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Thinking about a Roth IRA conversion? Now may be the ideal time

Tax Prep, Planning & Strategy|November 19, 2019

Roth IRAs offer significant estate planning and financial benefits. If you have a substantial balance in a traditional IRA and are considering converting it to a Roth IRA, there may be no better time than now. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) reduced individual income tax rates through 2025. By making the conversion now, the TCJA enhances the benefits of a Roth IRA.

Estate planning benefits

The main difference between traditional and Roth IRAs is the timing of income taxes. With a traditional IRA, your eligible contributions are deductible on your tax returns but distributions of both contributions and earnings are taxable when you receive them. With a Roth IRA, on the other hand, your contributions are nondeductible — that is, they’re made with after-tax dollars — but qualified distributions of both contributions and earnings are tax-free if you meet certain requirements. As a general rule, from a tax perspective, you’re better off with a Roth IRA if you expect your tax rate to be higher when it comes time to withdraw the funds. That’s because you pay the tax up front, when your tax rate is lower.

From an estate planning perspective, Roth IRAs have two distinct advantages. First, unlike a traditional IRA, a Roth IRA doesn’t mandate required minimum distributions (RMDs) beginning at age 70½. If your other assets are sufficient to meet your living expenses, you can allow the funds in a Roth IRA to continue growing tax-free for the rest of your life, multiplying the amount available for your loved ones. Second, after your death, your children or other beneficiaries can withdraw funds from a Roth IRA tax-free. In contrast, an inherited traditional IRA comes with a sizable income tax bill.

Why now?

The TCJA’s tax changes may make it an ideal time for a Roth IRA conversion. You’ll have to pay federal taxes when you convert from a traditional IRA to a Roth (and possibly state taxes too). But as previously discussed, Roth IRAs offer tax advantages if you expect your tax rate to be higher in the future.

By temporarily lowering individual income tax rates, the TCJA ensures that your tax rate will increase in 2026 (unless a future Congress lowers tax rates). Future tax rates are irrelevant, of course, if you plan to hold the funds for life and leave them to your loved ones. In that case, you’re generally better off with a Roth IRA, which avoids RMDs and allows the full balance to continue growing tax-free.

Proceed with caution

If you’re contemplating a Roth IRA conversion, discuss with us the costs, benefits and potential risks. It’s important to be cautious because, once you convert a traditional IRA to a Roth IRA, you’re stuck with it under current law. The TCJA repealed a provision that previously made it possible to “undo” a Roth IRA conversion that turned out to be a mistake.

Smart Estate Planning begins with Protecting your Assets

Tax Prep, Planning & Strategy|November 19, 2019

It’s one thing to earn enough to live a comfortable lifestyle. It’s yet another to develop a plan for protecting your assets so that there’s more for your heirs after your death. If you’ve been fortunate enough to achieve the former, there are estate planning tips to help with the latter.

Asset protection may take many forms, ranging from the simple to the sophisticated, often involving a combination of several techniques. In any event, you should begin planning now instead of leaving matters to chance.

Back to the basics

Traditionally, asset protection strategies have focused on avoiding or minimizing federal estate tax liability. Although estate taxes remain a concern for some families, most should find sufficient tax shelter under current estate tax law. However, be aware that estate taxes may still apply at the state level.

For instance, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) hikes the unified gift and estate tax exemption to $10 million (subject to inflation indexing) for transfers to nonspousal beneficiaries and for assets passing tax-free to a spouse under the unlimited marital deduction. The indexed exemption amount for 2018 is $11.18 million. Also, portability effectively allows couples to double this tax shelter to $22.36 million. Finally, you can still use the annual gift tax exclusion of $15,000 per recipient in 2018.

Thus, you can simply “gift” assets to your loved ones, realizing the estate tax benefits of the exemption and gift tax exclusion amounts.

For some, asset protection is as easy as that — case closed. But this simplified approach requires you to give up control of those assets during your lifetime, which might not be desirable or feasible. As a result, more complex techniques may be preferred.

A matter of trusts

Frequently, trusts are featured in an asset protection plan. The traditional bypass trust (or A-B trust), which was created mainly to avoid federal estate tax, is still a viable option. Such trusts offer protection from creditors, while continuing to provide tax shelter.

A similar variation, often called a spendthrift trust, can be established for a beneficiary who isn’t qualified to manage investments or might indulge in spending sprees. An independent trustee assumes the financial management responsibilities.

