When United States Tax Court Judge Paris issued the opinion in the case of Ryan Fleischer in 2016 , it caused quite a stir in the tax blogosphere. And from what I have been able to gather off the record it remains of interest. The Fleischer decision makes it very difficult, if not impossible for some financial professionals to use S corporations to mitigate self-employment tax. Rather than attack on reasonable salary, the IRS took an assignment of income approach, which succeeded throwing planners for financial professionals like Fleischer into a bit of an uproar...

Your clients may think that business owners get all the tax breaks and incentives. But that’s not quite true. We see that with the expansion of clean energy tax credits in the Inflation Reduction Act. One of the goals of the Inflation Reduction Act is to address climate change. The bill does this by helping taxpayers save green for using green energy. Taxpayers can not only enjoy tax benefits from riding clean the next 10 years. Your environmentally conscious clients can also reduce their tax bill as they make clean energy changes to their home. What client do you have right now that would enjoy claiming 30% of the costs of their home improvements for a tax credit? Not sure? Well get your pen and paper to make a list while we go over how this new credit can save them this tax year until 2034.

Four keynote speakers headline the 38th Annual UCLA Tax Controversy Institute this year. It was a terrific opportunity to hear from the top IRS executives, get their perspectives on the past year – and coming policies and programs. And, even, to be able to ask them questions. Keep reading for the in-person account!

Charlie Sheen’s tax woes seem to be at an end. I mainly remember Sheen as the star of Two and a Half Men, but there is a lot more to his career and fame than that. As I related back in January, IRS has been trying to collect on Mr. Sheen’s 2015, 2017 and 2018 returns. Many people have the impression that failure to send in the balance due with your return. will result in 87,000 agents willing to use deadly force knocking on your door, but it really doesn’t work that way. There is a lot of process. In some circles I think the return balance due is viewed as the sticker price on cars used to be or full tuition at a well-endowed university that wants to have a sprinkling of representation from the 99% attending…

The IRS is deploying technology and big data to combat compensation under-reporting. What does this likely mean for you and your S Corps? That Reasonable Compensation challenges will likely occur outside the traditional exam process. A challenge may come from the ongoing Employment Tax Program or the recently launched CIP. From our polling, we find most tax advisors and their S Corp clients are dangerously unprepared for an IRS reasonable compensation challenge. If you are working with S corps, here’s the news you need to know...