Final regulations relating to the low-income housing tax credit revise and clarify requirements that low-income housing agencies must follow when conducting physical inspections of low-income units and reviewing low-income certifications and other documentation. The regulations finalize previously issued temporary regulations (T.D. 9753, February 25, 2016).
Final regulations relating to the low-income housing tax credit revise and clarify requirements that low-income housing agencies must follow when conducting physical inspections of low-income units and reviewing low-income certifications and other documentation. The regulations finalize previously issued temporary regulations (T.D. 9753, February 25, 2016).
Sample Inspection Size
The final regulations require the agency to inspect no fewer units than the number specified in the "Low-Income Housing Credit Minimum Unit Sample Size Reference Chart." The reference chart can be found in Rev. Proc. 2016-15, I.R.B. 2016-11, 435, and is borrowed from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Real Estate Assessment Center Protocol (the REAC protocol). Previously, an agency was permitted to inspect 20 percent of the low-income housing units in the project if this was lesser than the number required by the reference chart. This change addresses a concern that limiting physical inspections to 20 percent of units in small projects is not sufficient to ensure overall compliance with habitability and low-income requirements.
All-Buildings Requirement
No change is made to the requirement that an agency must inspect all buildings in a low-income housing project by the end of the second calendar year after the year in which the last building in the project is placed in service unless a project inspection is conducted under the REAC protocol. Suggestions that the IRS dispense with the all-buildings requirement for agencies not using the REAC protocol were not adopted.
Reasonable Notice Time Frame Shortened
A building owner and tenants are allowed a maximum 15 day advance notice that a project will be inspected. The temporary regulations allowed a 30-day notice period. The particular units to be inspected may only be identified on the day of the inspection. The 15 day advance notice limit will also apply to reviews of low-income certifications.
Amendment of Agency’s Qualified Allocation Plan
The final regulations are effective on February 26, 2019. However, an agency only needs to amend it qualified allocation plan by December 31, 2020, to reflect the requirements in the final regulations.
Rev. Proc. 2016-15 is obsolete with respect to an agency as of the date that on which the agency amends its qualified allocation plan.
The Senate’s top Democratic tax writer is calling on the IRS and Treasury to further waive underpayment penalties for the 2018 tax year. Nearly 30 million taxpayers are expected to have underpaid taxes last year, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
The Senate’s top Democratic tax writer is calling on the IRS and Treasury to further waive underpayment penalties for the 2018 tax year. Nearly 30 million taxpayers are expected to have underpaid taxes last year, according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Underpayment Penalty
The IRS announced in IRS News Release IR-2019-3 that it would waive the underpayment penalty for any taxpayer who paid at least 85 percent of their total tax liability during the 2018 tax year. The usual threshold is 90 percent. However, Senate Finance Committee (SFC) ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., has said that the IRS should "do more."
"Instead of penalizing those who paid less than 90 percent of what they owed in 2018, now they’re penalizing those who paid less than 85 percent," Wyden said on February 7 from the Senate floor. "That was one small step in the right direction," he added.
Before the IRS’s news release, Wyden wrote to Treasury and the IRS urging the waiver of underpayment penalties for withholding errors related to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) ( P.L. 115-97). Although the IRS did lower the penalty threshold for the 2018 tax year, Wyden stated on February 7 that "nobody should be penalized for the Trump administration’s mistakes on tax withholding."
Democrats are largely opposed to the TCJA as a whole, and claim that Republicans’ tax code overhaul was rushed. Thus, significant tax withholding errors and underpayments are expected to be incurred. "Change the penalty thresholds. Extend safe harbors. Whatever needs to happen," Wyden said.
Additionally, several Republicans have also voiced their concern about the expected increase in underpayment related to withholding. SFC Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, recently urged the IRS to be "lenient" on underpayment penalties for 2018, as it is the first tax year since tax reform implementation.
