April 28, 2020

RE: Paycheck Protection Program — Legal and Regulatory Considerations

President Trump signed the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (“Enhancement Act”) on April 24th.

President Trump signed the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act (“Enhancement Act”) on April 24th.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) provided a $2.2 trillion stimulus package that allocated funding to small businesses through new and enhanced loan programs administered by the Small Business Administration (“SBA”). The PPP was one such program designed specifically to provide eligible small businesses immediate relief if they believe that “current economic uncertainty” of the COVID-19 pandemic makes such a loan for their business “necessary to support their ongoing operations,” and were willing to certify to the lender to that affect. Unfortunately, the initial guidance promulgated by the SBA did not provide any definition regarding the nature or extent of the required impact to operations or the “current economic uncertainty” that would make the loan request “necessary to support ongoing operations.”

On April 23rd, the SBA updated its Frequently Asked Questions Document to add FAQ 31. The new FAQ provides much-needed clarity regarding program qualifications specific to businesses with access to other sources of liquidity to support their ongoing operations. Any business that received a PPP loan prior to the issuance of this new guidance and who now believes that they do NOT demonstrate the necessity for the loan, can repay the loan in full by May 7, 2020. Any business that does so will be deemed by the SBA to have made the required good faith certification on their PPP loan application.

Recent news articles about recipients of these loans point out potential risks of receiving these funds loans as they will be subject to regulatory and public scrutiny. Loan recipients will not remain anonymous as EINs will be made public. We anticipate heightened government scrutiny will be forthcoming to investigate potential fraud and abuse. Businesses who have received PPP loans and are later found to have not qualified under the eligibility rules and/or businesses who do not use the funding in accordance with the terms of the program, could be subject to significant legal or regulatory consequences. Further, businesses may experience reputational damage for having pursued these loans. 

Given the revised guidance issued by the SBA and the pending May 7, 2020 deadline for returning loan proceeds, you are well advised to carefully review your company’s financial situation and reconsider the relief you may have already received with a PPP loan. Specifically, consider whether your circumstances fall within the spirit and intent of this economic relief program. If you do receive and keep PPP funding, it is critical that you maintain complete and accurate documentation to support your eligibility for such funding, the specific use of these funds, as well as your qualifications for forgiveness under the terms of the program. This documentation will be crucial were your business to be audited and/or investigated. The idea is that this defensive documentation will greatly minimize your potential exposure to fraud and abuse allegations related to your participation in this loan program.

These are challenging times. If you would like our assistance with evaluating whether the PPP or other small business loan programs and/or economic relief measures are appropriate for you, please contact us. 

April 21, 2020

The Senate has passed the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, which will add an additional $320 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program. This is in addition to the $349 billion that was previously authorized under the CARES Act.

It has been reported that Bill summaries of this legislation will also add an additional $60 billion for loans and grants under the Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster loan program.

Whether this latest legislation will provide any additional clarity regarding loan elibility or loan forgiveness is uncertain at this time. Eligible persons may continue to apply for these PPP loans now that this funding has been approved.

The bill is now being sent to the House( where it is expected to be passed), and then to the President, who is expected to sign.

The Senate has passed the Paycheck Protection Program and Health Care Enhancement Act, which will add an additional $320 billion to the Paycheck Protection Program. This is in addition to the $349 billion that was previously authorized under the CARES Act.

It has been reported that Bill summaries of this legislation will also add an additional $60 billion for loans and grants under the Small Business Administration's Economic Injury Disaster loan program.

Whether this latest legislation will provide any additional clarity regarding loan elibility or loan forgiveness is uncertain at this time. Eligible persons may continue to apply for these PPP loans now that this funding has been approved.

The bill is now being sent to the House( where it is expected to be passed), and then to the President, who is expected to sign.

The 2017 tax act signed into law on December 22, 2017 imposes a broad limit on the deductibility of business interest expense for tax years beginning in 2018 and later, which may result in increased tax liability for corporations and investors in pass-through businesses that finance acquisitions with debt.

Date: 12/22/2019 (PDF)

The 2017 tax act signed into law on December 22, 2017 imposes a broad limit on the deductibility of business interest expense for tax years beginning in 2018 and later, which may result in increased tax liability for corporations and investors in pass-through businesses that finance acquisitions with debt.

For purposes of the limitation on the deduction of business interest expense, “interest” also includes substitute interest payments, debt issuance costs, loan commitment fees, certain amounts that affect the economic cost of funds or yield of a borrowing or an interest-generating asset, and certain amounts predominantly associated with the time value of money.

If the business interest limitation applies to any of your businesses, then the amount of business interest expense that you may deduct is limited to the sum of: (1) 30% of adjusted taxable income; plus (2) 100% of business interest income; plus (3) 100% of floor plan financing interest.

For tax years beginning in 2018 through 2021, adjusted taxable income (ATI) is computed by starting with your taxable income for the tax year (disregarding the business interest limitation), and then adding to it and subtracting from it the following amounts:

Add to Taxable Income:

• business interest expense;
• net operating loss deduction;
• deduction for qualified business income;
• depreciation, amortization, or depletion deduction;
• capital loss carrybacks or carryovers; and
• any deduction or loss not properly allocable to a non-excepted trade or business.

Subtract from Taxable Income:

• business interest income;
• floor plan financing interest expense;
• the lesser of (i) gain realized on sale or disposition of property or (ii) deductions for depreciation, amortization or depletion taken for such property during a tax year beginning after 2017 (and similar adjustments for sales or dispositions of property held by a partnership or member of a consolidated group upon the sale or other disposition of the partnership interest or stock of the member); and
• any income or gain that is not properly allocable to a non-excepted trade or business.

For tax years beginning in 2022 and later, deductions for depreciation, amortization, or depletion are not taken into account in computing ATI.

Special rules and other adjustments apply to certain types of taxpayers when computing ATI.

Business interest expense does not include investment interest expense. However, all interest income and all interest expense of a C corporation (including, in certain cases, members of a consolidated group of corporations, REITs, and RICs) is treated as business interest income and business interest expense, unless the interest income or interest expense is allocable to an “excepted trade or business” (defined below). For example, investment interest expense that is passed through by a partnership to a C corporation partner generally would be considered business interest expense.

The business interest limitation generally applies to all taxpayers that have business interest expense. However, a small business taxpayer that meets the “gross receipts test” is exempt from the limitation. A business meets the gross receipts test if it is not a tax shelter and it has average annual gross receipts of $25 million or less for the three previous tax years. The $25 million amount is adjusted for inflation. Please note that “tax shelter” is defined broadly for this purpose, and includes any partnership or S corporation that allocates more than 35% of its losses for the year to limited partners or limited entrepreneurs.