With a qualified terminable interest property (QTIP) trust, a grantor can provide an income stream for a surviving spouse while still determining the disposition of the trust assets when the spouse dies. This enables a surviving spouse to maintain a comparable lifestyle. A QTIP trust is often used by someone who has remarried and has children from a prior marriage. The children typically receive the assets when the trust terminates.

Another type of trust, the domestic asset protection trust (DAPT), has been growing in popularity. This is a “self-settled” trust, where the grantor personally benefits from the income. The main objectives are to provide protection from creditors and retain control over the assets. Accordingly, DAPTs may be used when there’s a divorce or spendthrift concerns.

Currently, 17 states have enacted legislation authorizing DAPTs. They are: Alaska, Delaware, Hawaii, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Finally, offshore trusts can be used to protect assets. These trusts are created in countries that are “tax havens” or have strict privacy laws. Professional guidance for these complex arrangements is recommended.

Focus on business matters

Asset protection is also vital to business owners. Depending on your situation, you might form a company as a C corporation to protect your business assets or as an S corporation providing partnership-type taxation. There are additional factors at work, so choose the business form carefully.

Another possibility is a limited liability company (LLC). These essentially combine the tax benefits of S corporations with the creditor protection of C corporations. LLCs may also offer more flexibility in management of assets. Again, all factors should be considered before you switch to LLC status.

Choosing the right asset strategy

The good news is that there are a multitude of ways to protect your assets, thus allowing you to be able to pass more on to your heirs. The key is to be proactive, not reactive. Consult with your advisor to determine which strategies work best with your estate plan.

Nonprofit board retreats: The pause that refreshes

Accounting & Assurance|November 17, 2019

If your not-for-profit’s board is like most, its members lead busy lives. They may not get to every board meeting or perhaps they’re able to attend meetings only via teleconference. That’s why it’s important to periodically bring everyone together in a relaxed setting. But to be successful, your retreat should be planned to the smallest detail.

Going deep

Board retreats enable participants to get past the mundane topics of regular board meetings and delve deeply into specific issues. To take advantage of this opportunity, do the following:

Get participant buy-in. Don’t spring a fully planned retreat on your board without first making sure everyone agrees to the merit of the session and its goals.

Choose the time and place carefully. Once the board agrees to a retreat, turn your thoughts to logistics, which will vary depending on your objectives. An afternoon at a local restaurant may be ideal if the board needs to brainstorm some creative, new fundraising options. Broader agendas or confidential topics will require more time and privacy — perhaps several days at an offsite location.

The further you can get board members away from their regular work responsibilities, even if only mentally, the better. That may mean banning mobile phones from working sessions.

Create a detailed agenda. Start your agenda at the end by asking what outcome you want to come away with at the close of the retreat. If, for example, you’d like to end the meeting with a five-year strategic plan, your agenda might start off with time to review the history of your organization and competitive research from other nonprofits. From there, build in time to brainstorm where your donors, beneficiaries, members and other important constituencies may be in five years.

Make sure you include adequate breaks and time for informal social interaction, such as a nice dinner. This will not only keep your board members focused, but also reward them for their efforts.

Don’t forget to follow up

Keep in mind that some of the most important work will happen after the retreat ends. Be sure to recap all decisions and commitments and make a plan to put your work into action before the board scatters. Follow up by sending members a written summary of retreat discussions and add action items to future board meeting agendas based on those plans.

Charitable lead trusts offer philanthropic and family benefits

Tax Prep, Planning & Strategy|November 14, 2019

Affluent families who wish to give to charity while minimizing gift and estate taxes should consider a charitable lead trust (CLT). These trusts are most effective in a low-interest-rate environment, so conditions for taking advantage of a CLT currently are favorable. Although interest rates have crept up a bit in recent years, they remain quite low.

CLTs come in two flavors

A CLT provides a regular income stream to one or more charities during the trust term, after which the remaining assets pass to your children or other noncharitable beneficiaries.

There are two types of CLTs: 1) a charitable lead annuity trust (CLAT), which makes annual payments to charity equal to a fixed dollar amount or a fixed percentage of the trust assets’ initial value, and 2) a charitable lead unitrust (CLUT), which pays out a set percentage of the trust assets’ value, recalculated annually. Most people prefer CLATs because they provide a better opportunity to maximize the amount received by the noncharitable beneficiaries.