AICPA
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has likewise urged Treasury and the IRS to provide more extensive penalty relief. "The substantial uncertainty surrounding the implementation of the TCJA and the updated federal tax withholding tables presented a challenge for many taxpayers in understanding and accounting for their tax liability," Annette Nellen, chair of the AICPA’s Tax Executive Committee said in a recent letter to Treasury and the IRS. The AICPA has recommended an 80 percent threshold for the underpayment penalty waiver.
Senators have introduced a bipartisan bill specifically tailored to reduce excise taxes and regulations for the U.S. craft beverage industry. The bill aims to promote job creation and permanently reduce certain taxes and compliance burdens.
Senators have introduced a bipartisan bill specifically tailored to reduce excise taxes and regulations for the U.S. craft beverage industry. The bill aims to promote job creation and permanently reduce certain taxes and compliance burdens.
Craft Beverage Tax Reform
The Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Bill of 2019 was introduced on February 6 by Senate Finance Committee (SFC) ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo.
"By modernizing burdensome rules and taxes for craft beverage producers, this legislation will level the playing field and allow these innovators to further grow and thrive," Wyden said in a press release. The comprehensive measure is supported by the entire craft beverage industry, according to a summary of the bill.
Generally, the Craft Beverage Modernization and Tax Reform Bill of 2019 would implement the following provisions:
For Brewers:
For Vintners:
For Distillers:
The bill would also exempt beverage producers from certain capitalization rules for aged products.
"The craft beverage industry is driven by small businesses that support thousands of jobs and contribute billions in economic output," Blunt said in the press release.
As of February 6, the bill has 10 bipartisan cosponsors.
The IRS’s proposed 50-percent gross income locational rule on the active conduct of Opportunity Zone businesses is garnering criticism from stakeholders and lawmakers alike. The IRS released proposed regulations, NPRM REG-115420-18, for tax reform’s Opportunity Zone program last October.
The IRS’s proposed 50-percent gross income locational rule on the active conduct of Opportunity Zone businesses is garnering criticism from stakeholders and lawmakers alike. The IRS released proposed regulations, NPRM REG-115420-18, for tax reform’s Opportunity Zone program last October.
50-Percent Locational Rule
Many stakeholders have urged the IRS to reconsider its proposed rule requiring that at least 50-percent of gross income of a Qualified Opportunity Zone (QOZ) business is derived from the active conduct of a trade or business within the QOZ. The IRS heard from several of these stakeholders at a full house public hearing on the proposed regulations held last week at IRS headquarters in Washington, D.C.
"[W]e’re concerned that manufacturing businesses, e-commerce enterprises, and others that have the potential to spur significant economic activity could be excluded inadvertently because of this rule," Stefan Pryor, Rhode Island Secretary of Commerce said at the hearing. Additionally, other stakeholders commented that the proposed rule would go against congressional intent.
Comment. There is no locational-related rule for gross income of QOZ businesses included in the law’s statutory language. However, the statutory language does provide a tangible property test to ensure qualifying businesses are predominantly located within the QOZ.
QOZ Business Congressional Intent
To that end, the bipartisan, bicameral tax writers who drafted the original QOZ bill language, too, have urged the IRS to remove the 50-percent gross income locational requirement.
The Opportunity Zone program was enacted under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act ( P.L. 115-97) in 2017. The program is housed under new Code Secs. 1400Z-1 and 1400Z-2. Although not a single Democrat voted for the TCJA, the Opportunity Zone program was based on a bicameral measure sponsored by a group of bipartisan tax writers.
"Since many businesses derive income from the sale of goods and services outside of a single census tract, this would significantly limit the ability for local operating businesses to qualify for Opportunity Fund investment, contrary to congressional intent," the lawmakers wrote in a recent letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. "Even for those businesses who might qualify under this rule, it would impose immense new administrative burdens to track and report the location of each source of business income," they added.
Second Round of Proposed Regulations
Currently, the IRS is working on a second batch of proposed regulations for Opportunity Zones. Those proposed rules "hopefully will see the light of day shortly," Scott Dinwiddie, an IRS official in the Income Tax and Accounting division said at last week’s hearing.
The IRS has said that it is postponing its plan to discontinue faxing taxpayer transcripts. The IRS statement came on the heels of a letter sent earlier this week from bipartisan leaders of the Senate Finance Committee urging such a delay.
