Tag Archive for: dividends tax

2012 Planning: Tax Solutions for S-Corporations

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An S-corporation, such as yours, is a pass-through entity that is treated very much like a partnership for federal income tax purposes. As a result, all income is passed through to your shareholders and taxed at their individual tax rates. However, unlike a C corporation, an S corporation’s income is taxable to the shareholders when it is earned whether or not the corporation distributes the income. Because an S corporation has a unique tax structure that directly impacts shareholders, it is important for you to understand the S corporation distribution and loss limitations, as well as how and when items of income and expense are taxed, before developing your overall tax plan.

In addition, some S corporation income and expense items are subject to special rules and separate identification for tax purposes. Examples of separately stated items that could affect a shareholder’s tax liability include charitable contributions, capital gains, Sec. 179 expense deductions, foreign taxes, and net income or loss related to rental real estate activities.

These items, as well as income and losses, are passed through to the shareholder on a pro rata basis, which means that the amount passed through to each shareholder is dependent upon that shareholder’s stock ownership percentage. However, a shareholder’s portion of the losses and deductions may only be used to offset income from other sources to the extent that the total does not exceed the basis of the shareholder’s stock and the basis of any debt owed to the shareholder by the corporation. The S corporation losses and deductions are also subject to the passive-activity rules.

Other key points to consider when developing your comprehensive tax strategy include:

the availability of the Code Sec. 179 deduction at the corporate and shareholder level;

  1. reporting requirements for the domestic production activities deduction;
  2. the tax treatment of fringe benefits;
  3. below-market loans between shareholders and S corporations; and
  4. IRS scrutiny of distributions to shareholders who have not received compensation.

We can assist you in identifying and maximizing the potential tax savings. Please call our office at (310) 691-5040 or (818) 691-1234 or e-mail us at info@azran.mycloudserver.online to arrange an appointment.

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2012 Year-End Tax Planning For Businesses

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In recent years, end-of-the-year tax planning for businesses has been complicated by uncertainty over the future availability of many tax incentives. This year is no different.  In 2010, Congress extended many business tax incentives for one or two years. Now, those incentives have expired or are scheduled to expire. Whether they will be extended beyond 2012 is unclear as Congress debates with the fate of the fate of the Bush-era tax cuts and across-the-board spending cuts scheduled to take effect in 2013. In the meantime, you need to be aware of the expiring provisions and explore developing a multiyear tax strategy that takes into account various scenarios for the future of these incentives.

Code Sec. 179 expensing.  Code Sec. 179 gives businesses the option of claiming a deduction for the cost of qualified property all in its first year of use rather than claiming depreciation over a period of years. For 2010 and 2011, the Code Sec. 179 dollar limitation was $500,000 with a $2 million investment ceiling. For 2012, the amounts are less generous. The dollar limitation for 2012 is $139,000 with a $560,000 investment ceiling. Under current law, the Code Sec. 179 dollar limit is scheduled to drop to $25,000 for 2013 with a $200,000 investment ceiling.

Businesses should consider accelerating purchases into 2012 to take advantage of the still generous Code Sec. 179 expensing. Qualified property must be tangible personal property, which you actively use in your business, and for which a depreciation deduction would be allowed. Qualified property must be newly purchased new or used property, rather than property you previously owned but recently converted to business use. Examples of types of property that would qualify for Code Sec. 179 expensing are office equipment or equipment used in the manufacturing process. Additionally, Code Sec. 179 expensing is allowed for off-the-shelf computer software placed in service in tax years beginning before 2013.

If your equipment purchases for the year exceed the expensing dollar limit, you can decide to split your expensing election among the new assets any way you choose. If you have a choice, it may be more valuable to expense assets with the longest depreciation periods. As long as you start using your newly purchased business equipment before the end of the tax year, you get the entire expensing deduction for that year. The amount that can be expensed depends upon the date the qualified property is placed in service; not when the qualified property is purchased or paid for.

Congress could raise the Code Sec. 179 dollar limit and investment ceiling for 2013. In July 2012, the Senate voted to increase the Code Sec. 179 dollar amount to $250,000 with an $800,000 investment limitation for tax years beginning after December 31, 2012. The House voted to increase the Code Sec. 179 dollar amount to $100,000 with a $400,000 investment limitation for tax years beginning after December 31, 2012.

Bonus depreciation.  The 50 percent bonus first-year depreciation deduction is scheduled to expire after 2012 (2013 in the case of certain longer-production period property and certain transportation property). Unlike the Section 179 expense deduction, the bonus depreciation deduction is not limited to smaller companies or capped at a certain dollar level. To be eligible for bonus depreciation, qualified property must be depreciable under Modified Accelerated Cost Recovery System (MACRS) and have a recovery period of 20 years or less. The property must be new and placed in service before January 1, 2013 (January 1, 2014 for certain longer-production period property and certain transportation property).

