Category Archives: Tax & Estate

Treatise Update! Langer on Practical International Tax Planning

PLI recently published an update to Langer on Practical International Tax Planning.

This treatise provides current knowledge and expert advice you need to help clients capitalize on ripe tax havens and financial centers.

The latest update includes several newly added sections covering the following topics:

The 2017 Tax Act. This new section outlines numerous changes made by the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, including changes to the capital gains rate, deduction for state and local property and income taxes, dividends-received deduction, net operating losses, and like-kind exchanges.
Unemployment Compensation Paid After Leaving the United States.In what it said was a case of first impression for it, the Tax Court addressed whether a nonresident alien (Canadian) who had worked in the United States was exempt under treaty from taxation on unemployment compensation she received after having gone back to Canada.
Expatriating Corporations—Excise Tax. Updates provide the latest on how the 2017 Tax act affect the excise tax, which can apply to certain “disqualified” individuals if a corporation expatriates and gain on any stock in the expatriated corporation is recognized by any shareholder with respect to the expatriation transaction.
Charitable Distributions. This discussion covers newly modified procedures for how foundations may make a “good faith determination” that a foreign grantee is a “qualifying public charity.”
Payments to Related “Captive Insurance Companies”. Coverage of a 2017 Tax Court case examines the Service’s denial of a taxpayers’ claimed deductions under section 162 for amounts paid by their pass-through entities to a related captive insurance company.
Deemed Repatriation. This new section discusses how, under the 2017 Tax Act, U.S. shareholders owning at least 10% of a foreign subsidiary generally must include in income, for the subsidiary’s last tax year beginning before 2018, the shareholder’s pro rata share of the accumulated post-1986 historical E&P of the foreign subsidiary as of the “measurement date,” to the extent such E&P has not been previously subject to U.S. tax.

The updated treatise is available on PLI PLUS, our research database. If you’d like to order a print copy, please email libraryrelations@pli.edu or call 877.900.5291.

New Title! Legal Guide to the Business of Marijuana

PLI recently published a new title, Legal Guide to the Business of Marijuana.

This title is a new and unique resource for lawyers who represent clients in what has been called the fastest growing industry in the United States. The majority of states have enacted laws legalizing medical marijuana — with nine states to date allowing for recreational use — but marijuana remains illegal under the Federal Controlled Substances Act, giving rise to constitutional challenges to these state laws under the doctrine of preemption. As a result, marijuana enterprises must operate in a legal and regulatory environment of uncertainty, and lawyers representing these enterprises must tread carefully when advising clients.

Written by James T. O’Reilly, a lawyer and public health specialist, Legal Guide to the Business of Marijuana offers critical guidance to help lawyers effectively represent their clients while steering clear of seen and as yet unseen perils implicit in the continued federal-state conflict. The guide provides discussion and analysis of:

• the complex and varying state regulation of medical and non-medical marijuana, including a survey of state cannabis laws, with summaries and citations

• federal law, enforcement, and preemption

• the various aspects of establishing and managing a marijuana enterprise, including the growing, licensing, labeling, transporting, and distribution of marijuana and related products

• the implications of preemption on employment, taxes, and banking

For lawyers new to representing marijuana clients, the author provides an understanding of the definitions of marijuana and other cannabis products, as well as a review of the policy and political issues that have led to the controversy and uncertainty of the current environment.

This essential new title is available on PLI PLUS, our online research database. If you’d like to order a print copy, please email libraryrelations@pli.edu or call 877.900.5291.

New Edition! Transfer Pricing Answer Book (2018 Edition)

PLI recently published the 2018 edition of Transfer Pricing Answer Book.

The phenomena of increasingly global business enterprises with valuable intangible property expose companies to transfer pricing enforcement by different countries around the world. Many of these countries are increasingly aggressive in enforcing their local transfer pricing rules, as they attempt to protect their tax revenue base. To avoid double taxation of the same income in this environment, companies often are required to deal with the highly specialized, bilateral treaty-based competent authority process developed to prevent double taxation at a time when trade mainly involved only two established countries. Even more challenging today, companies and tax authorities increasingly are faced with the potential for multiple taxation of the same income, as supply chains cross many borders and as the tax authorities of emerging countries become players in the global taxation process, and the resulting stresses, strains, and limitations of the bilateral treaty-based competent authority process have become more apparent.

In light of the high-dollar risks presented by the increased enforcement efforts of tax authorities worldwide, the complexity of the ever-changing, inherently uncertain transfer pricing standards, and the continually evolving business models of businesses adapting to the constantly changing global economy, companies need practical guidance to permit them to develop and defend their transfer pricing strategies.

Transfer Pricing Answer Book gives companies such guidance by discussing all aspects of transfer pricing, from initially planning a transfer pricing strategy, to alternative ways to defend the strategy from attack by two or more tax authorities, to resolving a case before competent authorities, to bringing a transfer pricing case to court. It also provides an overview of the IRS’s approach to transfer pricing enforcement. The book’s non-technical discussion is presented in a question-and-answer format that will appeal to readers regardless of their prior level of experience or familiarity with taxes in general and transfer pricing in particular.