The IRS has said that it is postponing its plan to discontinue faxing taxpayer transcripts. The IRS statement came on the heels of a letter sent earlier this week from bipartisan leaders of the Senate Finance Committee urging such a delay.
IRS Cybersecurity
The IRS announced in IRS News Release IR-2018-256 last December that it would stop its tax transcript faxing service for individuals and businesses on February 4, 2019. The IRS cited to reasons of taxpayer security for the change in procedure. To that end, ceasing the IRS’s transcript faxing service would better prohibit cybercriminals from obtaining taxpayer data, according to the IRS.
Grassley, Wyden Urge Delay
SFC Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., sent IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig a letter earlier this week expressing concern with the IRS’s original timeline for discontinuing the tax transcript faxing service. The bipartisan leaders did not ask the IRS to eliminate its plan to discontinue the particular service. However, they did encourage the IRS to extend the date of discontinuation for the sake of taxpayers and practitioners in light of the recent partial government shutdown, which included the IRS.
"[W]e encourage the IRS to delay its planned discontinuation of faxing taxpayer information until such time that the agency can reasonably resolve the legitimate concerns of the tax-practitioner community about alternatives to the IRS faxing taxpayer information," Grassley and Wyden wrote. "Of course, such a delay should not compromise the security or privacy of taxpayer information."
IRS Extends Transcript Faxing Service
The IRS’s Wage & Investment Division issued a January 30 statement stating that the IRS will extend its transcript faxing service beyond February 4. Additionally, the IRS said it is reviewing options for a new timeline and will provide taxpayers and practitioners advance notice of the new date.
Instead of getting a paper check, you may want to have your refund deposited directly into your bank account or other financial account. Forms 1040, 1040A, and 1040EZ have a line for designating direct deposit of your refund, right after the line showing the amount of your refund.
If you choose direct deposit, for the first time starting this year, you can split your refund deposit among two or three accounts. To split the refund, you must submit Form 8888, Direct Deposit of Refund to More Than One Account, with your return. You must identify the amount being deposited into each account, and the total must equal the amount on Form 1040 that is being refunded to you.
An amount may be directly deposited into a checking account, a savings account, or another account such as an individual retirement account. You must establish the account before you request direct deposit. If the account is an IRA, you must make sure that the trustee will accept direct deposit. You must also notify the IRA trustee which year the deposit will be applied to. If the deposit is for the prior year, you must verify that the deposit was made by the due date of the return (which this year is April 17).
The direct deposit accounts are shown on lines 1, 2 and 3 of Form 8888. If you owe past-due federal tax, the IRS can use your refund to offset your liability. The past-due amount will first be deducted from the direct deposit shown on line 3, then the deposit on line 2, and finally from the deposit on line 1. If the amount deducted was going into an IRA, you may need to correct your IRA contribution and change your return.
Only 50 percent of the cost of meals is generally deductible. A meal deduction is customarily allowed when the meal is business related and incurred in one of two instances:
(1) while traveling away from home (a circumstance in which business duties require you to be away from the general area of your tax home for longer than an ordinary day's work); and
(2) while entertaining during which a discussion directly related to business takes place.
Entertainment expenses generally do not meet the "directly related test" when the taxpayer is not present at the activity or event. Both your meal and the meal provided to your business guest(s)' is restricted to 50 percent of the cost.
Related expenses, such as taxes, tips, and parking fees must be included in the total expenses before applying the 50-percent reduction. However, allowable deductions for transportation costs to and from a business meal are not reduced.
The 50-percent deduction limitation also applies to meals and entertainment expenses that are reimbursed under an accountable plan to a taxpayer's employees. It doesn't matter if the taxpayer reimburses the employees for 100 percent of the expenses. "Supper money" paid when an employee works late similarly may be tax free to the employee but only one-half may be deducted by the employer. The same principle applies to meals provided at an employees-only business luncheon, dinner, etc.
