By Abe Livchitz, CPA, Senior Tax Manager
ASL Construction Group
In December, the Republican led Congress enacted the most wide ranging tax reform legislation since 1986. Provisions will impact both personal and business tax liabilities beginning in 2018. The legislation contains changes that can both help and hurt a contractor’s bottom line. Significant provisions include: (more…)
By Tingting Zhang, CPA, Tax Senior
ASL Tax Group
The U.S. Tax Court issued its final decision on captive insurance arrangements in Avrahami v. Commissioner, 149 T.C. No. 7 (2017). The Court held that the payments made by the Avrahamis to a micro-captive insurance company wholly-owned by Mrs. Avrahami are not insurance premiums for federal income tax purposes; therefore the deduction was not allowed for the federal income tax calculation. The captive insurance company’s elections under Section 831(b) to be treated as a small insurance company and under Section 953(d) to be taxed as a domestic corporation were also held to be invalid. This is the first Section 831(b) case that made it to trial and here is what you should know. (more…)
By Patrick Ngai, CPA, Audit Manager
ASL Renewable Energy Group
The U.S. Renewable Energy Market has been around for some time. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), renewable energy accounted for about 12% of total primary energy consumption and about 15% of the domestically produced electricity in the United States during 2016. Regardless of the current political climate, there is no denying that public interest in renewables is growing exponentially. (more…)
By Helena Bouron, CPA, Senior Audit Manager
ASL Nonprofit Group
When change occurs, there are always winners and losers. With the new tax reform signed into law recently, many articles have been written about the anticipated impact these changes will have on individuals and businesses. However, the impact tax reform may have on nonprofit organizations has received limited media focus. Reform may directly impact the charitable contributions of millions of taxpayers. With tax incentives to donate most likely diminished, nonprofits may struggle to find alternative ways to replace financial support. Let’s look at these major changes that could discourage charitable giving: (more…)
President Trump’s campaign promise of major tax reform was fulfilled on Dec 22nd when he signed H.R. 1 that had been quickly pushed through Congress. This legislation is the most widespread change to our tax system since 1986. It will have a significant impact on individuals, business entities, choice of corporate structures and multi-national businesses. The implementation of some of the changes is subject to varying interpretations so we are anxiously awaiting further guidance from the IRS. (more…)
For the first time in over 30 years, Congress has approved and the President has signed into law a massive tax reform package not seen since 1986. The enactment of the law officially known as “An Act to provide for reconciliation pursuant to titles II and V of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2018” (which we will simply call the new Tax Act), has far-reaching consequences to almost every taxpaying individual and business entity.
Our goal here at Abbott Stringham and Lynch is to provide our clients and friends with the tools and information you need to successfully navigate the “simplified” tax laws so that you can operate your business and organize your personal affairs in order to pay the least amount of tax required by law. To that end, we have organized a series of tax webinars to discuss tax reform legislation and provide observations on key provisions of the Act as they relate to individuals, estates, corporations and pass-through entities (S corporations and partnerships). (more…)