The business interest limitation generally applies at the entity level to all business debt incurred, including debt incurred before 2018.

Interest that is allocable to an “excepted trade or business” is not treated as business interest.

Excepted trades and businesses are those in the trade or business of providing services as an employee, certain regulated utility trades or businesses, certain real property trades or businesses that make an irrevocable election to be excepted from the business interest limitation, and certain farming businesses that make an irrevocable election to be excepted from the business interest limitation.

For those businesses electing to be excepted from the business interest expense limitation, making the election involves a tradeoff: a real property business or farming business that makes the election must use the Alternative Depreciation System to depreciate certain types of property, which requires straight-line depreciation over a longer depreciable recovery period compared to depreciation under the General Depreciation System.

If you are engaged in both an excepted trade or business and a non-excepted trade or business, interest expense that is allocable to an excepted trade or business is not subject to the business interest limitation, and the amount of your items of income, gain, deduction, or loss, including interest income that is allocable to an excepted trade or business, is excluded in determining the business interest limitation. Therefore, you must allocate your tax items between excepted and non-excepted trades and businesses to determine the limitation.

Business interest expense not allowed as a deduction for a tax year is treated as a business expense paid or accrued in the next tax year, and can be carried forward indefinitely. Disallowed business interest expense carryforwards are subject to limitation in change-of-ownership situations.

Special rules regarding the carryover of disallowed business interest apply to partnerships and S corporations. For partnerships, any business interest expense that is not allowed as a deduction is passed through to the partners, and can be deducted by the partners only to the extent that there is excess taxable income from that specific partnership to absorb the deduction. For S corporations, disallowed business interest expense is carried over to the next tax year of the S corporation and is treated as interest expense paid or accrued by the S corporation in that year.

The business interest limitation applies at the consolidated return level, and a consolidated group has a single limitation. In calculating the limitation, a consolidated group's business interest expense and business interest income is, respectively, the sum of its members’ business interest expense and business interest income.

The business interest limitation applies to a foreign corporation that is a controlled foreign corporation (CFC), generally in the same manner as it applies apply to a domestic C corporation. If a CFC is a partner in a partnership, the limitation applies to the partnership in the same manner as if the CFC were a domestic C corporation.

The business interest limitation rules are complex and can significantly impact your tax liability. We suggest that you meet with us as soon as possible to discuss strategies to minimize the impact of the limitation, including determining whether your business qualifies to make an election to be excepted from the limitation, whether making the election is advisable in your situation, and if so, what steps we need to take to make the election.

This article contains general information only.  It is not tax advice and it should not be used as a basis for any business or tax decision. You should consult with a qualified professional before taking any action that may affect your business or you personally.

This article will give you a better understanding of the first-year expensing (also referred to as §179 expensing) and additional first-year depreciation (also referred to as bonus depreciation). Businesses that purchase capital assets are allowed to deduct the decline in value of the assets over their useful lives. This depreciation deduction is intended to help businesses to eventually recover the costs of capital assets.

Date: 12/20/2019 (PDF)

Certain provisions in the tax code enable you to accelerate recovery of your cost of certain plants, machinery, equipment, computer software, and other qualified property that you acquire for business use, rather than having to depreciate those costs over several tax years. Expensing (immediate write-off) is the primary cost recovery vehicle for capital assets (acquired for business use) placed in service from 2018 through 2022. The two mechanisms for deducting the cost of assets in the year they are placed in service are first-year expensing under Internal Revenue Code §179 and bonus depreciation under Internal Revenue Code §168(k).

Individuals and business entities that have taxable income greater than or equal to the amount of qualified first-year expensing property placed in service during the tax year, can elect to claim a first-year expensing deduction for up to $1 million of the cost such property. Most machinery and equipment, certain commercial building improvements, property used to furnish lodging, and certain computer software that businesses purchase (or lease under a capital lease) are qualified first-year expensing property, but rental real estate is not. First-year expensing is available for both new and used assets, and for both purchased and leased (under a capital lease) assets. To be eligible for the first-year expensing deduction, the assets must be used in the United States.

The $1 million annual limit on the first-year expensing deduction is reduced if you place in service more than $2.5 million in qualified first-year expensing property during the year. No first-year expensing deduction is allowed if you place in service $3.5 million or more in qualified first-year expensing property during the year. Because of this property cost limit, larger businesses generally claim bonus depreciation rather than first-year expensing.

In contrast to the first-year expensing deduction, there is no annual dollar limit on the bonus depreciation deduction amount, and bonus depreciation may be deducted even in a loss year. And unlike the first-year expensing deduction, the bonus depreciation deduction is not elective (except in the case of qualifying fruit- and nut-bearing plants). However, you may elect not to deduct bonus depreciation for any class of qualified property.

The bonus depreciation deduction is available to individuals, estates, trusts, and business entities that invest in new or used capital assets that have a depreciation recovery period of 20 years or less, as well as depreciable computer software, certain water utility property, qualified film, television, and live theater productions, and for farmers, specified fruit- and nut-bearing plants. Bonus depreciation is available for both purchased and leased (under a capital lease) assets. To be eligible for bonus depreciation, the assets must be used in the United States.

The percentage of the adjusted basis of qualified property that is deducted as bonus depreciation is 100% for most qualified property placed in service before 2023, but it is scheduled to be reduced by 20% per year from 2023 through 2026, and fully phased out by 2027.

Qualified improvement property — which before 2018 could qualify for both first-year expensing and bonus depreciation — now qualifies for first-year expensing only (subject to the annual dollar limit and the taxable income limit), but does not qualify for bonus depreciation. Qualified improvement property is an improvement to an interior portion of a commercial building if the improvement is placed in service after the date the building was first placed in service. However, qualified improvement property does not include building enlargements, elevators and escalators, and the internal structural framework of a building.

Both first-year expensing and bonus depreciation are highly technical in nature and subject to limits and exceptions. To fully leverage these deductions, it is important to understand their specific requirements. It is also advisable to monitor these provisions for further legislative amendment.