A special exception to the 50 percent rule applies to workers who are away from home while working under Department of Transportation regulations. For these workers, meals are 75 percent deductible in 2006 and 2007.
When a per diem allowance is paid for lodging, meal, and incidental expenses, the entire amount of the federal meals and incidental expense (M&IE) rate is treated as an expense for food or beverages subject to the percentage limitation on deducting meal and entertainment expenses. When a per diem allowance for lodging, meal, and incidental expenses for a full day of travel is less than the federal per diem rate for the locality of travel, the payer may treat 40 percent of the per diem allowance as the federal M&IE rate.
"Lavish" meals out of proportion to customary business practice are generally not deductible to the extent they are lavish. Generally, meals taken alone whentraveling generally have a lower threshold for lavishness than meals considered an entertainment expense for which a client or other business contact is "wined and dined."
The standard mileage rate may be taken in lieu of proving actual expenses such as depreciation on your automobile and the cost of gas. You must still prove that you took the trip for business and that you took it in your vehicle, whether owned or leased. The standard mileage rate applies to the actual miles driven and not simply to miles traveled.
Car travel for business is a deductible expense. The standard mileage rate can be used to determine the deductible amount, rather than keeping track of actual expenses for using a car. An individual who owns or leases a car and has other expenses, such as gasoline, can deduct actual expenses or can take the standard mileage rate, even if the standard mileage rate is higher.
Rather than drive to a business destination, an individual can travel by rail, bus, plane or taxi. However, the standard mileage rate is not available if the individual travels by other means, rather than by motor vehicle. In this situation, the deduction is limited to reasonable expenses for the manner of travel used by the individual, which may be the actual expenses incurred. On the latter point, the Tax Court has taken this approach in the case of a businessman who traveled by charter rather than by commercial plane. The court allowed the use of first class plane fare but not the cost of the charter.
For further assistance on how to maximize your travel expense deductions, whether by automobile, jet or otherwise, please feel free to contact this office.
A: If you have the money, contributing to your IRA immediately on January 1st or as soon thereafter as possible is the best strategy. The #1 advantage of an IRA is that interest or other investment income earned on the account accumulates without tax each year. The sooner the money starts working at earning tax-free income, the greater the tax advantage. With a traditional IRA, that tax advantage means no tax until you finally withdraw the money at retirement or for a qualified emergency. In the case of a Roth IRA, the tax advantage comes in the form of the investment income that is never taxed.
While the earliest date to contribute to an IRA for a current year is January 1st of that year, the latest date is 15 1/2 months later, on April 15th of the next year when your tax return is due. (Because of the weekend-next business day rule that's April 16, 2007 for 2006 tax-year contributions.)
Although you may file for an extension to file your tax return, that extension does not extend the time you have to contribute to an IRA; April 15th is the deadline. Another caveat: If you make a contribution after December 31st it will be presumed to be made for the next year unless you designate it as relating back to the year just ended. Finally, until the due date for your return, you are allowed to withdraw any IRA contribution, plus earnings on that contribution.
Soon, the recently-passed Pension Protection Act of 2006 will give you another option: designating all or a portion of your tax refund for the year to be directly deposited into your IRA account. In fact, the IRS has moved quickly to provide several refund options, already announcing that new Form 8888 will be created to give all individual filers the ability to split their refunds in up to three financial accounts, such as checking, savings and retirement accounts.
In addition to knowing when to make IRA contributions, you also need to know how much you are able to contribute and whether a traditional or a Roth IRA makes more sense. For those who are already covered by a retirement plan, restrictions on contributing to deductible IRAs must be heeded. Nondeductible and "spousal" IRAs also are options to be considered. Please call our offices if you need further guidance on any of the IRA rules. They are worth using and can grow into a substantial additional nest egg for you at retirement.
Every year, Americans donate billions of dollars to charity. Many donations are in cash. Others take the form of clothing and household items. With all this money involved, it's inevitable that some abuses occur. The new Pension Protection Act cracks down on abuses by requiring that all donations of clothing and household items be in "good used condition or better."
