S Corporations

This PodCast concerns a case dealing with the trust fund recovery penalty under "6672. In the case of Richard A. Smith v. United States, 2009 TNT 30-6, CA10, (http://ca10.washburnlaw.edu/cases/2009/02/07-4210.pdf) the Tenth Circuit refused to overturn the holding in the US District Court of Utah that Mr. Smith was a responsible person, even though he had no ownership interest in the entity in question. The case highlights the dangers for employees in accounting functions when the organization they work for begins to have cash flow problems, and payroll tax payments begin to be skipped.The materials are available at http://www.edzollars.com/2009-02-23_Responsible.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast is about the American Recovery Reinvestment Act of 2009. It has a number of tax provisions, and this podcast looks at the small business net operating loss provisions of the Act. This provision will require action for some taxpayers within 60 days after the bill is signed into law, as well as giving us a "sliding" window for when we start using a net operating loss for the year we elect to have it apply to. The podcast materials are located at http://www.edzollars.com/2009-02-16_NOL.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This Podcast continues with issues related to S Corporation debt and the many ways to end up not being able to use debts to deduct losses flowing through. This Podcast focuses on Tax Court's opinion in the case of Russell v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2008-246. The materials for the podcast can be downloaded from http://www.edzollars.com/2008-11-03_SDebt.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This Podcast concerns the final regulations on S Corporation open account debt that will change the way that many clients have to deal with their loans to the corporation. These changes are effective immediately, so we have to understand how these rules work. The materials are available at http://www.edzollars.com/2008-10-31_S_OpenAccount.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast pertains to a common accounting issue, the differences between tax and GAAP treatment of items. Here, we focus on a case involving the time for recognizing an expense. The matter involved rebates and we look at a Chief Counsel Memorandum (ILM 200834019) outlining the IRS's view on why the taxpayer in this case could not recognize the expense related to rebates at the time a sale was made. Materials for this week's podcast can be downloaded at http://www.edzollars.com/2008-09-01_Rebates.pdf This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast reviews the requirements found in the regulations for obtaining the required support for a tax position, concentrating on the methods outlined in Reg. "1.6662-4(d) in the definition of "substantial authority" which are cross referenced multiple times when considering other levels of authority. The materials can be downloaded from http://www.edzollars.com/2008-08-25_Penalty.pdf . . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