This article contains general information only.  It is not tax advice and it should not be used as a basis for any business or tax decision. You should consult with a qualified professional before taking any action that may affect your business or you personally.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), 816 enacted March 23, 2010, and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (HCERA), 817 enacted March 30, 2010, ushered in a series of changes to the rules for obtaining and providing health care. The laws, as amended, are commonly referred to as the Affordable Care Act (or “ACA”). These rules are administered by the Departments of Treasury (and the IRS), Labor (DOL) and Health and Human Services (HHS), jointly or separately, as appropriate. 818

Date: 12/10/2019 (PDF)

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), 816 enacted March 23, 2010, and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (HCERA), 817 enacted March 30, 2010, ushered in a series of changes to the rules for obtaining and providing health care. The laws, as amended, are commonly referred to as the Affordable Care Act (or “ACA”). These rules are administered by the Departments of Treasury (and the IRS), Labor (DOL) and Health and Human Services (HHS), jointly or separately, as appropriate. 818

816 Pub. L. No. 111-148.

817 Pub. L. No. 111-152.

Note however that White House Executive Order 13765 dated January 20, 2017, directs governmental departments and agencies with authority and responsibility under the Affordable Care Act to “exercise all authority and discretion available to them to waive, defer, grant exemptions from, or delay the implementation of any provision or requirement of the [ACA] that would impose a fiscal burden on any State or a cost, fee, tax, penalty or regulatory burden on individuals, families, healthcare providers, health insurers, patients, recipients of healthcare services, purchasers of health insurance, or makers of medical devices, products or medications.” These directives are to be carried out “[t]o the maximum extent permitted by law,” indicating that compliance with ACA is required until other regulations or guidance is issued. Also, White House Executive Order 13813 dated October 12, 2017, directs the IRS, DOL, and HHS to consider proposing regulations and revising guidance to: expand small businesses’ access to association health plans (AHPs) (see ¶5920.11.C.4.); make available short-term, limited-duration insurance that lasts longer than three months and is renewable (see ¶5920.11.B.21.); and increase the availability of health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) to workers and allow their use with nongroup coverage (see ¶5920.09.D.3.). In addition, White House Executive Order 13877, dated June 24, 2019, contains several directives, including but not limited to, that: (1) the IRS, DOL, and HHS to solicit comment on a proposal to require providers, issuers, and self-insured group health plans to provide or facilitate access to information about expected out-of-pocket costs before patients receive care; (2) the IRS issue guidance to expand patients' ability to select high-deductible health plans that can be used alongside an HSA, and that cover low-cost preventive care, before the deductible, for medical care that helps maintain health status for individuals with chronic conditions (see ¶5920.08.C.2.b.); (3) the Treasury propose regulations to treat expenses related to certain types of arrangements, potentially including direct primary care arrangements and healthcare sharing ministries, as eligible medical expenses; and (4) the Treasury issue guidance to increase the amount of FSA carryover funds.

(1) Individuals —   TPS 5920.16.A.1.

U.S. citizens and legal residents, unless exempted, must maintain minimum essential health care coverage or face penalties (which are reduced to zero for months beginning after 2018). Individuals may qualify for a health care premium tax credit or cost-sharing reductions to assist them in paying for coverage. 819

819 These requirements took effect starting in 2014. The 2017 tax act (Pub. L. No. 115-97) reduced to penalty amount to zero after 2018, as discussed in ¶5920.16.B.1. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub. L. No. 111-148, §10108, would have allowed qualifying low-income employees whose employer offers a free choice voucher to obtain health care coverage on their own using funds from the voucher, and would have provided tax benefits to employers offering the vouchers. Pub. L. No. 112-10, §1858, removed the voucher provisions of Pub. L. No. 111-148, §10108.

Group health plans generally are prohibited from imposing any preexisting condition exclusions on individuals. 820

820 This requirement also took effect starting in 2014. From 2010 through 2013, eligible individuals with a preexisting condition may have been able to obtain coverage under a temporary high risk health insurance pool program to provide health insurance coverage that does not impose any preexisting condition exclusion.

(2) Employers —   TPS 5920.16.A.2.

Employers are not required to offer health care coverage to their employees. However, as of 2015, 821 large employers—with 50 or more full-time-equivalent employees in the prior year—who do not offer health care coverage, or who offer coverage that does not meet minimum standards or is unaffordable to their employees, generally are subject to excise taxes (sometimes referred to as “play or pay” penalties) if any of their full-time employees obtain subsidized health insurance coverage through an Exchange.

821 Notice 2013-45 (transition relief provided for one year).

Also, large employers must report information about the health coverage that they offer, and all employers must report information about the health coverage that they provide.

Businesses with fewer than 25 employees may be eligible for tax credits to assist them in setting up or maintaining health plans. Small businesses also may offer plans to their employees through state health exchanges.

In addition, beginning in 2022, employers with self-insured plans and health insurance issuers that offer coverage beyond the required coverage (sometimes called “Cadillac” plan coverage) may have to pay an excise tax.

(3) Group Health Plans and Health Insurance Issuers —   TPS 5920.16.A.3.

Group health plans and health insurance issuers are faced with a variety of plan design and reporting and disclosure changes under the 2010 health care reform legislation. For example, for plan years beginning on or after September 23, 2010, insured group health plans cannot discriminate in favor of highly compensated individuals; plans that offer dependent child coverage must extend the coverage to children under the age of 26; plans cannot impose lifetime or annual limits (with restricted limits allowed during a phase-in period) or rescind coverage; plans must cover preventive health services; plans cannot contain preexisting condition exclusions for enrollees under age 19; and plans must develop and use uniform explanation of coverage documents and standardized definitions. See ¶5920.11.B., above.

Among the many requirements imposed for plan years beginning in and after 2014, plans cannot contain preexisting condition exclusions for adult enrollees or otherwise discriminate against any enrollees based on health status; and plans cannot impose excessive waiting periods. Health plans and health insurance coverage in existence on March 23, 2010, must comply with many new requirements, but are excluded from some requirements to the extent they retain “grandfathered” status. See ¶5920.11.B., above, for discussion of these plan requirements. See ¶5920.16.D.4., below, for discussion of the criteria a plan must satisfy to have grandfathered status.

Some requirements that apply to health plan insurers, but not funded group health plans, also apply to self-funded group health plans. Examples include the requirement to provide a summary of benefits and coverage explanation (see ¶5910.03.D.6.) and the payment of health insurance fees based on the average number of lives covered for each plan year ending after September 30, 2012, through plan years ending after September 30, 2019. 822

822 §4375, added by Pub. L. No. 111-148, §6301(e)(2) (health insurance issuers), discussed at ¶5920.16.E.3, below; §4376, added by Pub. L. No. 111-148, §6301(e)(2) (self-insured plans), discussed at ¶5920.16.D.5., below.

(4) Public Health Insurance Exchanges (Health Insurance Marketplaces) —   TPS 5920.16.A.4.

Each state can elect to establish an American Health Benefit Exchange (health exchange) — a governmental agency or nonprofit entity established to offer qualified health plans to qualified individuals and to provide for the establishment of a Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP Exchange) to assist qualified employers in enrolling their employees in qualified health plans offered in the small group market. 823 If a state does not set up a health exchange, the Secretary of HHS must establish and operate a health exchange within the state to offer qualified health plans. 824 This may be set up as a federally-facilitated exchange (with minimal state involvement) or a state partnership exchange. See ¶5920.11.B.19.b. Most exchanges fall within these last two categories.

