IRS may require reporting of PAL activity groupings Mike Habib, EA Notice 2008-64, 2008-31 IRB 268 A new notice requests comments regarding a proposal to require taxpayers to report to IRS their groupings and regroupings of activities and the addition and disposition of specific activities within their existing groupings of…
Presidential candidates discuss merits of increasing the Social Security tax: Mike Habib, EA With less than three months until the 2008 presidential election, both candidates have expressed their views about a possible Social Security tax increase. The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) imposes two taxes on employers, employees, and self-employed…
Innocent spouse relieved of tax from embezzlement and forgery Yakubik, TC Summary Opinion 2008-74 Mike Habib, EA The Tax Court recently held that the IRS abused its discretion in not granting equitable innocent spouse relief to a husband whose wife embezzled funds from her employer and forged checks taken from…
REIT changes in the 2008 Housing Act Mike Habib, EA Included in the $15.1 billion of housing tax incentives in the recently enacted “Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008” (the Housing Act) is a package of changes liberalizing the real estate investment trust (REIT) rules. Under these new provisions: Foreign…
Tightened home sale exclusion and other revenue raisers in the 2008 Housing Act Mike Habib, EA To pay for the $15.1 billion of housing tax incentives in the recently enacted “Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008” (the Housing Act), Congress passed several offsetting revenue raisers, including a requirement that banks…
Credit for first-time homebuyers in the 2008 Housing Act Mike Habib, EA The single largest provision in the $15.1 billion package of housing tax incentives in the recently enacted “Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008” (the Housing Act) is a measure allowing individuals buying their first home to take a…
Property tax deduction for non-itemizers in the 2008 Housing Act Included in the $15.1 billion package of housing tax incentives in the recently enacted “Housing Assistance Tax Act of 2008” (the Housing Act) is a measure creating a new, temporary property tax deduction for non-itemizers (i.e., for taxpayers who claim…
IRS explains how to claim (or elect out of) 50% Kansas bonus depreciation Notice 2008-67, 2008-32 IRB Mike Habib, EA The Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008, popularly known as the Farm Act, provided temporary GO Zone-style tax relief for taxpayers in Kiowa County, Kansas, and surrounding areas, who…
Doctors get socked with big tax and penalties for donations tied to consolidation of their practice Berquistist and Kendrick, et al., (2008) 131 TC No. 2 Mike Habib, EA The Tax Court has determined that doctors grossly overvalued charitable donations of stock in their medical professional service corporation (PSC) that…
No FUTA exemption for staffing company that was considered the employer for state UI purposes Chief Counsel Advice 200827007 Mike Habib, EA The IRS has denied a federal unemployment tax (FUTA) exemption to a staffing company because it did not consider the company to be the common law employer of…