss the range of trustee and beneficiary responsibilities as well as practical tips for making the trustee-beneficiary relationship work effectively. Members will share their experiences as trustees.
The Engaged Beneficiary: What You Need to Know
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What does it mean to be an engaged and responsible beneficiary? We will explore the roles and responsibilities of a trustee, and learn from a father-daughter team about how they make the trustee-beneficiary relationship work. We will understand the roles each party plays and how to effectively approach trust-related communications.Robert Hammett, Vice President, ChiFam LLCStephanie Hammett, ChiFam LLC, NextGenSarah Kerr Severson, Partner, Schiff Hardin, LLC
What are the tax benefits of investing in Qualified Opportunity Funds? A closer look assesses the opportunities —and the risks.
Life Insurance Audits Versus Life Insurance Reviews
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A Life insurance audit is an everything-to-gain, nothing-to-lose proposition for a trustee of a trust that owns life insurance where significant planning is in place. A proper, thorough audit is needed to mitigate the fiduciary liability. It also starts with understanding the difference between a Life Insurance Review and a Life Insurance Audit.
Under the current Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), a wide range of income tax planning techniques can be used as part of the estate planning process. One primary technique includes a focus on managing low-basis assets to achieve a step-up basis. Other techniques center around the beneficiary deemed owned trust. While more than one technique can be used in estate planning, caution should be taken when considering which technique is appropriate for you.
What Is Tax Alpha? Why Should You Care?
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When taxes don’t matter, and that is rarely the case for most investors, pre-tax returns are sufficient in determining whether the investment did well or poorly relative to a benchmark. But for taxable accounts, pre-tax returns provide an incomplete picture, and relying on them can lead to poor investment decisions. In such cases, using after-tax returns, after-tax benchmark returns, and Tax Alpha in your decision process is more relevant, and could help you to increase your wealth on an after-tax basis.