823 Pub. L. No. 111-148, §1311(b) and 1311(d), as amended by Pub. L. No. 111-148, §10104(e). See ¶5920.16.C.6. Exchanges under the Affordable Care Act first became available in 2014.

824 Pub. L. No. 111-148, §1321(c); Pub. L. No. 111-148, §1322, as amended by Pub. L. No. 111-148, §10104(l).

This article contains general information only.  It is not tax advice and it should not be used as a basis for any business or tax decision. You should consult with a qualified professional before taking any action that may affect your business or you personally

This article will explain under what circumstances you may be eligible for the §199A deduction for qualified business income (QBI). 

Date: 01/15/2020 (PDF)

Editor's Note: The preamble to the final regulations indicates that for tax years ending in 2018 only, taxpayers may rely on the final regulations (T.D. 9847, 84 Fed. Reg. 2952 (Feb. 8, 2019)) in their entirety, or on the proposed regulations (REG-107892-18, 83 Fed. Reg. 40,884 (Aug. 16 2018)) in their entirety. The final regulations are effective for tax years ending after February 8, 2019. Anti-abuse rules are effective retroactively to the date of enactment of the 2017 tax act (December 22, 2017).

This article will explain under what circumstances you may be eligible for the §199A deduction for qualified business income (QBI).  

If you have income from a pass-through entity (or sole proprietorship) you may be entitled to a deduction equal to the lesser of the deductible amount of your QBI (generally 20% subject to the W-2 wage limitation) or 20% of your taxable income. You may also be able to deduct 20% of your qualified REIT dividends and qualified publicly traded partnership (PTP) income. Special rules apply for these additional items. The deduction applies to reduce your taxable income and is available whether or not you itemize. The deduction does not impact your calculation of self-employment tax.

QBI is your net amount of qualified items of income, gain, deduction, and loss with respect to each of your “qualified trades or businesses.” Qualified items are items that are allowed in the determination of your taxable income for the tax year, and are effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business within the United States or Puerto Rico. Many items of income, gain, deduction, and loss are not qualified items. These items generally include capital gains and loss, dividends, interest, etc. In the case of a partnership or S corporation, your net amount of qualified items is the net amount of your allocable share of each qualified item. QBI does not include any amount paid by an S corporation to its shareholders that is treated as reasonable compensation; any guaranteed payment by a partnership to a partner for services rendered with respect to the trade or business; or any amount paid by a partnership to a partner who is not acting in his or her capacity as a partner for services rendered to the partnership. While the former three payment items are not QBI, they may serve to reduce QBI if the entity takes a deduction for these payments.

Your QBI must be earned through a trade or business. Trade or business has the same general meaning as it does for other purposes of tax law, with a few exceptions. First, if you rent or license tangible or intangible property to a trade or business which is commonly controlled, your rental activity may be a trade or business for purposes of the QBI deduction. Second, the IRS has proposed a safe harbor under which certain real estate enterprises may qualify as a trade or business if owners, employees, agents, or independent contractors perform 250 or more hours of rental services and other requirements are met. The trade or business of being an employee, is not a trade or business for purposes of the deduction. Additional rules may apply if your trade or business is a specified service trade or business.

If your deduction results from ownership of a pass-through entity, the Schedule K-1 you receive from the entity should report the net amount of QBI attributable to each trade or business or the aggregated trade or business of the entity. If the Schedule K-1 is blank in this regard, QBI is presumed to be zero, and we may need to contact the entity to issue amended schedules.

If the net amount of qualified items from your trade or business is a loss, you will have negative QBI and must proportionally offset your positive QBI from any other trades or businesses. If the net amount of QBI from all your trades or businesses is negative, you must carryover this amount to next year where it will proportionally offset positive QBI from other trades or businesses.

You must determine whether you have one trade or business or multiple trades or businesses. If you have multiple trades or businesses, it is possible that they can be aggregated together as one under special rules. In some cases, due to the W-2 wage limitation discussed below, aggregation may increase the amount of your deduction. You may have also received documentation from a pass-through entity in which you own an interest. If the entity aggregated any of its trades or businesses, you may not treat these trades or businesses as separate trades or businesses. You may, however, aggregate additional trades or businesses with the entity's aggregated group.

Calculation of the deduction is a fact intensive inquiry. If you claim the deduction and you understate the amount of tax required to be shown on your return by 5% or more, you could be subject to the substantial understatement of tax penalty.

If your taxable income does not exceed a threshold of $315,000 (joint filers), or $157,500 (all other taxpayers), your deduction is generally the lesser of: (1) 20% of your net QBI from all of your trades, plus 20% of your qualified REIT dividends and qualified PTP income; or (2) 20% of your taxable income.

Is your pass-through income from a “qualified trade or business”?

A qualified trade or business is defined as any trade or business other than a specified service trade or business or the trade or business of being an employee. A specified service trade or business cannot be aggregated with another trade or business. While no deduction is allowed for your income from the trade or business of being an employee, a deduction is allowed for your income from a specified service trade or business to the extent that your taxable income does not exceed the threshold amount. However, as your taxable income exceeds the threshold amount, your specified service trade or business income is partially or fully excluded from the deduction. The exclusion phases in based on the ratio of your table income in excess of the threshold amount to $100,000 (joint filers) and $50,000 (all other taxpayers). Thus, no deduction is allowed for your income from a specified service trade or business if your taxable income is more than $415,000 (joint filers) or $207,500 (all other taxpayers).

If your trade or business is operated as a pass-through entity, the entity should report to you whether the trade or business is a specified service trade or business. If your trade or business is operated as a sole proprietorship, you will need to determine whether you are engaged in a specified service trade or business. A specified service trade or business generally involves the performance of services in the fields of health, law, accounting, actuarial science, performing arts, consulting, athletics, financial services, brokerage services, or any trade or business where the principal asset of such trade or business is the reputation or skill of one or more of its employees or owners (generally, a trade or business where a person receives fees, compensation, or other income, for endorsing a product, use of their likeness or other associated symbols, or appearances on television or other media), or which involves the performance of services that consist of investing and investment management, trading, or dealing in securities, partnership interests, or commodities. If only a small portion of the gross receipts of your trade or business are attributable to one of the listed fields, a de minimis rule may permit you to treat your trade or business as a qualified trade or business.

