Tax Law Blog
- Posts by Michael C. Zahrt
ShareholderMike is a business and estate planning lawyer in the Grand Rapids office of Foster Swift and is the current leader of the firm's Agri-Business sub-practice group. His area of expertise is business succession planning. This involves ...
Healthcare executives are advised to consider the significance of a ruling issued in 2024 by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) which revoked the tax-exempt status of a non-profit organization. In Private Letter Ruling* 202437007, the IRS determined that a non-profit organization had failed the “operational test” and revoked its tax-exempt status.
The entity in question had indicated no charitable activities or related expenses, leading the IRS to conclude that the organization was not operating exclusively for tax-exempt purposes.
In early June, the Supreme Court issued an opinion that clarifies how company-owned life insurance impacts the value of the company for estate tax purposes. As a business owner, you may need to re-evaluate the use of those policies and whether they will subject you to increased estate tax exposure. Here’s what happened in Connelly and how it may affect you.
In a year that has forced many to be reactionary, tax planning offers an opportunity for business owners to be proactive about the health of their business as the end of 2020 draws near.
Attorney Michael Zahrt provides tax planning strategies for year end along with updates to the CARES Act and PPP Loans in the following short video:
The CARES Act created a number of new tax benefits that are available for one year only, and these benefits have largely been lost in the sea of various stimulus programs (and compliance with those programs).
For a more in depth look at tips for year end tax planning, visit the following article which summarizes a few tax opportunities available to your business before the end of 2020:
The IRS recently issued Revenue Procedure 2019-38, which finalizes the safe harbor for rental property under Code Section 199A that was originally provided in IRS Notice 2019-07. The safe harbor treats a rental real estate enterprise as being eligible for the qualified business income deduction under Section 199A, even if it does not meet the definition of a “trade or business” as provided in Treas. Reg. 1.199-1(b)(14).
Many mature, Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP)-owned companies consider making an S-election, and for good reason. An S Corporation owned 100% by an ESOP generally pays no federal income taxes. An S Election instantly boosts cash flow, which the company can use to fund growth opportunities or fund its annual ESOP repurchase obligations.