Businesses also need to keep in mind the relationship of bonus depreciation and the vehicle depreciation dollar limits.  Code Sec. 280F(a) imposes dollar limitations on the depreciation deduction for the year a taxpayer places a passenger automobile in service within a business, and for each succeeding year. Code Sec. 168(k)(2)(F)(i) increases the first-year depreciation allowed for vehicles subject to the Code Sec. 280F luxury-vehicle limits, unless the taxpayer elects out, by $8,000, to which the additional first-year depreciation deduction applies.  The maximum depreciation limits under Code Sec. 280F for passenger automobiles first placed in service by the taxpayer during the 2012 calendar year are: $11,160 for the first tax year ($3,160 if bonus depreciation is not taken); $5,100 for the second tax year; $3,050 for the third tax year; and $1,875 for each tax year thereafter. The maximum depreciation limits under Code Sec. 280F for trucks and vans first placed in service during the 2012 calendar year are $11,360 for the first tax year ($3,360 if bonus depreciation is not taken); $5,300 for the second tax year; $3,150 for the third tax year; and $1,875 for each tax year thereafter. Sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating in excess of 6,000 pounds are exempt from the luxury vehicle depreciation caps.

New de minimis rule in repair regulations.  Comprehensive repair and capitalization regulations issued by the IRS in late 2011 open up a new planning opportunity. A new de minimis expensing rule allows a taxpayer to deduct certain amounts paid or incurred to acquire or produce a unit of tangible property if the taxpayer has an Applicable Financial Statement (AFS), written accounting procedures for expensing amounts paid or incurred for such property under certain dollar amounts, and treats the amounts as expenses on its AFS in accordance with its written accounting procedures. An overall ceiling limits the total expenses that a taxpayer may deduct under the de minimis rule. The de minimis expensing rule applies to amounts paid or incurred (to acquire or produce property) in tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2012.

Let’s look at an example. A taxpayer purchases 10 VoIP phones for its business at $200 each for a total cost of $2,000. Each phone is a unit of property and is not a material or supply. The taxpayer has an applicable financial statement and a written policy at the beginning of the tax year to expense amounts paid for property costing less than $500. The taxpayer treats the amounts paid for the phones as an expense on its applicable financial statement. Assume further that the total aggregate amount treated as de minimis and not capitalized, including the amounts paid for the phones, are less than or equal to the greater of 0.1 percent of total gross receipts or 2 percent of the taxpayer’s  total financial statement depreciation. The result: the de minimis rule applies and the taxpayer is not required to capitalize any portion of the $2,000 paid for the 10 phones.

Dividends.  Under current law, tax-favorable dividends tax rates are scheduled to expire after 2012. Qualified dividends are eligible for a maximum 20 percent tax rate for taxpayers in the 25 percent and higher brackets; zero percent for taxpayers in the 10 and 15 percent brackets. In July, the House voted to extend the current dividend tax treatment through 2013. The Senate, however, voted to extend the tax favorable rates only for individuals with incomes below $200,000 (families with incomes below $250,000). For income in excess of $200,000/$250,000 the tax rate on capital gains and dividends would be 20 percent.

If Congress taxes no action, qualified dividends will taxed at the ordinary income tax rates after 2012 (with the highest rate scheduled to be 39.6 percent not taking into account the 3.8 percent Medicare contribution tax for higher income individuals). Qualified corporations may want to explore declaring a special dividend to shareholders before January 1, 2013

Expired business tax incentives.  Many temporary business tax incentives expired at the end of 2011. In past years, Congress has routinely extended these incentives, often retroactively, but this year may be different. Confronted with the federal budget deficit and across-the-board spending cuts scheduled to take effect in 2013, lawmakers allow some of the business tax extenders to expire permanently. Certain extenders, however, have bipartisan support, and are likely to be extended.  They include the Code Sec. 41 research tax credit, the Work Opportunity Tax Credit (WOTC), and 15-year recovery period for leasehold, restaurant and retail improvement property.

Small employer health insurance credit.  A potentially valuable tax incentive has often been overlooked by small businesses, according to reports. Employers with 10 or fewer full-time employees (FTEs) paying average annual wages of not more than $25,000 may be eligible for a maximum tax credit of 35 percent on premiums paid for tax years beginning in 2010 through 2013. Tax-exempt employers may be eligible for a maximum tax credit of 25 percent for tax years beginning in 2010 through 2013.