Application of the W-2 wage limitation

If your taxable income exceeds the threshold amount, the deductible amount of your QBI is equal to the lesser of 20% of your QBI with respect to the trade or business or the W-2 wage limitation. As your taxable income exceeds the threshold above, the W-2 wage limitation phases in and you will reduce the excess amount of your deduction based on the ratio of your table income in excess of the threshold amount to $100,000 (joint filers) and $50,000 (all other taxpayers).

The W-2 wage limitation is equal to the greater of: (1) 50% of the business's W-2 wages; or (2) the sum of (a) 25% of the business's W-2 wages, plus (b) 2.5% of the unadjusted basis (immediately after acquisition) of all qualified property.

In the case of a partnership or S corporation, you take into account your allocable share of W-2 wages and unadjusted basis (immediately after acquisition) of qualified property for the tax year. These items should be reported to you by the partnership or S corporation on Schedule K-1. If these items are blank they will be presumed to be zero, and we may need to contact the entity to amend the schedule.

W-2 wages are the total wages subject to wage withholding, elective deferrals, and deferred compensation paid by the qualified trade or business with respect to employment of its employees during the calendar year ending during the tax year of the taxpayer. W-2 wages do not include: (1) any amount that is not properly allocable to the QBI as a qualified item of deduction; and (2) any amount that was not properly included in a return filed with the Social Security Administration on or before the 60th day after the due date (including extensions). Amounts paid to independent contractors are not W-2 wages. If your business uses a third party such as a certified professional employer organization to pay your employees’ wages, you may still be able to include these wages in your W-2 wage calculation subject to certain additional rules.

Qualified property is tangible property of a character subject to depreciation: (1) that is held by, and available for use in, the qualified trade or business at the end of the tax year; (2) that is used in the production of QBI; and (3) for which the depreciable period has not ended before the end of the tax year. The depreciable period with respect to qualified property is the period beginning on the date the property is first placed in service by the taxpayer and ending on the later of: (1) the date 10 years after that date; or (2) the last day of the last full year in the applicable recovery period that applies to the property. The unadjusted basis (immediately after acquisition) of qualified property is determined on the date the qualified property is placed in service.

Do you have any qualified REIT dividends or qualified PTP income?

If you have dividends from a REIT that are taxed as ordinary income, you have qualified REIT dividends. Income from a REIT that is taxed as capital gain, such as qualified dividend income and capital gains dividends, is not eligible for the deduction.

If you have income from a publicly traded partnership that is not taxed as a corporation, you may deduct up to 20% of the qualified PTP income from that publicly traded partnership. Qualified PTP income is the QBI, as described above, earned through a publicly traded partnership. If your taxable income is above the threshold amount, and your income from the publicly traded partnership is attributable to a specified service trade or business, your deduction may be partially or fully excluded based on ratio of your taxable income in excess of the threshold amount to $100,000 (joint filers) and $50,000 (all other taxpayers).

If you received either of these items from a pass-through entity, they should be reported to you on Schedule K-1.

This article contains general information only.  It is not tax advice and it should not be used as a basis for any business or tax decision. You should consult with a qualified professional before taking any action that may affect your business or you personally.

As a fundamental rule, taxpayers are entitled to take deductions only where specifically authorized by the Internal Revenue Code. Thus, because deductions are a matter of “legislative grace,” courts closely scrutinize taxpayers’ claims and reject those that do not clearly respect the letter of the law. Each taxpayer bears the burden of proving his or her entitlement to a deduction, and ambiguities are often resolved in favor of the government. Accordingly, taxpayers should carefully review their maintenance and reconditioning expenditures on property used in a trade or business to determine whether such amounts are deductible or capitalizable. Further, they should retain full and adequate records to substantiate all such costs.

Date: 01/16/2020 (PDF)

As a fundamental rule, taxpayers are entitled to take deductions only where specifically authorized by the Internal Revenue Code. Thus, because deductions are a matter of “legislative grace,” courts closely scrutinize taxpayers’ claims and reject those that do not clearly respect the letter of the law. Each taxpayer bears the burden of proving his or her entitlement to a deduction, and ambiguities are often resolved in favor of the government. Accordingly, taxpayers should carefully review their maintenance and reconditioning expenditures on property used in a trade or business to determine whether such amounts are deductible or capitalizable. Further, they should retain full and adequate records to substantiate all such costs.

A business expense deduction is generally allowed for all of the ordinary and necessary expenses paid or incurred by a taxpayer during the tax year in carrying on any trade or business. “Incidental repairs” are deductible business expenses for these purposes. However, expenditures that might be similar to repairs, for example, an expenditure that is for a betterment to the property, restores the unit of property, or adapts the property to a new or different use, must be capitalized or charged to the taxpayer's depreciation reserve rather than deducted. The line between a deductible repair expense and a nondeductible capital expenditure is indistinct; the difference between the two depends upon the factual context surrounding the expenditure. The same outlay that may be treated as a deductible repair in one set of circumstances may be a nondeductible capital expenditure in other situations.

An expenditure is generally deductible as an incidental repair if it is limited to keeping the affected property in its ordinarily efficient operating condition, whereas an amount paid to return a unit of property to its ordinarily efficient operating condition, if the property has deteriorated to a state of disrepair and is no longer functional for its intended use, is a capital expenditure. An expenditure is considered to be a betterment — and thus a capital expenditure — if it ameliorates a material condition or defect that existed before the taxpayer acquired the property (or arose during the production of the property); if it is for a material addition to the property (including a physical enlargement, expansion, extension, or addition of a major component, or a material increase in capacity); or if it is reasonably expected to materially increase the productivity, efficiency, strength, quality, or output of the unit of property.

Repairs incidental to an improvement must be capitalized only if they directly benefit or are incurred by reason of the improvement(s). Expenditures for work performed on depreciable assets that do not qualify as deductible repairs may nonetheless qualify for a bonus depreciation deduction or under the rule that allows you to elect to treat the cost of certain depreciable business assets as a current-year expense. The deductibility of environmental cleanup costs is governed by a special set of detailed rules.

Maintenance expenditures that do not improve the property (i.e., are not paid for a betterment or restoration of the property and do not adapt the property to a new or different use) generally may be deducted. Thus, taxpayers can deduct the costs of various expenditures that alleviate damage or deterioration, so long as the property is not improved. However, taxpayers cannot deduct indirect expenditures (e.g., otherwise deductible repairs) that directly benefit or are incurred by reason of an improvement.

A taxpayer ordinarily can deduct as a repair regularly recurring routine maintenance expenditures that a taxpayer expects to perform to keep the unit of property in its ordinarily efficient operating condition. When such activities happen regularly, an abnormally large expenditure resulting from the same cause is still deductible. On the other hand, a taxpayer must capitalize the cost to replace a major component or a substantial structural part of the unit of property.

