Individuals who are the unfortunate subjects of federal criminal tax prosecution face prison terms, probation, fines, restrictions on travel and other punishment. Conviction of felony tax offenses results in certain Constitution rights being lost, such as the right to vote and bear arms.
As part of a conviction for federal criminal tax offenses, an individual will most likely also be sentenced to pay "restitution" to the federal government. Payment of restitution in a criminal tax case is designed to compensate the IRS for the loss caused by the defendant's wrongdoing.
In federal ...
A health wellness program is broadly defined as any program of health promotion or disease prevention. My recent article entitled "Taxonomy of Health Wellness Programs - Part I" reviewed the classification of health wellness programs (hereinafter referred to as "Wellness Programs") under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA"). In this article, I am going to review an alternative way of classifying Wellness Programs that is contained in the "2018 Employer Guide: FINDING FIT: IMPLEMENTING WELLNESS PROGRAMS SUCCESSFULLY" (the "Guide").
In February ...
Businesses that have employees must pay wages and salaries to their employees, and the employer must collect federal employee income taxes and the employee's share of social security (FICA) from these wages and salaries, add the employer's "matching share" of FICA, and then deposit these taxes with the IRS. The Employer must file a quarterly return with the IRS (Form 941) reporting all wages and salaries paid, all tax deposits made during the quarter, and pay any balance due with the quarterly return.
The Recession took a heavy toll on businesses throughout the country, with many ...
Congress enacted the new Section 199A 20% profit deduction for the owners of pass-through businesses, and which include Subchapter S corporations, LLCs, sole proprietorships, and even certain trusts. Section 199A is intended to provide a deduction to owners of these pass-through business entities who do not otherwise benefit from the new 21% flat tax Congress has given to corporations under the new tax law. While Section 199A is intended to benefit these generally smaller types of business entities and their owners, the new tax law is riddled with complexity and exceptions, and so ...
After months of eager anticipation, today the Department of the Treasury released regulations defining and refining certain requirements set forth in the "Opportunity Zone" law.
While the Opportunity Zone statute provided a framework for tax-deferred investments, most projects have been on hold pending the regulatory framework. The regulations released today answer many questions, while others remain unaddressed. According to today's release, more guidance will be forthcoming by the end of the year.
Some highlights of the proposed regulations include:
Substantial ...
Authored by: John M. Jolley, Sherri L. McGirt, and Jennie Cerrati
When the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed, significant changes were made to the Federal Estate, Gift and Generation Skipping Tax, the most prominent of which is the increased applicable exclusion amount, which is the amount that is excluded from a decedent's gross estate for federal estate tax purposes. The applicable exclusion amount was $5.49 million for decedent's dying and gifts made in 2017. This amount is doubled for decedent's dying and gifts made after 2017 and before 2026. It is currently $11.18 million and ...
The Policy Division of the South Carolina Department of Revenue has issued a final revenue ruling, SC Revenue Ruling #18-14, addressing retailers without a physical presence in South Carolina. The ruling comes on the heels of the United States Supreme Court decision in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., 585 U.S. ___, 138 S. Ct. 2080 (2018), which found that retailers without a physical presence in a state can be required to collect and remit sales and use tax. The Department of Revenue has also posted a series of frequently asked questions to its website.
Prior to issuing SC Revenue Ruling ...
Changes have been made to the income tax withholding tables and estimated tax rates as a result of the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Taxpayers should pay extra attention now to their tax withholdings and estimated tax payments in order to avoid penalties.
Taxpayers can generally avoid underwithholding/estimated tax penalties if they:
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- Pay 90% of the current year liability, or
- Pay 100% of the prior year liability.
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However, If a taxpayer’s adjusted gross income for the prior year was more than $150,000, the taxpayer must then have withholdings or estimated tax payments for the current year ...
In today's digital age, we are seeing more individuals concerned about what happens to their digital assets at their death. For example, a Broadway aficionado wanting to be certain their collection of show tunes, purchased on iTunes makes it to their grandchild. Like most areas of technology, advances in digital currency and music are outpacing the legislative change, while the Courts struggle to keep up.
An increasingly popular question posed by estate planning clients is the question of who can inherit your iTunes account? The short answer is - no-one. iTunes is a service provider ...
A health wellness program is broadly defined as any program of health promotion or disease prevention. In a recent article entitled "Health Wellness Programs - An Introduction and a Resource", I reviewed certain characteristics common to health wellness programs (hereinafter referred to as "Wellness Programs"). In this article, I am going to review the classification of Wellness Programs under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act ("HIPAA").
From a legal perspective, Wellness Programs are initially divided into two classes: (1) programs that are part of (or ...