The Code Sec. 45R credit is subject to phase-out rules. The credit is reduced by 6.667 percent for each FTE in excess of 10 employees. The credit is also reduced by four percent for each $1,000 that average annual compensation paid to the employees exceeds $25,000. This means that the credit completely phases out if an employer has 25 or more FTEs and pays $50,000 or more in average annual wages.

Let’s look at an example. A for-profit employer has 10 FTEs and pays average annual wages of $250,000 in tax year 2012. The employer’s qualified employee health care costs for tax year 2012 are $70,000. The employer’s Code Sec. 45R credit is $24,500 ($70,000 x 35 percent).

The credit is scheduled to climb to 50 percent of qualified premium costs paid by for-profit employers (35 percent for tax-exempt employers) for tax years beginning in 2014 and 2015. However, an employer may claim the tax credit after 2013 only if it offers one or more qualified health plans through a state insurance exchange.

Today’s uncertainty makes doing nothing or adopting a wait and see attitude very tempting. Instead, multi-year tax planning, which takes into account a variety of possible scenarios and outcomes, should be built into your approach. Please contact our office at (310) 691-5040 or (818) 691-1234 or at info@azran.mycloudserver.online for more details on developing a tax strategy in uncertain times that includes consideration of certain tax-advantaged step that may be taken before year-end 2012.

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2012 Year-End Tax Planning For Individuals

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As 2012 draws to a close, many taxpayers are asking how they can plan in light of the uncertainty surrounding the fate of the Bush-era tax cuts and other expiring tax incentives.

2012 began with great uncertainty over federal tax policy and now, with the end of the year approaching, that uncertainty appears to be far from any long-term resolution. A host of reduced tax rates, credits, deductions, and other incentives (collectively called the “Bush-era” tax cuts) are scheduled to expire after December 31, 2012. To further complicate planning, over 50 tax extenders are up for renewal, either having expired at the end of 2011 or scheduled to expire after 2012. At the same time, the federal government will be under sequestration, which imposes across-the-board spending cuts after 2012. The combination of all these events has many referring to 2013 as “taxmeggedon.”

Expiring incentives

Effective January 1, 2013, the individual income tax rates, without further Congressional action, are scheduled to increase across-the-board, with the highest rate jumping from 35 percent to 39.6 percent. The current 10 percent rate will expire and marriage penalty relief will sunset. Additionally, the current tax-favorable capital gains and dividends tax rates (15 percent for taxpayers in the 25 percent bracket rate and above and zero percent for all other taxpayers) are scheduled to expire. Higher income taxpayers will also be subject to revived limitations on itemized deductions and their personal exemptions. The child tax credit, one of the most popular incentives in the Tax Code, will be cut in half. Millions of taxpayers would be liable for the alternative minimum tax (AMT) because of expiration of the AMT “patch.” Countless other incentives for individuals would either disappear or be substantially reduced after 2012. While a divided Congress may indeed act to prevent some or all of these tax increases, a year-end planning strategy that protects against “worst-case” situations may be especially wise to consider this year.

Year-end planning

Income tax withholding. Expiration of the reduced individual tax rates will have an immediate impact. Income tax withholding on payrolls will immediately reflect the increased rates. One strategy to avoid being surprised in 2013 is to adjust your income tax withholding. Keep in mind that the current two percent payroll tax holiday is also scheduled to expire after 2012 so it is a good time to review if you are having too much or too little federal income tax withheld from your pay.

As mentioned, traditional year-end planning techniques should be considered along with some variations on those strategies. Instead of shifting income into a future year, taxpayers may want to recognize income in 2012, when lower tax rates are available, rather than shift income to 2013. Another valuable year-end strategy is to “run the numbers” for regular tax liability and AMT liability. Taxpayers may want to explore if certain deductions should be more evenly divided between 2012 and 2013, and which deductions may qualify, or will not be as valuable, for AMT purposes.

Harvesting losses. Now is also a good time to consider tax loss harvesting strategies to offset current gains or to accumulate losses to offset future gains (which may be taxed at a higher rate). The first consideration is to identify whether an investment qualifies for either a short-term or long-term capital gains status, because you must first balance short-term gains with short-term losses and long-term ones with long-term losses. Remember also that the “wash sale rule” generally prohibits you from claiming a tax-deductible loss on a security if you repurchase the same or a substantially identical asset within 30 days of the sale.

Education expenses. Taxpayers with higher educational expenses may want to consider the scheduled expiration of the American Opportunity Tax Credit (AOTC) after 2012 in their plans. The AOTC (an enhanced version of the HOPE education credit) reaches the sum of 100 percent of the first $2,000 of qualified expenses and 25 percent of the next $2,000 of qualified expenses, subject to income limits. If possible, pre-paying 2013 educational expenses before year-end 2012 could make the expenses eligible for the AOTC before it expires. Another popular education tax incentive, the Lifetime Learning Credit, is not scheduled to expire after 2012.