There are a host of other factors or considerations that are relevant to the determination of whether a particular expenditure is deductible as a repair:

• Any properly-performed repair adds some value to the property repaired, but that does not necessarily mean its cost cannot be deducted.
• A common rule of thumb is that the cost of property having a useful life greater than one year must be capitalized. However, the test of deductibility considers whether the expenditure simply kept the property in, or restored it to, an efficient operating condition.
• The size of the expenditure does not control whether it is a deductible repair. Taxpayers have been permitted to deduct expenditures of significant magnitude in comparison to the value of the asset being repaired. Courts have also permitted taxpayers to deduct expenditures that were large in absolute terms if the criteria for a repair expense were satisfied. In addition, expenditures for repairs will not be disallowed merely because they significantly exceed the taxpayer's average annual repair expenditures. On the other hand, a taxpayer cannot deduct his cost to replace an asset on the ground that repairing the asset would be roughly comparable in cost.
• Case law suggests that extensive repairs to an asset shortly after its acquisition have materially altered the asset and are not deductible. Regulations state that taxpayers must capitalize expenditures that ameliorate a material condition or defect that existed before the taxpayer's acquisition of the unit of property. Thus, taxpayers should carefully consider the deductibility of repair and restoration expenditures incurred shortly after the acquisition of an asset.
• Taxpayers cannot deduct involuntary expenditures caused by regulatory requirements or some other governmental action if the expenditures do not fit the criteria for a repair deduction.
• Taxpayers can deduct the cost of materials and labor to conduct repairs, but a self-employed taxpayer may not deduct the value of his own labor to perform repairs.

Special rules apply to repair expenses that are incurred due to a casualty and to leased property. If a taxpayer consistently capitalizes a particular type of expenditure or treats it as a repair, any change to that treatment is generally a change in accounting method that may require IRS permission. Some changes are made by an election and are not considered a change in method of accounting.

Many of the rules in this area are complex and also may be affected by other tax laws. For this reason, the facts of your situation should be carefully reviewed.

This article contains general information only.  It is not tax advice and it should not be used as a basis for any business or tax decision. You should consult with a qualified professional before taking any action that may affect your business or you personally

President Donald Trump signed into law the bipartisan Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-142) on June 5. The legislation aims to expand usability of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act’s ( P.L. 116-136) headliner small business loan program.

President Donald Trump signed into law the bipartisan Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act of 2020 (P.L. 116-142) on June 5. The legislation aims to expand usability of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act’s ( P.L. 116-136) headliner small business loan program.

PPP in the House
The bipartisan, bicameral-crafted P.L. 116-142 makes several changes to the rapidly implemented Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) administered by the Small Business Administration (SBA). The bill, authored by House Reps. Chip Roy, R-Tex., and Dean Phillips, D-Minn., was approved in the House by a 417-to-1 vote on May 27. After a brief stall in the Senate, P.L. 116-142 cruised through the upper chamber by voice vote on June 3.

Most notably, the legislation includes some of the following PPP changes:

• Extends the expense forgiveness period from eight weeks to 24 weeks;
• Reduces the 75 percent payroll ratio requirement to 60 percent;
• Eliminates the two-year loan repayment restrictions for future borrowers;
• Allows payroll tax deferment for PPP recipients; and
• Extends the June 30, 2020, rehiring deadline to December 31, 2020.

Questions Remain
However, riding shotgun with the measure’s increased PPP flexibility is a list of remaining unanswered questions and potential issues. While policymakers and stakeholders alike await more Treasury and SBA guidance, additional legislative text is already in the works to iron out certain wrinkles in past PPP legislation and related IRS guidance.

"Our colleagues have continued to track the program’s [PPP] operation and recommend further tweaks where necessary. In recent days, Senator Collins helped strengthen and improve the House’s proposed PPP modifications before they passed the bill and sent it to us. And I know the senior Senator from Maine has already identified several more technical fixes for the new legislation that I hope Congress will address," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on June 4 from the Senate floor.

Looking Ahead to PPP Technical Corrections, Enhancements
Although the ink may still be drying on the PPP Flexibility Act, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Me., co-architect of the small business loan program, said on June 4 that her staff is currently drafting a PPP technical corrections bill. The next bill is expected to address concerns with P.L. 116-142 60 percent "cliff", among other items.

"Two of my priorities would be to correct what I believe to be a drafting error in the House bill that eliminates partial forgiveness for small businesses with PPP loans who have been unable to retain, recall, or pay their full number of employees due to circumstances beyond the employer’s control," Collins said in a June 4 statement. "The House bill contains a cliff: even if a small employer spent 59 percent out of the 60 percent of the funding designated to pay their employees, none of the loan would be forgiven. The employer would be saddled with debt." Additionally, Collins noted the next PPP bill would allow for overhead funding to be used for masks and other protective gear for employees.

Fellow PPP policy architect Senate Small Business Committee Chair Marco Rubio, R-Fla., on June 4 also alluded to another PPP bill. "I appreciate the Administration’s flexibility and commitment to address the bill’s inadvertent technical errors that could create unintended consequences for small businesses as they seek forgiveness," Rubio said in a June 4 statement. "If the Administration cannot address these issues, Congress will need to fix them through additional legislation…," Rubio said.

Tax Treatment of Ordinary Business Expenses
Additionally, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Tex., told reporters on June 4 that Senate leadership is trying to take up the bipartisan Small Business Expense Protection Bill (S. 3612). The bill would clarify that receipt and forgiveness of a PPP loan does not affect the tax treatment of ordinary business expenses.

However, according to controversial IRS Notice 2020-32, businesses that qualify for PPP loan forgiveness will not be able to deduct certain expenses, including wages, paid for by the loan. "The money coming in the PPP is not taxable. So, if the money that is coming is not taxable, you cannot double dip," Mnuchin said. But Congress’s top, bipartisan tax writers immediately voiced disapproval of IRS and Treasury’s position, stating that the IRS guidance goes against congressional intent.

"[A]s was expressed to Treasury during the development of the PPP, we did not intend to deny the deductibility of ordinary and necessary business expenses, nor did these small businesses expect to lose deductions for their business expenses when they applied for a PPP loan," Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, ranking member Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and House Ways and Means Committee Chair Richard Neal, D-Mass., wrote in a recent letter to Mnuchin.

And while many business groups are also commending Congress’s approval of P.L. 116-142, their leadership is also calling for more PPP-related legislation. "The PPP changes passed by both chambers are another important step in providing relief to small businesses that otherwise will not survive until the economic recovery phase," U.S. Travel Association Executive Vice President of Public Affairs and Policy Tori Emerson Barnes said in a statement. However, the Travel Association, similar to other industry trade groups, has called for additional PPP enhancements.