Good used or better condition
The new law does not define good or better condition. For guidance, you can look to the standards that many charities already have in place. Many charities will not accept your donations of clothing or household items unless they are in good or better condition.
Clothing cannot be torn, soiled or stained. It must be clean and wearable. Many charities will reject a shirt with a torn collar or a jacket with a large tear in a sleeve. As one charity spokesperson summed it up, "Don't donate anything you wouldn't want to wear yourself."
Household items include furniture, furnishings, electronics, appliances, and linens, and similar items. Food, paintings, antiques, art, jewelry and collectibles are not household items. Household items must be in working condition. For example, a DVD player that does not work is not in good used or better condition. You can still donate it (if the charity will accept it) but you cannot claim a tax deduction. Household items, particularly furnishings and linens, must be clean and useable.
The new law authorizes the IRS to deny a deduction for the contribution of a clothing or household item that has minimal monetary value. At the top of this list you can expect to find socks and undergarments, which have had inflated values for years.
Fair market value
You generally can deduct the fair market value of your donation. Unless your donation is new - for example, a blouse that has never been worn - its fair market value is not what you paid for it. Just like when you drive a new car off the dealer's lot, a new item loses value once you wear or use it. Therefore, its value is less than what you paid for it.
If you're not sure about an item's value, a reputable charity can help you determine its fair market value. Our office can also help you value your donations of used clothing and household items.
Get a receipt
Generally, you must obtain a receipt for your gift. If obtaining a receipt is impracticable, for example, you drop off clothing at a self-service donation center, you must maintain reliable written information about the contribution, such as the type and value of the property.
Charitable contributions of property of $250 or more must be substantiated by obtaining a contemporaneous written acknowledgement from the charity including an estimate of the value of the items. If your deduction for noncash contributions is greater than $500, you must attach Form 8283 to your tax return. Special rules apply if you are claiming a deduction of more than $5,000.
Exception
In some cases, the new rules about good used or better condition do not apply. The restrictions do not apply if a deduction of more than $500 is claimed for the single clothing or household item and the taxpayer includes an appraisal with his or her return.
If you have any questions about the new charitable contribution rules for donations of clothing and household items, give our office a call. The new rules apply to contributions made after August 17, 2006.
Starting in 2010, the $100,000 adjusted gross income cap for converting a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA is eliminated. All other rules continue to apply, which means that the amount converted to a Roth IRA still will be taxed as income at the individual's marginal tax rate. One exception for 2010 only: you will have a choice of recognizing the conversion income in 2010 or averaging it over 2011 and 2012.
The Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 eliminated the $100,000 adjusted gross income (AGI) ceiling for converting a traditional IRA into a Roth IRA. While this provision does not apply until 2010, now may be a good time to make plans to maximize this opportunity.
The Roth IRA has benefits that are especially useful to high-income taxpayers, yet as a group they have been denied those advantages up until now. Currently, you are allowed to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA only if your AGI does not exceed $100,000. A married taxpayer filing a separate return is prohibited from making a conversion. The amount converted is treated as distributed from the traditional IRA and, as a consequence, is included in the taxpayer's income, but the 10-percent additional tax for early withdrawals does not apply.
Significant benefits
While recognizing income sooner rather than later is usually not smart tax planning, in the case of this new opportunity to convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, the math encourages it. The difference is twofold:
These can work out to be huge advantages, especially valuable to individuals with a degree of accumulated wealth who probably won't need the money in the Roth IRA account to live on during retirement.
Example. Mary's AGI in 2010 is $200,000 and she has traditional IRA balances that will have grown to $300,000. Assuming a marginal federal and local income tax of about 40 percent on the $300,000 balance, the $180,000 remaining in the account can grow tax free thereafter, with distributions tax free. Further assume that Mary is 45 years of age with a 90 year life expectancy and money conservatively doubles every 15 years. She will die with an account of $1.44 million, income tax free to her heirs. If the Roth IRA is bequeathed to someone in a younger generation with a long life expectancy, even factoring in eventual required minimum distributions, the amount that can continue to accumulate tax free in the Roth IRA can be staggering, eventually likely to reach over $10 million.