Job search expenses. Some expenses related to a job search may be tax deductible. There is one important limitation: the expenses must be spent on a job search in your current occupation. You may not deduct expenses you incur while looking for a job in a new occupation. Examples of job search expenses are unreimbursed employment and outplacement agency fees you pay while looking for a job in your present occupation. Travel expenses to look for a new job may be deductible. The amount of job search expenses that you can claim on your tax return is limited. You can claim the amount of expenses only to the extent that they, together with other “miscellaneous” deductions exceed two percent of your adjusted gross income.

Gifts. Gift-giving as a year-end tax strategy should not be overlooked. The annual gift tax exclusion per recipient for which no gift tax is due is $13,000 for 2012. Married couples may make combined tax-free gifts of $26,000 to each recipient. Use of the lifetime gift tax exclusion amount ($5.12 million for 2012) should also be considered. Without Congressional action, the exclusion amount drops to $1 million in 2013.

Charitable giving. For many individuals, charitable giving is also a part of their year-end tax strategy. Under current law, the so-called “Pease limitation” (named for the member of Congress who sponsored the law) is scheduled to be revived after 2012. The Pease limitation generally requires higher income individuals to reduce their tax deductions by certain amounts, including their charitable deduction. A special rule for contributing IRA assets to a charity by individuals age 70 ½ and older expired after 2011 but could be renewed for 2012.

New Medicare taxes

In 2013, two new taxes kick-in. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) imposes an additional 0.9 percent Medicare tax on wages and self-employment income and a 3.8 percent Medicare contribution tax. The 3.8 percent Medicare contribution tax will apply after 2012 to single individuals with a modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) in excess of $200,000 and married taxpayers with an MAGI in excess of $250,000. MAGI for purposes of the Medicare contribution tax includes wages, salaries, tips, and other compensation, dividend and interest income, business and farm income, realized capital gains, and income from a variety of other passive activities and certain foreign earned income. For individuals liable for the tax, the amount of tax owed will be equal to 3.8 percent multiplied by the lesser of (1) net investment income or (2) the amount by which their MAGI exceeds the $200,000/$250,000 thresholds. Taxpayers with MAGIs below the $200,000/$250,000 thresholds will not be subject to the 3.8 percent tax.

More changes for 2013

Many employers with health flexible spending arrangements (health FSAs) limit salary reduction contributions to between $2,500 and $5,000. Effective 2013, the PPACA requires health FSA’s under a cafeteria plan to limit contributions through salary reductions to $2,500. After 2013, the $2,500 limitation is scheduled to be adjusted for inflation. Individuals with unused health FSA dollars should consider spending them before year-end, or a 2 ½ month grace period if applicable, to avoid the “use it or lose it” rule. Keep in mind that health FSA dollars cannot be used for over-the-counter medications (except for insulin) after 2011.

Additionally, the threshold to claim an itemized deduction for unreimbursed medical expenses increases from 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI) to 10 percent of AGI after 2012. The PPACA provides a temporary exception for individuals (or their spouses) who are age 65 and older. This exception ends after 2017. While many medical expenses cannot be timed for tax-deduction purposes, batching expenses into 2012, when the threshold is 7.5 percent, may make it more likely that the expenses will exceed that threshold.

Looking ahead

In July 2012, the House and Senate passed competing bills to extend many of the expiring incentives one more year. Both bills would extend the current income tax rates (10, 15, 25, 28, 33, and 35 percent) through 2013. The House bill would extend the current capital gains and dividends treatment but the Senate bill would extend the tax favorable rates only for individuals with incomes below $200,000 (families with incomes below $250,000). For income in excess of $200,000/$250,000 the tax rate on capital gains and dividends would be 20 percent. Both bills would extend the $1,000 child tax credit through 2013 and provide for an AMT patch for 2012 (the House bill also provides an AMT patch for 2013).

At this time, it is increasingly likely that the fate of all the expiring tax provisions will be decided by the lame-duck Congress after the November elections. Although the House and Senate bills passed in July differ, they have many points in common; the most important being that lawmakers could agree on a one-year extension of the Bush-era tax cuts. However, some observers anticipate no resolution until January 2013 or beyond.

Today’s uncertainty makes doing nothing or adopting a wait and see attitude very tempting. Multi-year tax planning, which takes into account a variety of possible scenarios and outcomes, however, can provide a win-win combination irrespective of what happens. Please contact our office at (310) 691-5040 or (818) 691-1234 or by e-mail at info@azran.mycloudserver.online for more details on how we can customize a tax strategy for you in uncertain times.

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