"While this measure does a good job making the PPP work better for businesses that are eligible, other PPP enhancements will be needed to make sure all the key pieces are in place when the recovery begins—in particular, extending eligibility to non-profit and quasi-governmental entities that are vital drivers of local and regional economic development," Barnes said.

To that end, it remains unclear at this time whether additional PPP changes, enhancements, and clarifications will come by way of Treasury and SBA guidance, another stand-alone bill, or catch a ride with the next round of economic relief legislation. However, prior to the Senate’s approval of P.L. 116-142, McConnell submitted to the congressional record per Sen. Ron Johnson's, R-Wisc., hold on the bill, a letter from the measure’s bipartisan, bicameral authors and policy architects clarifying congressional intent for PPP loans covered period extension.

"The extension of the covered period in P.L. 116-142 is to allow borrowers who received PPP loans before June 30, 2020, to continue to make expenditures for allowable uses until December 31, 2020," the record states. "The extension of the covered period does not authorize the [SBA] to issue any new PPP loans after June 30, 2020, as this date remains fixed by section 1102(b) of the CARES Act."

PPP Disclosures
Meanwhile, in the spirit of PPP transparency, Rubio and Senate Small Business Committee ranking member Ben Cardin, D-Md., sent a letter this week to Treasury Secretary Mnuchin and SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza calling for more public disclosures of information related to PPP loans and borrowers. "Given the grave nature of this crisis and the unprecedented level of funding that has been appropriated, it is critical that the public and Congress have timely and complete information about where these funds are going, and the committee expects an increased level of transparency and accountability from the SBA," Rubio and Cardin wrote.

Some of the items Rubio and Cardin have requested be made publicly available on the SBA’s website include the following:

• name of business or nonprofit borrower and address,
• business type,
• lender and address,
• loan or grant amount,
• congressional district, and
• number of jobs supported.

In consultation with Treasury Department, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has issued...

In consultation with Treasury Department, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has issued:

• new and revised guidance for the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP);
• revised PPP application forms;
• a revised PPP loan forgiveness application; and
• a new "EZ" PPP loan forgiveness application.

New, Revised PPP Guidance
The guidance implements the Paycheck Protection Program Flexibility Act (PPPFA) ( P.L. 116-142), which President Trump signed on June 5, 2020. The PPPFA aims to expand usability of the PPP for small businesses provided in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act ( P.L. 116-136).

The updated guidance expands PPP eligibility for business owners who have past felony convictions. Further, to implement the PPPFA, the SBA revised its first PPP interim final rule that was issued in April. As noted in Treasury’s recent announcement issued on June 8, the new rule reflects updates related to loan maturity, deferral of loan payments, and forgiveness.

The new and revised PPP guidance can be found at https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/PPP-IFR--Additional-Revisions-to-First-Interim-Final-Rule.pdf.

Revised PPP Applications
The SBA has issued revised the PPP application forms to conform with the changes in the guidance.

The revised Borrower application form can be found at https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/PPP-Borrower-Application-Form-Revised-June-12-2020.pdf.

For the revised Lender application form, see https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/PPP-Lender-Application-Form-Revised-June-12-2020.pdf.

Senators Request PPP Forgiveness Simplification
In a bipartisan effort, a group of over 40 senators have requested that Treasury and the SBA simplify the PPP loan forgiveness application for certain small business loans. Specifically, the senators urged Treasury and the SBA to revise the form so that it is no longer than one page for any loan under $250,000.

"While the Small Business Administrator was also given the ability to require additional documentation necessary to verify proper use of PPP funds, we believe it is beyond the program’s intent to require the information solicited in the 11-page forgiveness application that the SBA recently released," the senators wrote in a recent letter addressed to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza. "We appreciate the interest in appropriately auditing the use of government money. However, the loan forgiveness application – which understandably needs more information for loans worth significantly more than $250,000 – is three times longer than the original application for the PPP."

On the heels the senators’ request, the SBA has released both a revised, full PPP loan forgiveness application, and a new "EZ" forgiveness application (Form 3508EZ). The new EZ loan forgiveness application can be used by:

• borrowers that are self-employed and have no employees;
• borrowers that did not reduce the salaries or wages of their employees by more than 25%, and did not reduce the number or hours of their employees; or
• borrowers that experienced reductions in business activity as a result of health directives related to COVID-19, and did not reduce the salaries or wages of their employees by more than 25%.

Both the full forgiveness application and the EZ forgiveness application give borrowers the option of using the original 8-week covered period (if their loan was made before June 5, 2020) or the PPPFA’s extended 24-week covered period. The EZ application requires fewer calculations and less documentation for eligible borrowers.

The new EZ forgiveness application can be found at https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/PPP-Forgiveness-Application-3508EZ.pdf.

The revised, full forgiveness application can be found at https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/3245-0407-SBA-Form-3508-PPP-Forgiveness-Application.pdf.

The IRS is postponing deadlines for certain time-sensitive actions due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency. This relief affects employment taxes, employee benefit plans, exempt organizations, individual retirement arrangements (IRAs), Coverdell education savings accounts, health savings accounts (HSAs), and Archer and Medicare Advantage medical saving accounts (MSAs).

The IRS is postponing deadlines for certain time-sensitive actions due to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency. This relief affects employment taxes, employee benefit plans, exempt organizations, individual retirement arrangements (IRAs), Coverdell education savings accounts, health savings accounts (HSAs), and Archer and Medicare Advantage medical saving accounts (MSAs).

With certain exceptions, the relief postpones deadlines for certain actions due to be performed on or after March 30, 2020, and before July 15, 2020. The revised deadline for an affected taxpayer to perform a time-sensitive action described in the relief is July 15, 2020, unless a different revised deadline is specified.

Qualified Retirement Plans
For employee benefit plans (including a section 403(b) plan, a governmental section 457(b) plan, a SEP plan described in section 408(k), or a SIMPLE IRA plan described in section 408(p)), or any sponsor, administrator, participant, beneficiary, disqualified person, or other person with respect to the plan, the relief affects applying for a funding waiver under Code Sec. 412(c) for a defined benefit pension plan that is not a multiemployer plan.

For multiemployer defined benefit pension plans, the relief affects actions due to be performed on or before the dates in (1) Code Sec. 432(b)(3) for certification of funded status and related notice to interested parties; (2) Code Sec. 432(c)(1) and (e)(1) for adopting a funding improvement plan or rehabilitation plan (and the notification to the bargaining parties of the schedules thereunder); or (3) Code Sec. 432(c)(6) and (e)(3) for the annual update of a funding improvement plan or a rehabilitation plan, and its contribution schedules, and the filing of those updates with the Form 5500 annual return.