Typically, people establish CLATs during their lives because it allows them to lock in a favorable interest rate. Another option is a testamentary CLAT, or “T-CLAT,” which is established at death by your will or living trust.

Interest matters

Why are CLATs so effective when interest rates are low? When you fund a CLAT, you make a taxable gift equal to the initial value of the assets you contribute to the trust, less the value of all charitable interests. A charity’s interest is equal to the total payments it will receive over the trust term, discounted to present value using the Section 7520 rate, a conservative interest rate set monthly by the IRS. As of this writing, the Sec. 7520 rate has fluctuated between 2.8% and 3.4% this year.

If trust assets outperform the applicable Sec. 7520 rate (that is, the rate published in the month the trust is established), the trust will produce wealth transfer benefits. For example, if the applicable Sec. 7520 rate is 2.5% and the trust assets actually grow at a 7% rate, your noncharitable beneficiaries will receive assets well in excess of the taxable gift you report when the trust is established.

Act now

If a CLAT appeals to you, the sooner you act, the better. In a low-interest-rate environment, outperforming the Sec. 7520 rate is relatively easy, so the prospects of transferring a significant amount of wealth tax-free are good. Contact us with questions.

M&A transactions: Avoid surprises from the IRS

Tax Prep, Planning & Strategy|November 12, 2019

If you’re considering buying or selling a business — or you’re in the process of a merger or acquisition — it’s important that both parties report the transaction to the IRS in the same way. Otherwise, you may increase your chances of being audited.

If a sale involves business assets (as opposed to stock or ownership interests), the buyer and the seller must generally report to the IRS the purchase price allocations that both use. This is done by attaching IRS Form 8594, “Asset Acquisition Statement,” to each of their respective federal income tax returns for the tax year that includes the transaction.

What’s reported?

When buying business assets in an M&A transaction, you must allocate the total purchase price to the specific assets that are acquired. The amount allocated to each asset then becomes its initial tax basis. For depreciable and amortizable assets, the initial tax basis of each asset determines the depreciation and amortization deductions for that asset after the acquisition. Depreciable and amortizable assets include:

Equipment,
Buildings and improvements,
Software,
Furniture, fixtures and
Intangibles (including customer lists, licenses, patents, copyrights and goodwill).

In addition to reporting the items above, you must also disclose on Form 8594 whether the parties entered into a noncompete agreement, management contract or similar agreement, as well as the monetary consideration paid under it.

IRS scrutiny

The IRS may inspect the forms that are filed to see if the buyer and the seller use different allocations. If the IRS finds that different allocations are used, auditors may dig deeper and the investigation could expand beyond just the transaction. So, it’s in your best interest to ensure that both parties use the same allocations. Consider including this requirement in your asset purchase agreement at the time of the sale.

The tax implications of buying or selling a business are complicated. Price allocations are important because they affect future tax benefits. Both the buyer and the seller need to report them to the IRS in an identical way to avoid unwanted attention. To lock in the best postacquisition results, consult with us before finalizing any transaction.

Protect your nonprofit from occupational fraud threats

Accounting & Assurance|November 10, 2019

Not-for-profit organizations don’t lose as much to occupational fraud as for-profit businesses do. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners’ (ACFE’s) 2018 Report to the Nations, nonprofits lost a median amount of $75,000 during the 21-month study period, compared with $164,000 for private for-profit companies. Yet few nonprofit budgets can afford a $75,000 shortfall or the bad publicity associated with fraud. Here’s how nonprofits open the door to fraud — and how your organization can shut it.

How thieves slip through

The core of any organization’s fraud-prevention program is strong internal controls — policies that govern everything from accepting cash to signing checks to training staff to performing regular audits. Most nonprofits have at least a rudimentary set of internal controls, but employees bent on fraud can usually find gaps.

Nonprofits typically devote the largest chunk of their budgets to programming, and can be stingy about allocating dollars to enforcing internal controls. This can be especially problematic if executives or board members indicate that fraud prevention is low on their priority list. Nonprofit boards may also inadvertently enable fraud when they place too much trust in the executive director and fail to challenge that person’s financial representations. Unlike their for-profit counterparts, these members may lack financial oversight experience and the knowledge to spot irregularities.

Trust is another Achilles’ heel for many nonprofits. Organizations often regard their staff and dedicated volunteers as family. They may allow managers to override internal controls and let volunteers accept cash donations without oversight — both very risky activities.