Transfer Pricing Answer Book is an invaluable resource for company executives and their advisors who are seeking to better understand this important area of tax law–one that has become an important economic facet of so many businesses.

The new edition is available on PLI PLUS, our research database. If you’d like to order a print copy, please email libraryrelations@pli.edu or call 877.900.5291.

Tax Series Special Update! Tax Practice After the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

Following the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, we felt it was important to provide you with a resource analyzing some of the domestic and international implications of the tax reform package. The result is the Tax Series Special Update, which contains new, original articles covering topics including:

• The impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act on choice of entity
• Observations on M&A consequences
• Structuring and negotiating cross-border acquisitions
• Section 965 transition and repatriation tax on foreign based earnings
• New Section 245A DRD for foreign-source portion of dividends from specified foreign corporations
• Global intangible low-taxed income (“GILTI”)
• Foreign derived intangible income (”FDII”)
• Base erosion and anti-abuse tax (“BEAT”)

The Tax Series Special Update is available on PLI PLUS, our online research database. If you’d like to order a print copy, please email libraryrelations@pli.edu or call 877.900.5291.

Treatise Update! The Corporate Tax Practice Series

We have recently updated our treatise The Corporate Tax Practice Series.

With contributions from more than 435 of the world’s leading tax practitioners, including former Internal Revenue Service and Department of Treasury officials, this 31-volume set is the definitive resource on corporate tax.

The 2017 edition of The Corporate Tax Practice Series contains 100 articles that have been updated to reflect the latest developments in topics ranging from LLC incentive compensation to modifying debt and its consequences. We’ve also added 31 new articles that have not
previously appeared in the series that tackle issues including:

• A financial and income tax analysis of earnouts
• S corporation acquisition techniques
• Misclassification of employees and Section 530 relief
• Significant modification of debt instruments

The updated treatise is available on PLI PLUS, our research database. If you’d like to order a print copy, please email libraryrelations@pli.edu or call 877.900.5291.

New Publication! Business-Related Provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

PLI has recently made available a new publication, Business-Related Provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

This Special Alert discusses the impact of many of the complex provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCAJA”) on domestic and international business operations of C corporations, S corporations, and partnerships. It is organized in ten sections and covers:

Introduction
The individual “Rate Structure Changes” for both ordinary income and capital gains
The corporate rate structure changes, including the individual tax on dividends and the dividends received deduction
New Section 199A, which provides for a deduction for certain flow-through business income of sole proprietorships, partnerships, and S corporations
A “First Take” on the impact of the TCAJA on the choice of form decision for domestic operations: C corporation, or flow-through entity
The new limitation on the deduction for business interest
The treatment under the TCAJA of carried interest, that is, profits interest earned by certain hedge fund and private equity managers
Several significant changes impacting both individuals and corporations: (1) the depreciation rules, (2) the Section 179 deduction, (3) changes to the net operating loss deduction, (4) the limitation on excess business losses of an individual, and (5) changes to the like kind exchange provision, Section 1031
Several changes in the international tax arena, including (1) the adoption of a territorial system, (2) the tax on the elimination of the deferral benefit, (3) the taxation of foreign high return amounts, (4) the anti-base erosion rules, and (5) restrictions on income shifting through transfers of intangibles
A “First Take” on the TCAJA’s impact on the domestic M&A, that is, (1) taxable asset acquisitions, (2) taxable stock acquisitions, and (3) acquisitive reorganizations.

Business-Related Provisions of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act is available on PLI PLUS, our online research database. If you’d like to order a print copy, please email libraryrelations@pli.edu or call 877.900.5291.

Treatise Update! The Circular 230 Deskbook: Related Penalties, Reportable Transactions, Working Forms

We have recently updated our Treatise, The Circular 230 Deskbook, which helps tax practitioners comply with complex Circular 230 amendments more easily — and avoid costly penalties and sanctions.

This new version includes the following:
• Revised section 1:2, Chevron Deference, examining SIH Partners
LLLP v. Commissioner, in which the court clarified the distinction
between a legislative rule and an interpretive rule for purposes of
the Administrative Procedure Act.
• New section 4:13.8[D][10], Supervisor’s Approval, explaining that
a section 6751 penalty can be assessed only if it is approved by
the immediate supervisor of the individual making such determination
or such higher-level official as the Secretary may designate.
• Updated Appendix L, IRS Form 706; Appendix M, IRS Schedule M-3
(Form 1120); and Appendix N, IRS Form 2848.

The Circular 230 Deskbook is an essential compliance tool for every tax professional who practices before the IRS.

The updated Treatise is available on PLI PLUS, our online research database. If you’d like to order a print copy, please email libraryrelations@pli.edu or call 877.900.5291.