Introduction Our goal is to provide useful tax and financial information to those affected by major casualties and disasters, and their advisors. ((See generally these tax rules: Sections 139(c)’ and 165(c)’, 7508A. If you are a tax professional, see “Disaster Relief Resource Center for Tax Professionals,” https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/disaster-relief-resource-center-for-tax-professionals.)) We mention the effects of Hurricane Harvey in and around Houston beginning in August, 2017, and Hurricane Irma that hit Florida and its environs soon after, and then the terrible fires in Northern California in October. Catastrophic disasters have been ongoing. Harvey has been described as the worst flood disaster ever in the continental United States. Just in and around Houston, FEMA believes some 68,000 homes were flooded. ((“Spared from Harvey’s worst,” Ralph Vartabedian and Ben Welsh, Los Angeles Times, 11/19/17, p. A17.)) On the heels of Hurricane Harvey, there has been … [Read more...] about Catastrophic Disasters –The CPA’s Expertise Can Help With Recovery And Planning
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The Private Foundation as a Charitable Lifestyle
You’re a busy business owner, investor or executive and would like your success to translate into significant charitable achievements. You would like your success to pour over and help others. You may be looking at retirement and considering a more hands-on approach to helping others, more of an active charitable lifestyle but perhaps not operating a charity. We trust this article will help you decide whether the private foundation is a vehicle suited to your philanthropic, business, tax and estate planning goals. We address the philanthropist, or potential philanthropist, but include their advisors. We will compare the private foundation with other approaches to charitable accomplishment. The rules are complex but a public charity generally receives at least one third of its support from the general public, whereas a private foundation’s support base is normally a limited number of donors. Its funding is usually provided by a donor or a family. ((Instructions to Form … [Read more...] about The Private Foundation as a Charitable Lifestyle
Tips on Registering your Charity
This article was first published in December 2016 on the Planned Giving Design Center website. Download the article Watching charities is a necessary government function because, while rare, there's an occasional bad charity, and any number of charities whose activities may deserve occasional scrutiny. The first step in this process is requiring the charities to register with the state's group that monitors charities. Regulatory Scrutiny Grows Our purpose is to put this topic in some general perspective, making every effort to be brief with a topic that is inherently complex. There are about forty jurisdictions that may require registration. We look generally at such questions as when registration is required and the costs. There is soon to be a centralized, electronic place where the charity can register once and this gets sent to myriad jurisdictions. The vehicle is to be launched in upcoming months with some thirteen initial governmental participants. See "Simpler … [Read more...] about Tips on Registering your Charity
How to Choose a 401(k) Plan Auditor
CFOs must be careful in making this choice, because there may be issues of penalties and personal legal liability. For startup companies or others that are putting a 401(k) plan in place, the details may seem endless. Generally, audits of such plans with 100 or more participants are required as part of the Form 5500 filing for employee benefit plans. For 2015, the instructions for the form ran 82 pages. By comparison, the instructions for Form 1120 for corporate tax returns were only 26 pages. The regulatory environment, which effectively encompasses the IRS, the Department of Labor, and possibly state regulators, is a unique world with a stream of new regulations that may seem endless as well. The DoL looks at fiduciary standards, reporting and disclosure requirements, and its own meticulous rules. The Internal Revenue Service and its specialists are looking at the plan’s qualified status and potential tax issues. The regulators look at not only what’s in the plan, but … [Read more...] about How to Choose a 401(k) Plan Auditor