Fortify your defenses

Check tampering, expense reimbursement fraud and billing schemes are the three most common types of employee theft found in nonprofit organizations. But proper segregation of duties — for example, assigning account reconciliation and fund depositing to two different staff members — is a relatively easy and effective method of preventing such fraud. Strong management oversight and confidential fraud hotlines are also associated with lower losses due to employee theft.

Indeed, when it comes to employees, you should trust but verify. Conduct background checks on all prospective staff members, as well as volunteers who will be handling money or financial records. Also, provide an orientation to new board members to ensure they have a clear understanding of their fiduciary role.

Finally, handle fraud incidents seriously. Many nonprofits choose to quietly fire thieves and sweep their actions under the rug. However, this tends to encourage fraud by telling potential thieves that the consequences of getting caught are relatively minor. If an incident is hushed up, rumors could do more reputational damage than publicly addressing the issue head-on. It’s better to file a police report, consult an attorney and inform major stakeholders about the incident.

If you suspect fraud in your organization, contact us for help investigating it.

What to do if your nonprofit receives an IRS audit letter

Accounting & Assurance|November 7, 2019

The IRS’s staffing shortages have been well publicized and audits of individuals have decreased in the past several years. But it’s a mistake to assume that the agency has stopped scrutinizing not-for-profits and conducting audits when it deems necessary. If your organization receives an audit letter, you need to know what the process involves and how you can help resolve it as quickly as possible.

Igniting a spark

An audit begins with the initial contact via letter from the IRS and continues until a closing letter is issued. Before closing an audit, an officer of your nonprofit, your CPA and the IRS agent will discuss the agent’s conclusions at a closing conference. Both the conference and letter will explain your appeal rights.

Audits can cover many areas. For example, the IRS may want to learn whether your organization has filed all returns and forms as required by law. Or it might delve into whether your activities have been consistent with your tax-exempt purpose, or whether unrelated business income tax or employment taxes were properly paid.

The igniting spark for an audit might be an IRS examination initiative or project, or complaints to the agency about potential noncompliance. In general, Form 990 plays a strong role in the selection process. For instance, the IRS may apply risk models to your organization’s Form 990 data related to governance or the incidence of fraud.

Types of audits

If your initial contact letter schedules an agent to visit, the IRS is conducting a field audit, which falls into one of two categories: 1) general program exam, which typically is conducted by a single IRS agent; or 2) Team Examination Program audit, which focuses on large, complex organizations and may involve a team of examiners.

If, on the other hand, your initial IRS letter asks you to deliver documents to an IRS office by mail, the agency is conducting a correspondence audit. An agent generally will perform the audit via letters and phone calls to your officers or representative. If a correspondence audit grows more complex or your nonprofit doesn’t respond to requests, it can turn into a field audit.

The IRS might also contact you to announce a compliance check. This isn’t an audit; it’s a determination of whether your organization is adhering to record-keeping and information reporting requirements. However, a compliance check can lead to an audit.

Handle it right

Whether you’re facing a field or correspondence audit, don’t try to handle the matter yourself. Contact us for help.

Run your strategic-planning meetings like they really matter

Tax Prep, Planning & Strategy|November 5, 2019

Many businesses struggle to turn abstract strategic-planning ideas into concrete, actionable plans. One reason why is simple: ineffective meetings. The ideas are there, lurking in the minds of management and key employees, but the process for hashing them out just doesn’t work. Here are a few ways to run your strategic-planning meetings like they really matter — which, of course, they do.

Build buy-in

Meetings often fail because attendees feel more like spectators than participants. They are less likely to zone out if they have some say in the direction and content of the gathering. So, before the session, touch base with those involved and establish a clear agenda of the strategic-planning initiatives you’ll be discussing.

Another common problem with meetings occurs when someone leads the meeting, but no one owns it. As the meeting leader, be sure to speak with conviction and express positivity (if not passion) for the subject matter. (If others are delivering presentations during the proceedings, encourage them to do the same.)

Fight fatigue

To the extent possible, keep meetings short. Cover what needs to be covered, but ensure you’re concentrating only on what’s important. Go in armed with easy-to-follow notes so you’ll stay on track and won’t forget anything. The latter point is particularly important, because overlooked subjects often lead to hasty follow-up meetings that can frustrate employees.

In addition, if the contingent of attendees is large enough, consider having employees break out into smaller groups to focus on specific points. Then call the meeting back to order to discuss each group’s ideas. By mixing it up in such creative ways, you’ll keep employees more engaged.

