Programs involving third-party vendors providing rewards, like hotels, airlines, and fuel companies, can amass substantial value over time. The term “substantial” is an understatement. “Massive” is more fitting. The tax law for these arrangements is not clear as it touches on concepts like trust funds, accounting methods, and redemption deductions. Given the size of the…
Category: Accounting Method
Accounting Method
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Triggering Losses by Selling a Business: NQDC Example
Timing issues are one of the aspects of effective tax planning. There are scores of options for timing and tax deferral and recognition that depend on the taxpayer’s circumstances. For example, for corporate taxpayers, these timing issues may involve timing the receipt of income using the installment rules or the use of losses or foreign…
IRS Guidance on Structuring Attorneys Fees
It should not be a surprise to learn that attorneys often hire tax attorneys to help them minimize their taxes. One popular tax savings strategy for attorneys is to structure their contingent fees. A contingent fee is a payment arrangement in which a lawyer provides services on the condition that payment will only be made…
Tax Reporting for Returns & Allowances
Our tax laws create categories–income/exclusion, deduction, and credit. Taxpayers are presented with structured forms that set out these categories. The IRS expects taxpayers to fill out the forms by correctly identifying what items go in each category. But it is not always clear what items go in each category. Taxpayers may engage in tax planning…
IRS Expands Sec. 9100 Relief for Late Forms 3115
As innocuous as it sounds, the Form 3115 is a tax form like no other. A Form 3115 that is inadvertently omitted from a tax return filing can result in sizable differences in tax and trigger significant tax penalties and interest. Given the amounts that are often reported on the Form 3115, errors could cost…
Tax Planning for Contingent Loans
Tax is often about timing. Timing issues are those where the taxpayer defers the requirement to pay taxes to a later date. Preferably a later date that is many, many years in the future. The hope is that the taxpayer can retain the amounts that would have been paid in tax today and use the…
How to Correct Late Accounting Method Changes
A consistent mistake on a tax return for more than two years may require an accounting method change to correct. The IRS has procedures for making these elections, which generally require a timely filed tax return. But what if you miss the filing deadline–are you out of luck? Private Letter Ruling (“PLR”) 201850013 provides the…
IRS Audit Adjustments That Change Accounting Methods
Given the potential for the adjustments to trigger extremely large tax liabilities, accounting method changes made by the IRS on audit can be doomsday scenarios for unwary taxpayers. In Nebeker v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2016-155, the court addressed a common situation where the IRS makes an adjustment on audit that is an accounting method, but…
Income Tax Consequences for Gift Cards
Gift cards remain a popular offering, with sales exceeding $200 billion annually. But when must retailers recognize income from gift card sales for tax purposes? Can related deductions be taken immediately, or only as gift cards are redeemed over time? Get it wrong, and businesses face cash flow headaches or penalties. The IRS Office of…
Late Section 475(f) Election and Section 9100 Relief
Those who are traders in securities or commodities can make a mark-to-market election. This election can allow the trader to immediately deduct losses each year and avoid the wash sale rules. But many traders do not know about this election and only learn of it after it is too late to benefit from it. Even…