- Posts by Christian W. Borek
AssociateHe advises businesses on matters involving entrepreneurial business and emerging technologies as well as general corporate matters. His practice is focused on private equity, venture capital, early-stage and startup ...
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”). The ARPA mandated several important changes for both employers and employees. One of these is potentially significant for both: full subsidies for employer-paid COBRA premiums. The ARPA requires employers to provide temporary, fully subsidized COBRA continuation coverage premiums for certain individuals for up to six months. Employers will be able to recover the subsidized premiums by claiming a tax credit.
The benefits provided to employers and employees are available to COBRA ...
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into the law the American Rescue Plan Act (“ARPA”) containing $1.9 trillion in financial stimulus. Though not highly publicized, the ARPA provides important relief related to plan funding for both single employer and multiemployer pension plans. This article will focus solely on the single employer pension plan provisions of the ARPA.
Pension plans are required to maintain certain funding levels. Funding levels are determined by a series of complex calculations usually performed by actuaries hired by plan sponsors. These ...
In March, Congress passed the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) to aid businesses and individuals. One CARES Act relief provision offered the deferral of certain payroll taxes. In particular, Section 2302 provides that employers may defer the deposit and payment of the employer’s portion of the Social Security taxes arising between March 27, 2020, and December 31, 2020 (the “Employer Deferral”). Any deferred taxes are repaid over the following 2-year period. The CARES Act failed to offer similar deferrals for the employee portion of ...
Cannabis (or marijuana) dispensaries have long stated that they are subjected to harsher tax consequences under the Internal Revenue Code (“IRC” or “Code”) than their “legal” counterparts. Specifically, they have argued, in and out of court, that their businesses pay tax on what may otherwise be losses for other businesses but are considered income due to IRC § 280E. At the end of May, however, Harborside Health Center (“Harborside”) filed its appeal brief to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals with the hopes of ending this disparate treatment.
Harborside’s ...
While the Coronavirus has delayed tax season by a few months, Congress’s response may have created the first ever refund season in the recently passed and much discussed relief package known as the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or “CARES Act” for short. While the Act employs various relief techniques, Congress’s most effective and tried-and-true relief method – amending the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”) – may ultimately play the most significant role.
On that note, the CARES Act amends many tax-related provisions, including ...
In the late hours of March 25, 2020, the United States Senate met to vote on a third “Coronavirus” bill to provide relief to the American people. The Senate ultimately passed H.R. 748—the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act or “CARES Act.” Two days later, the House followed suit and sent the bill the President for his approval. The Act contains many stimulus provisions, even some that affect recently-amended Internal Revenue Code (“Code”) sections. This post covers an important amendment to Section 172, which governs the use of “net operating ...
The IRS issued guidance in 2014, through Notice 2014-21, on how to report income from virtual or “crypto” currency transactions. The IRS has since developed a “Virtual Currency Compliance” program focusing on U.S. taxpayers who may not be reporting, or correctly reporting, virtual currency transactions. The IRS has now announced it will be issuing notices to over 10,000 specific U.S. taxpayers warning these recipients that they have been identified as having engaged in virtual currency transactions and their U.S. tax compliance obligations. There are three (3) target ...
The Alabama Supreme Court recently issued an opinion providing guidance on how computer software and related services are taxed by the State of Alabama for sales tax purposes. This is the first such opinion in this area by the Alabama Supreme Court in over 20 years.
In Ex Parte Russell County Community Hospital, LLC, Medhost of Tennessee, Inc. (“Medhost”) sold Russell County Community Hospital (“Hospital”) computer software and the accompanying hardware/equipment, and which Medhost later installed. In its invoice to the Hospital, Medhost did not itemize the software and ...
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) will be releasing guidance on the tax treatment and reporting requirements of “virtual currencies” (i.e., cryptocurrencies) very soon, according to Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles (“Chuck”) Rettig.
Commissioner Rettig’s statement was prompted by a letter sent to him on April 11, 2019 by a bipartisan group from the House of Representatives. The letter urged the IRS to issue guidance on the tax consequences and basic reporting requirements for virtual currencies. In particular, the Representatives’ letter ...
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (“TCJA”) added new Section 461(l) to the Internal Revenue Code (the “Code”). This new Code section limits the ability of noncorporate taxpayers, including individuals and “pass-thru” business entities (e.g., partnerships and S corporations), to deduct business losses against nonbusiness income. This new rule works together with the passive activity loss limitation rules of Code Section 469.
In particular, Section 461(l) denies noncorporate taxpayers a deduction for “excess business losses.” An “excess business loss” ...