Tell a story

There’s so much to distract employees in a meeting. If it’s held in the morning, the busy day ahead may preoccupy their thoughts. If it’s an afternoon meeting, they might grow anxious about their commutes home. If the meeting is a Web conference, there are a variety of distractions that may affect them. And there’s no getting around the ease with which participants can sneak peeks at their smartphones (or smart watches) to check emails, texts and the Internet.

How do you break through? People appreciate storytellers. So, think about how you can use this technique to find a more relaxed and engaging way to speak to everyone in the room. Devise a narrative that will grab attendees’ attention and keep them in suspense for a little bit. Then deliver a conclusion that will inspire them to work toward identifying fully realized, feasible strategic goals.

Make ’em great

Grumbling about meetings can be as much a part of working life as burnt coffee in the bottom of the breakroom pot. But don’t let this occasional negativity sway you from doing the critical strategic planning that every business needs to do. Your meetings can be great ones. We can’t help you run them, but we can assist you in assessing the financial feasibility and ramifications of your strategic plans.

Did you Repair your Business Property or Improve It?

Tax Prep, Planning & Strategy|November 5, 2019

Repairs to tangible property, such as buildings, machinery, equipment or vehicles, can provide businesses a valuable current tax deduction — as long as the so-called repairs weren’t actually “improvements.”

The costs of incidental repairs and maintenance can be immediately expensed and deducted on the current year’s income tax return. But costs incurred to improve tangible property must be capitalized and recovered through depreciation.

Betterment, restoration or adaptation

Generally, a cost must be depreciated if it results in an improvement to a building structure, or any of its building systems (for example, the plumbing or electrical system), or to other tangible property. An improvement occurs if there was a betterment, restoration or adaptation of the unit of property.

Under the “betterment test,” you generally must depreciate amounts paid for work that is reasonably expected to materially increase the productivity, efficiency, strength, quality or output of a unit of property or that is a material addition to a unit of property.

Under the “restoration test,” you generally must depreciate amounts paid to replace a part (or combination of parts) that is a major component or a significant portion of the physical structure of a unit of property.

Under the “adaptation test,” you generally must depreciate amounts paid to adapt a unit of property to a new or different use — one that isn’t consistent with your ordinary use of the unit of property at the time you originally placed it in service.

Safe harbors

A couple of IRS safe harbors can help distinguish between repairs and improvements:

Routine maintenance safe harbor. Recurring activities dedicated to keeping property in efficient operating condition can be expensed. These are activities that your business reasonably expects to perform more than once during the property’s “class life,” as defined by the IRS.

Amounts incurred for activities outside the safe harbor don’t necessarily have to be depreciated, though. These amounts are subject to analysis under the general rules for improvements.

Small business safe harbor. For buildings that initially cost $1 million or less, qualified small businesses may elect to deduct the lesser of $10,000 or 2% of the unadjusted basis of the property for repairs, maintenance, improvements and similar activities each year. A qualified small business is generally one with gross receipts of $10 million or less.

More to learn

To learn more about these safe harbors and other ways to maximize your tangible property deductions, contact us.

It’s not too late to trim your 2019 tax bill

Tax Prep, Planning & Strategy|November 4, 2019

Fall is in the air and that means it’s time to turn your attention to year-end tax planning. While several clear strategies and tactics emerged during the first tax filing season under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), 2019 and subsequent years bring potential twists that must be considered, too. Let’s take a closer look at year-end tax planning strategies that can reduce your 2019 income tax liability.

Deferring income and accelerating expenses

Deferring income into the next tax year and accelerating expenses into the current tax year is a time-tested technique for taxpayers who don’t expect to be in a higher tax bracket the following year. Independent contractors and other self-employed individuals can, for example, hold off on sending invoices until late December to push the associated income into 2020. And all taxpayers, regardless of employment status, can defer income by taking capital gains after January 1. Be careful, though, because by waiting to sell you also risk the possibility that your investment might become less valuable.

Bear in mind, also, that there may be other reasons that taking the income this year can be more beneficial. For starters, future tax rates can go up. It’s possible that income tax rates might increase substantially by 2021, especially for those with higher incomes, depending on 2020 election results. In any event, in 2026, the higher tax rates that were in place for 2017 are scheduled to return.

Moreover, taxpayers who qualify for the qualified business income (QBI) deduction for pass-through entities (that is, sole proprietors, partnerships, limited liability companies and S corporations) could end up reducing the size of that deduction if they reduce their income. It might make more sense to maximize the QBI deduction — which is scheduled to end after 2025 — while it’s available.

