Tax Research Memo Essay

Now that we have converted the sole proprietorship to a s-corporation, the tax planning and strategic planning must be the next topic to address. Since Mr. Jones does not have a spouse, he must consider Mandy as the heir to business and his estate. The Current value of his estate is 53 million dollars. He currently wants his daughter to control 40% of the business and be employed by the business. This memo will discuss the following topics: tax planning, strategic planning, estate planning, transfer of assets and selling the business.

All of LT’s distributions, whether in the form of dividends or stock repurchases will be taxed at the investors personal rate. Buy shares and keeping cash in the firm will depend of the tax rate of the investors relative to that of the firm. Under the former option the money is taxed at the corporate rate and in the latter at personal rate.

Our client, Individual #1, is currently earning $350k in gross receipts and $175k in gross profit, respectively, from his IT consulting business. In discussions with the client, we learned he wants to transition his sole proprietorship/LLC into either an S-Corp or C-Corp. I propose his reorganization as an S-Corp as although it limits his potential for equity investment, it provides both a liability and tax shield.

Section 152(a) provides that for a taxpayer to take a dependency exemption, the potential dependent must satisfy either the qualifying child requirement or the qualifying relative requirement. Section 152(b)(2) indicates that the taxpayer is not permitted a dependency exemption for a married dependent if the married individual files a joint return. Pursuant to section 152(c), the term “qualifying child” refers to an individual who has not furnished over one-half of his or her own support and who has not attained the age of 19 or who has not attained the age of 24, if a full-time student, as of the close of such calendar year. The term “qualifying relative” under section 152(d) includes, but is not limited to, an individual whose gross income is less than the exemption amount and to whom the taxpayer provides over-half of the total individual’s support for the calendar year in which such taxable year begins. Under Reg. Sec. 1.152 (a), support received from the taxpayer is compared to the entire amount of support which the potential dependent received from all sources, including support which the individual supplied himself. Support includes food, shelter, medical and dental care, education, recreation,

Adrian is a salesperson who represents several wholesale companies. On January 2, 2008, she received by mail a commission check from Ace Distributors in the amount of $10,000 that was dated December 31, 2007. Adrian is concerned about the year in which the amount of $10,000 is taxable. Although the check is dated 2007, she contends that it would have been unreasonable for her to drive 100 miles (one way) to the Ace offices on the eve of a holiday to collect her check. Further, Adrian maintains that even if she had made the trip to collect the check, by the time she returned home, the bank would have closed and she could not have deposited the check until January.

The pool cost the petitioner over $19,000, and we cannot accept his contention that such amount was spent primarily for therapy for his leg in view of the limited need for such therapy and the alternatives which were then available.

If this individual receiving all voting stock and then transfer to his children, he actually “control” the corporation and his children will have ability to “control” the corporation in fact. It will be qualified to recognize no gain or loss during the transaction.

More than 35% of American adults are obese and as a consequence, are at increased risks for health issues such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes ("Overweight & Obesity"). The U.S. taxpayer is supplementing much of the cost to treat obesity related health issues through public health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid ("Economic Costs"). A positive externality will occur in the form of decreased health care expenditures on Medicare and Medicaid. The U.S. government should impose an excise tax on soda and other beverages that contain sugar. Consumers who drink excess sugary beverages impose a negative internality on their health; as well as imposing a negative externality on the American

The case of H.K. Porter Co., Inc. 87 T.C. 689 (1986) also had a subsidiary liquidate assets and the distribute failed to cover the preferred stock’s liquidation preference. On its 1978 and 1979 Federal income tax returns, petitioner claimed losses with respect to its Porter Australia stock. In his notice of deficiency, respondent disallowed said losses because "under I.R.C. Sec. 332, no gain or loss is recognized on the receipt of property distributed in complete liquidation of a subsidiary corporation." The court ruled in favor of H.K. Porter. “Finally, because we have held that section 332 does not bar the recognition of petitioner's losses, we hold that, based on the record, petitioner is entitled to an ordinary loss of $249,981 in 1978 with respect to the worthlessness of its common stock and a long-term capital loss of $1,957,770 in 1979 with respect to its preferred stock. See sec. 165(a) and (g).”

Facts: Murray Taxpayer was previously employed by a company who was illegally dumping chemicals into a river. Murray had knowledge concerning these illegal activities of his employer and made an ethical decision to report this to the Environmental Protection Agency. Upon inspection, the Environmental Protection Agency determined that Murrays employer was in fact illegally dumping and was appropriately fined for the charges. Murray’s employer reacted to his whistleblowing by firing him and making deliberate efforts to prevent Murray from gaining employment elsewhere. Murray then sued his former employer for damaging

Question 8. 8. (TCO 11) Which statement, if any, does not reflect the rules governing the negligence accuracy-related penalty? (Points : 2)

P1-2.  Calculate the tax disadvantage to organizing a U.S. business as a corporation versus as a partnership under the following conditions. Assume that all earnings will be paid out as cash dividends. Operating income (operating profit before taxes) will be $3,000,000 per year under either organizational form.  The tax rate on corporate profits is 30 percent (Tc = 0.30); the average personal tax rate for the partners is 35 percent (Tp = 0.35); and the capital gains tax rate on dividend income is 15 percent (Tdiv = 0.15). Then, recalculate the tax disadvantage using the same income but with the maximum tax rates that existed prior to 2003. (These rates were 35 percent (Tc = 0.35) on corporate profits and 38.6 percent (Tp = 0.386) on personal investment income.)

Dividends are subjected to higher tax rate compare to capital gain increased due to share buy-back. This discourages shareholders from desire to receive high dividends in place of higher capital gain as share values increase. A comparison is made below between the proposed capital structure and dividend policy.

The IRS knows that business owners are not keen on paying taxes, so they have put together a list of rules to make sure that business owners are compensating themselves. One of the biggest advantages of electing the S-corporation status is being able to take a salary as well as distribute profits to shareholders. However, determining the amount of the business owner’s salary can be problematic. Since Mr. Jones and Mandy are going to take salaries of $180,000 and $70,000 respectively, the IRS is not going to notice red flags. Another key point is that profits should be divided in a way that salaries are more than distributions. The 60/40 split allows Mr. Jones to claim 60% of all profits to be distributed, nothing higher or lower. If Mr. Jones’ company made $100,000 one year, he could not claim anything higher

The formation of a business is generally influenced by motive or strategy that best suits the business owners. There are four types of business entities that exist and each having different tax implications. These entities include sole proprietorships, C- Corporations (C-Corps), S-Corporations (S-Corps), and Partnerships. This paper will focus on the advantages and disadvantages of C-Corporations and S-Corps and deciding which one makes more sense than the other.