Planning strategies
Now is not too early to start planning to take advantage of the Roth IRA conversion opportunity starting in 2010. While planning to maximize the conversion will become more detailed as 2010 approaches and your assets and income for that year are more measurable, there are certain steps you can start taking now to maximize your savings.
Start a nondeductible IRA
The income limits on both kinds of IRAs have prevented higher income taxpayers from making deductible contributions to traditional IRAs or any contributions to Roth IRAs. They could always make nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA, but such contributions have a limited pay-off (no current deduction, tax on account income is deferred rather than eliminated, required minimum distributions).
While a taxpayer could avoid these problems by making nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA and then converting it to a Roth IRA, this option was not available for upper income taxpayers who would have the most to benefit from such a conversion. With the elimination of the income limit for tax years after December 31, 2009, higher income taxpayers can begin now to make nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA and then convert them to a Roth IRA in 2010. In all likelihood, there will be little to tax on the converted amount.
What's more, taxpayers with $100,000-plus AGIs should consider continue making nondeductible IRA contributions in the future and roll them over into a Roth IRA periodically. As a result, the elimination of the income limit for converting to a Roth IRA also effectively eliminates the income limit for contributing to a Roth IRA.
Example. John and Mary are a married couple with $300,000 in income. They are not eligible to contribute to a Roth IRA because their AGI exceeds the $160,000 Roth IRA eligibility limit. Beginning in 2006, the couple makes the maximum allowed nondeductible IRA contribution ($8,000 in 2006 and 2007, and $10,000 in 2008, 2009, and 2010). In 2010, their account is worth $60,000, with $46,000 of that amount representing nondeductible contributions that are not taxed upon conversion. The couple rolls over the $60,000 in their traditional IRA into a Roth IRA. They must include $14,000 in income (the amount representing their deductible contributions), which they can recognize either in 2010, or ratably in 2011 and 2012.
Assuming they have sufficient earned income each year thereafter (until reaching age 70 1/2), John and Mary can continue to make the maximum nondeductible contributions to a traditional IRA and quickly roll over these funds into their Roth IRA, thereby avoiding significant taxable growth in the assets that would have to be recognized upon distribution from a traditional IRA.
Rollover 401(k) accounts
Contributions to a Section 401(k) plans cannot be rolled over directly into a Roth IRA. The lifting of the $100,000 AGI limit does not change this rule. However, they often can be rolled over into a traditional IRA and then, after 2009, converted into a Roth IRA.
Not everyone can just pull his or her balance out of a 401(k) plan. A plan amendment must permit it or, more likely, those who are changing jobs or are otherwise leaving employment can choose to roll over the balance into an IRA rather than elect to continue to have it managed in the 401(k) plan.
For money now being contributed to 401(k) plans by employees, an even better option would be for those contributions to be made to a Roth 401(k) plan. Starting in 2006, as long as the employer plan allows for it, Roth 401(k) accounts may receive employee contributions.
Gather those old IRA accounts
Many taxpayers opened IRA accounts when they were first starting out in the work world and their incomes were low enough to contribute. Over the years, many have seen those account balances grow. These accounts now may be converted into Roth IRAs starting in 2010, regardless of income.
Paying the tax
In spite of all the advantages of a Roth IRA, a conversion is advisable only if the taxpayer can readily pay the tax generated in the year of the conversion. If the tax is paid out of a distribution from the converted IRA, that amount is also taxed; and if the distribution counts as an early withdrawal, it is also subject to an additional 10-percent penalty. For those planning to convert who may not already have the funds available, saving now in a regular bank or brokerage account to cover the amount of the tax in 2010 can return an unusually high yield if it enables a Roth IRA conversion in 2010 that might not otherwise take place.
Careful planning is key
Transferring funds between retirement accounts can carry a high price tag if it is done incorrectly. For those who plan carefully, however, converting from a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA can yield very substantial after-tax rates of return. Please feel free to call our offices if you have any questions about how the 2010 conversion opportunity should fit into your overall tax and wealth-building strategy.