COSGRAVE LAW / Legal Ez

Beginning on July 1, 2018, employers must start withholding Oregon’s statewide transit tax from the wages of Oregon residents (regardless of where the work is performed); and (2) wages of non-Oregon residents who perform services in Oregon.  The tax is one-tenth of one percent (.001) if the employee’s wages.  While it is not imposed on […]

As closely held companies grow, their number of shareholders often increases as well.  This is frequently a sign of success, but it can create certain problems.  For example, a larger or diversified shareholder base can prevent a company from becoming an S Corporation for tax purposes.  Additionally, companies with too many shareholders who own small […]

Yesterday, the IRS finally confirmed that it will recognize unnecessary QTIP elections on 706 returns filed to elect portability. This is good news and answers an ambiguity created by the final portability regulations that were issued last year. A qualified terminable interest property (“QTIP”) election is an election under which a portion of a deceased […]

As I mentioned in my last post, the IRS recently released proposed regulations which effectively end valuation discounts that have been relied upon for over 20 years. If the IRS’s current timetable holds, these regulations may become final as early as January 1, 2017. Although that date isn’t set in stone, we expect that the […]

If you’ve been putting off making gifts of your closely held business interests, you may want to kick start that process. Yesterday, the Treasury department announced its proposed regulations to curb taxpayers’ ability to take significant fractional interest discounts when valuing gifts of closely held business interests for estate and gift tax purposes.  These proposed regulations are targeting, […]

In 2014, Congress passed the Achieving Better Life Experience (“ABLE”) Act which authorizes the use of 529A accounts – or “ABLE accounts” – as an alternative/supplement to Special Needs Trusts.  The ABLE Act allows individuals to establish ABLE accounts similar to the college savings accounts you may recognize as “529 Accounts”. The ABLE accounts were […]

If you are a member of a partnership or LLC taxed as a partnership, you should take note of recent changes to the partnership audit rules. Last winter, Congress passed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (the “BBA”) which repealed the partnership audit and litigation rules under the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of […]

Our last post talked about the changes that the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (the “BBA”) made to the partnership audit rules.  As we mentioned, these rules affect all partnerships, including LLCs taxed as partnerships.  Luckily, Congress did include some relief for certain partnerships from the new rules. How can you opt out? A partnership […]