Timing itemized deductions

The TCJA substantially boosted the standard deduction. For 2019, it’s $24,400 for married couples and $12,200 for single filers. With many of the previously popular itemized deductions eliminated or limited, some taxpayers can find it challenging to claim more in itemized deductions than the standard deduction. Timing, or “bunching,” those deductions may make it easier.

Bunching basically means delaying or accelerating deductions into a tax year to exceed the standard deduction and claim itemized deductions. You could, for example, bunch your charitable contributions if it means you can get a tax break for one tax year. If you normally make your donations at the end of the year, you can bunch donations in alternative years — say, donate in January and December of 2020 and January and December of 2022.

If you have a donor-advised fund (DAF), you can make multiple contributions to it in a single year, accelerating the deduction. You then decide when the funds are distributed to the charity. If, for instance, your objective is to give annually in equal increments, doing so will allow your chosen charities to receive a reliable stream of yearly donations (something that’s critical to their financial stability), and you can deduct the total amount in a single tax year.

If you donate appreciated assets that you’ve held for more than one year to a DAF or a nonprofit, you’ll avoid long-term capital gains taxes that you’d have to pay if you sold the property and (subject to certain restrictions) also obtain a deduction for the assets’ fair market value. This tactic pays off even more if you’re subject to the 3.8% net investment income tax or the top long-term capital gains tax rate (20% for 2019).

What if you’re looking to divest yourself of assets on which you have a loss? Rather than donate the asset, the better move from a tax perspective is more likely going to be to sell it to take advantage of the loss and then donate the proceeds.

Timing also comes into play with medical expenses. The TCJA lowered the threshold for deducting unreimbursed medical expenses to 7.5% of adjusted gross income (AGI) for 2017 and 2018, but it bounces back to 10% of AGI for 2019. Bunching qualified medical expenses into one year could make you eligible for the deduction.

You also could bunch property tax payments (assuming local law permits you to pay in advance). This approach might, however, bring your total state and local tax deduction over the $10,000 limit, which means that you’d effectively forfeit the deduction on the excess.

As with income deferral and expense acceleration, you need to consider your tax bracket status when timing deductions. Itemized deductions are worth more when you’re in a higher tax bracket. If you expect to land in a higher bracket in 2020, you’ll save more by timing your deductions for that year.

Loss harvesting against capital gains

2019 has been a turbulent year for some investments. Thus, your portfolio may be ripe for loss harvesting — that is, selling underperforming investments before year end to realize losses you can use to offset taxable gains you also realized this year, on a dollar-for-dollar basis. If your losses exceed your gains, you generally can apply up to $3,000 of the excess to offset ordinary income. Any unused losses, however, may be carried forward indefinitely throughout your lifetime, providing the opportunity for you to use the losses in a subsequent year.

Maximizing your retirement contributions

As always, individual taxpayers should consider making their maximum allowable contributions for the year to their IRAs, 401(k) plans, deferred annuities and other tax-advantaged retirement accounts. For 2019, you can contribute up to $19,000 to 401(k)s and $6,000 for IRAs. Those age 50 or older are eligible to make an additional catch-up contribution of $1,000 to an IRA and, so long as the plan allows, $6,000 for 401(k)s and other employer-sponsored plans.

Accounting for 2019 TCJA changes

Most — but not all — provisions of the TCJA took effect in 2018. The repeal of the individual mandate penalty for those without qualified health insurance, for example, isn’t effective until this year. In addition, the TCJA eliminates the deduction for alimony payments for couples divorced in 2019 or later, and alimony recipients are no longer required to include the payments in their taxable income.

Act now

The future of tax planning is uncertain — even without dramatic change in Washington, D.C., many of the most significant TCJA provisions are set to expire within six years. Contact us for help with your year-end tax planning.

Thinking about a Roth IRA conversion? Now may be the ideal time

Smart Estate Planning begins with Protecting your Assets

Nonprofit board retreats: The pause that refreshes

Charitable lead trusts offer philanthropic and family benefits

M&A transactions: Avoid surprises from the IRS

Protect your nonprofit from occupational fraud threats

What to do if your nonprofit receives an IRS audit letter

Run your strategic-planning meetings like they really matter

Did you Repair your Business Property or Improve It?

It’s not too late to trim your 2019 tax bill

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