Soon after President Trump signed the bill, some wealthy clients who owned businesses needed to know if they could save on taxes by buying manufacturing equipment in 2017.  Others needed advice on whether to pay state income tax by Dec. 31 if they were not subject to the alternative minimum tax. To read the full article in FinancialPlanning, click: New Tax Law, More Business for Financial Advisors. ...

The new tax law could affect existing estate plans, so now is a good time to review documents with clients.  Clients may need guidance in five areas, including the impact of the law on state-level estate taxes. To read the full article in Next Avenue, click: Five Questions to Ask Your Estate Planner After the New Tax Law. ...

Believe it or not, Hawaii’s top marginal tax rate is 367,100 percent. That makes France’s 75 percent and 100 percent tax rates seem like a downright bargain. A new paper released by the University of Hawaii at Hilo, Texas Tech University and The Institute for Business and Finance Research details how state tax laws in Hawaii create a tax cliff of epic proportions where a single extra dollar in income can tr ...

Using Online Software Services Can Help Small Businesses Cut Costs. But Companies in Idaho are Discovering It Can Also Increase Their Tax Bills.   Steven D. Jones at the Wall Street Journal reports: ...

The Wall Street Journal Recounts What the IRS Advises:  Moves to Make as April Grows Near April deadlines may not be that far way,  but some Americans still haven’t even rounded up their W2s, the Wall Street Journal noted in a (just-before-deadline) filing last year.   Acknowledging the tax procrastination is a national pastime, the Internal Revenue Service issued some tips and a series of videos to help la ...

Beyond The Fiscal Cliff:  Details to Act On Gail Perry at Accounting Web introduces a set of articles on the effect of the "fiscal cliff." A first article – New Tax Law Emerges Beyond the Fiscal Cliff – provides an overview of the key tax provisions that will affect your individual and business clients. It's followed by coverage of how the new law will impact federal estate, gift, and generation-skipping ta ...

Appraisers in Violation of 6701 May Face Devastating Consequences. Learn More About Potential Penalties—and How to Stay in Compliance Joel N. Crouch and Joseph D. Brophy discuss the IRS Code’s Section 6701 and the relevant penalties that can be leveraged against violators. While IRS sources say that the number of penalties imposed is still negligible, this number has increased significantly and the trend co ...

You've probably already read this story—Facebook Co-Founder Renounces U.S. Citizenship in Advance of IPO, Saving Millions in U.S. Taxes —heard about it on the radio, or seen it on TV.   But Paul L. Caron of The TaxProf Blog has done a remarkable job of aggregating all the media responses to the story from about 20+ outlets, and linking to previous posts this week on the developing story.     On Thursday:  B ...

Congress Could Pass Online Sales Tax Legislation This Year Are you used to buying stuff on Amazon.com and not paying tax?   Lots of business owners are doing it too. And that might change.  At Accounting Today,  Roger Russell offers an update: The impact of the economic downturn has been felt particularly hard at the state level, with many states operating under a deficit. Since taxes based on income don’t ...