It's clear that tax reform is just one manifestation of the changes happening across the tax function. What was once a relatively routine field now faces shifting regulations and compliance issues both at home and abroad. The role of the tax professional is changing from numbers-cruncher to strategic leader, and adept tax professionals in 2019 and beyond will need to prioritize adaptability, process efficiency, data analysis, and effective communication around total tax liability to maximize their impact.
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When it comes to updating your estate plan, it’s more than just document preparation. It’s also about updating and distributing your health care documents, preparing your agent to conduct business on your behalf at the appropriate time, and reviewing asset titling and beneficiary designations.
An increasingly popular way to reduce taxes generally is to invest in Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs), but little is discussed about how QOZs can be utilized to shift appreciation of wealth over time to future generations. Investors have various options to transfer interests in QOZs to future generations tax efficiently. With this new opportunity available, there are a few items to evaluate: What is the value of the QOZ over time? Why would you transfer the QOZ interest? What are things to be aware of when making this decision?
Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZ) offer taxable investors the potential for deferral of existing gains and tax-free growth. Though the basic provisions of the tax incentive are known, the rules remain unclear and regulatory risks persist. While the existence of a tax incentive can make a good investment even better, investment decisions should not be primarily driven by tax considerations.
Generation Z and millennial entrepreneurs are known for being innovative, bold, quick-thinking game changers. But too often they ignore the more mundane (but incredibly important) aspects of their personal financial situations and decisions regarding the fate of their business. By investing some of the passion and energy they have for their businesses into estate and financial planning, Generation Z and millennial entrepreneurs can help set themselves, and their businesses, up for long-term success.
This recorded webinar Illustrates how effective annual income tax rates for a C corporation differs, depending on whether it distributes all, part, or none of its annual earnings. This provides a more realistic base against which to compare one's tax rates as an owner of a pass-through business entity, such as an S corporation, partnership, or sole proprietorship (the latter two which may be LLCs).
Trusts classified as foreign for U.S. tax purposes, whether established under the law of a U.S. state or of an offshore jurisdiction, must review whether they have any U.S. tax or information reporting filings to make in 2019 with regard to income earned and distributions made in 2018. This article provides trust officers and family advisers with a summary checklist, including other filing and reporting requirements for foreign trusts.
Even the best laid plans or checklists for filing the various U.S. forms on time can sometimes go astray. When they do, it is prudent to request an extension to file the particular return. Careful attention should be paid to where and how to submit the request, as procedures are not necessarily the same for all returns.
The creation of a charitable remainder trust can provide you with a lifetime income stream while helping fulfill legacy goals of supporting charitable organizations that are important to you. There are two kinds, which are minor variations of each other: the Charitable Remainder Annuity (CRAT) and the Charitable Remainder Unitrust (CRUT).