May, 2012
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MF Global Recovery at 72% and Should Exceed 92%
It appears that most of the MF Global customers have received about 72% of their claims to date. When a large company such as MF Global enters bankruptcy, there is an active market in buying and selling these claims. Many hedge funds will purchase these claims with the expectation of making a profit when the […]
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Free Money Not Taken
The GAO just reported that for the 2010 tax year 170,300 small employers claimed the small employer insurance tax credit, but the number of eligible small businesses that could have taken the credit ranged from 1.4 million to 4 million. The average credit claimed was about $2,700. According to a Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS), […]
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Be Careful if You Have a Foreign Account
Many farmers and business owners may have an investment in businesses located overseas. If this investment is in the form of mutual funds or other passive holdings, there is usually no extra reporting to the IRS or Department of Treasury. However, many of these same farmers own corporations with farm operations in perhaps Canada or […]
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Slim Pickings
Just wanted to let our readers know that I am headed off for four days of golf in Pinehurst, NC with my oldest son, and some of our friends. I am not sure if I have bought enough golf balls to make it through the whole four days, but I am looking forward to the […]
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Supreme Court Rules Capital Gains Tax Owed in Chapter 12
The Supreme Court just issued a ruling that any capital gains tax owed as a result of selling farmland in a Chapter 12 bankruptcy filing is not dischargeable in bankruptcy and will remain a debt of the farmer. Chapter 12 is a special type of bankruptcy for farmers. It allows them to reorganize their assets […]
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Make Sure You Get Written Confirmation of Donation!
The IRS and Congress has gotten much more aggressive in requiring proper documentation of a charitable donation in excess of $250. Without this documentation, the IRS has the right to completely deny the deduction even though the taxpayer has a cancelled check AND a letter from the charity. In order for the deduction to be allowed, the […]
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10 Things to Know About Social Security
Kiplinger’s had a very good article online about 10 things you need to know about social security. There are several good tips listed there and one of the many questions that we get about social security is regarding trying to increase your benefits by working late in your career. Social security benefits are based upon […]
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IRS Notices Will Now be in “English”
One of the most painful part of being a CPA was responding to IRS notices. Most of these notices were written in such a way that even a professional tax advisor had problems in determining exactly what the IRS wanted or needed to be done. The IRS has now announced that it is in the […]
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Make Sure the Trust Owns the Property
We received the following questions from a reader regarding using a charitable remainder trust: I am retiring from farming and I have equipment valued at 500,000 ,all of which is fully depreciated. I would like to give this equipment to a charitable trust to get 50,000 over the next 9 years (I think they keep […]
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Maximum Section 179 Deduction Still at $500,000 for Many Farmers
With the rapid changes in the bonus depreciation and Section 179 deduction for 2010 to 2012, I thought I would update our farmers on how much Section 179 is available. For bonus depreciation of new equipment, if the asset is placed in service between January 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012, then 50% bonus depreciation […]