The IRS issued proposed regulations to explain the reduction of the NOL substitute in an S corporation setting when cancellation of debt is excluded from the S corporation's income under Section 108. While the regulations are in proposed form only, the "deemed NOL" rules have existed in the IRC since 2002, and Section 108 is likely to be an issue for S corporations who face economic challenges. The materials for this podcast can be found at http://www.edzollars.com/2008-08-04_108andS.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast is about the impact of life insurance premiums and death benefits on an S corporation's accumulated adjustments account. It will focus on the more general issues of the relevance (and lack of relevance) of AAA for an S corporation and its shareholders, and how the item is computed. The materials are available at http://www.edzollars.com/2008-07-07_AAA.pdf . . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This Podcast pertains to HSA Accounts. The IRS has issued guidance in the form of a series of questions and answers related to Health Savings Account in Notice 2008-59. This podcast covers some of the planning and design opportunities available under this Notice. Written materials for this podcast can be downloaded from http://www.edzollars.com/2008-06-30_HSA_Guidance.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast is part two of a series on the proposed regulations for preparer penalties. . The materials are at http://edzollars.com/2008-06-23_Penalty.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast is the first of what will be a series of two on the proposed regulations for preparer penalties. Considering the length of the regulations and podcast, the first hour is in this file to listen to and digest, with part two to be posted later. The materials are at http://edzollars.com/2008-06-23_Penalty.pdf . . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast concerns a Court of Claims case that deals with an IRS examination and the imposition of the fraud penalty--a penalty the Court of Claims found was not justified. The case is the one of Gagliardi v. United States, 2008 TNT 98-20, and is instructive both in the outline of the law, as well as allowing us to consider the ways an examination like this could spin out of control and result in a taxpayer being assessed the fraud penalty in a case like this. The materials can be downloaded from http://www.edzollars.com/2008-06-02_FraudandtheDentist.pdf. This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast pertains to a case involving a failure to meet SEP rules. Simplified employee pensions (SEPs) are a popular retirement plan for extremely small businesses, with one of the key attractions being that don't require many of the formalities of regular qualified plans. But that has led to taxpayers treating them too informally, and in this case(Brown v. Commissioner, TC Summary 2008-56) a taxpayer discovered the hard way what can be the consequences of failing to faithfully follow the simplified rules for this type of plan. The materials for this podcast can be found at http://www.edzollars.com/2008-05-26_SEP_Issue.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast concerns the issue of whether "7502(c) provides the exclusive means to prove timely filing of a document by a taxpayer. What the Third Circuit had to say, the IRS didn't like hearing. In the case of Philadelphia Marine Trade Ass'n.-Int'l Longshoremen's Association Pension Fund et al. v. Commissioner, 2008 TNT 74-16 the Third Circuit held that the reports of the death of the common law mailbox rule were, in the words of Mark Twain, greatly exaggerated. That places the Third Circuit in the same camp with the Eighth, Ninth and Tenth Circuits, and opposed to the positions of the Second and Sixth Circuits. The materials for this podcast are located at http://www.edzollars.com/2008-04-21_Mailbox.pdf. This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast pertains to the distinction between compensation income and gifts. Specifically, the issue is, Is a payment to a person taxable compensation income or a non-taxable (for income tax purposes) gift. The case in question is the case of Larsen v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2008-73.The materials for the podcast are at http://www.edzollars.com/2008-04-16_Gift_Comp.pdf.We also briefly discuss an interesting episode of a podcast I found on small service business operating issues at a place you might not look--check out http://macbreaktech.com/63/making-mac-your-business/ for an interesting listen that really isn't very MacIntosh (or even computer) centric--just a general discussion of issues facing small service businesses.. This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast is about the difference between an error and an accounting method. The question of whether a problem on a return was an error or a method of accounting is important. We'll look at the Sixth Circuit's ruling in the case of Huffman v. Commissioner, where the appeals court sustained the 20006 ruling of the Tax Court (126 TC 322) that the CPA's consistent flawed attempt to calculate inventory as prescribed by the regulations for the dollar-value, link-chain LIFO method. The resolution of this matter in favor of the IRS allowed the IRS to get at what would otherwise have been out of reach errors in years closed for assessment by moving that income into years that were open under the provisions of "481.The materials for this podcast can be found at http://www.edzollars.com/2008-03-17_CPA_Says_Error.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast pertains to the issue of "timely filing", revisiting an issue last covered in a podcast back in October of 2005. This time we look at the Tenth Circuit's opinion in the case of Gibson v. Commissioner, a case that illustrates how a taxpayer who thought he was complying with the requirements to prove a timely filing of his Tax Court petition managed to find a way to not get the benefit he thought he had.The materials are available at http://www.edzollars.com/2008-02-25_Timely_Filing_PodcastII.pdf This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast is about the Economic Stimulus Package of 2008. It makes a few, but significant, tax law changes for 2008.  This podcast talks about what Congress did and what we need to do about it.Materials are available at http://www.edzollars.com/2008-02-09_Economic_Stimulus.pdf . This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast focuses on issues involved with LLCs and S corporations.  This topic cuts across what is often covered in partnership discussions (the use of LLCs) and S corporations (where often LLCs are presented as an alternative to, rather than a potential form of, an S corporation).The podcast covers issues that arise when a single member LLC is used to hold S corporation stock, as well as when an LLC elects corporate status and wishes to be taxed under the S corporation rules.The materials are at http://edzollars.com/2008-02-04_S_Corporation.pdf  This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com

This PodCast concerns Revenue Procedure 2008-12 and final regulations under "7216, both of which deal with taxpayer authorizations for the use or disclosure of tax return information by tax preparers. The regulations contain a number of new requirements that will be imposed on tax preparers, and the Revenue Procedure contains specific language that must be used for taxpayers who are filing the Form 1040 series of forms. These new requirements will take effect on January 1, 2009.The written materials for the podcast can be downloaded from http://www.edzollars.com/2008-01-21_Consents.pdf . . Direct download: 2008-01-21.mp3 This Podcast is sponsored by Leimberg Information Services, Inc. at http://www.leimbergservices.com Please visit our software, books, and PowerPoint Presentations site at http://www.leimberg.com