For cooperative and small employer charity pension (CSEC) plans, the relief affects actions to be performed on or before the dates in (1) Code Sec. 433(c)(9) for making the contribution required to be made for the plan year; (2) Code Sec. 433(f)(3)(B) for making required quarterly installments; (3) Code Sec. 433(j)(3) for the adoption of a funding restoration plan; or (4) Code Sec. 433(j)(4) for the certification of funded status.

For filing Form 5330, Return of Excise Taxes Related to Employee Benefit Plans, and payment of the associated excise taxes, the period beginning on March 30, 2020, and ending on July 15, 2020, will be disregarded in calculating any interest or penalty for failure to file the Form 5330 or pay the excise tax postponed under the relief. Interest and penalties on postponed filing and payment obligations will begin to accrue on July 16, 2020.

Other relief related to qualified retirement plans affects:

• extension of initial remedial amendment period for section 403(b) plans;
• certain actions affecting pre-approved defined benefit plans;
• the Employee Plans Compliance Resolution System (EPCRS); and
• requests for approval of a substitute mortality table.

Form 5498 Series
For filers of Form 5498, IRA Contribution Information, Form 5498-ESA, Coverdell ESA Contribution Information, and Form 5498-SA, HSA, Archer MSA, or Medicare Advantage MSA Information, the due date for filing and furnishing the forms is postponed to August 31, 2020, and the period beginning on the original due date of those forms and ending on August 31, 2020, will be disregarded in calculating any penalty for failure to file those forms. Penalties on the postponed filing will begin to accrue on September 1, 2020.

Employers and CPEOs
The relief applies to employers who perform correct employment tax reporting errors using the interest-free adjustment process under Code Secs. 6205 and 6413.

For certified professional employer organizations (CPEOs), the relief provides a temporary waiver of the requirement that CPEOs must file certain employment tax returns and their accompanying schedules electronically. The relief for CPEOs applies only to (1) Forms 941 filed for the second, third, and fourth quarter of 2020; and (2) Forms 943 filed for calendar year 2020. CPEOs can file paper versions of these forms and their schedules if they so choose. The waiver applies to all CPEOs, and individual waiver requests do not need to be submitted.

Exempt Organizations
For exempt organizations, the relief applies to electronic submissions of Form 990-N under Code Sec. 6033(i), and filing suits for declaratory judgment under Code Sec. 7428.

Effect on Other Documents
Rev. Proc. 2017-18, I.R.B. 2017-5, Rev. Proc. 2017-55, I.R.B. 2017-43, Announcement 2018-5, I.R.B. 2018-13, Rev. Proc. 2019-19, I.R.B. 2019-19, Rev. Proc. 2019-39, I.R.B. 2019-42, and Rev. Proc. 2020-10, I.R.B. 2020-10, are modified. Notice 2020-18, I.R.B. 2020-15, Notice 2020-20, I.R.B. 2020-16, and Notice 2020-23, I.R.B. 2020-18, are amplified.

The IRS has issued guidance on coronavirus-related distributions and plan loans.

The IRS has issued guidance on coronavirus-related distributions and plan loans. The guidance

• presents the rules set out in Act Sec. 2202 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act ( P.L. 116-136);
• adds three new categories to the list of individuals who qualify due to adverse financial consequences;
• provides analysis and examples of repayments reporting; and
• includes safe harbors for employee certification and the plan loan payment suspension period.

Background: Coronavirus-Distributions and Plan Loan Relief
The CARES Act provides that qualified individuals may treat up to $100,000 in distributions made from their eligible retirement plans (including IRAs) between January 1, 2020, and December 30, 2020, as "coronavirus-related" distributions. A coronavirus-related distribution is not subject to the 10-percent additional tax that otherwise generally applies to distributions made before an individual reaches age 59-1/2. In addition, a coronavirus-related distribution can be included in income in equal installments over a three-year period, and an individual has three years to repay a coronavirus-related distribution to a plan or IRA and undo the tax consequences of the distribution.

In addition, the CARES Act provides that plans may implement certain relaxed rules for qualified individuals relating to plan loan amounts and repayment terms. In particular, plans may suspend loan repayments that are due from March 27, 2020, through December 31, 2020, and the dollar limit on loans made between March 27, 2020, and September 22, 2020, is raised from $50,000 to $100,000.

New Categories of Qualified Individuals
One of the categories of individuals who qualify for coronavirus-related distributions are those who experience adverse financial consequences as a result of coronavirus. As laid out in the CARES act, these consequences may include:

• being quarantined, being furloughed or laid off, or having work hours reduced due to such virus or disease;
• being unable to work due to lack of child care due to such virus or disease; or
• closing or reducing hours of a business owned or operated by the individual due to such virus or disease.

The CARES Act authorizes the Treasury Department to add to this list. Under the guidance, a qualified individual also includes an individual who experiences adverse financial consequences as a result of:

• a reduction in pay (or self-employment income) due to COVID-19 or having a job offer rescinded or start date for a job delayed due to COVID-19;
• the individual’s spouse or a member of the individual’s household being quarantined, being furloughed or laid off, or having work hours reduced due to COVID-19, being unable to work due to lack of childcare due to COVID-19, having a reduction in pay (or self-employment income) due to COVID-19, or having a job offer rescinded or start date for a job delayed due to COVID-19; or
• closing or reducing hours of a business owned or operated by the individual’s spouse or a member of the individual’s household due to COVID-19.

For purposes of applying these additional factors, a member of the individual’s household is someone who shares the individual’s principal residence.

Recontributions: Recognizing Income in Year of Distribution
The new guidance goes into detail on recontributions. Individuals have up to three years to recontribute qualified distributions. Recontributed dollars are not taxed, so earlier returns may have to be amended. The rules differ depending on whether the individual is recognizing income over three years or entirely in the year of distribution.

If a taxpayer includes all coronavirus-related distributions received in a year in gross income for that year and recontributes any portion during the three-year recontribution period, the amount of the recontribution will reduce the amount of the related distribution included in gross income for the year of the distribution.

Example 1. Bob receives a $45,000 coronavirus distribution from his employer plan on November 1, 2020. Bob recontributes $45,000 to an IRA on March 31, 2021. Bob reports the recontribution on Form 8915-E, and files the 2020 federal income tax return on April 10, 2021. No portion of the coronavirus-related distribution is includible as income for the 2020 tax year. [Note: The guidance states that Form 8915-E, Qualified 2020 Disaster Retirement Plan Distributions and Repayments, is expected to be available before the end of 2020.]

Example 2. The facts are the same as in Example 1, except that Bob timely requests an extension of time to file the 2020 federal income tax return and makes a recontribution on August 2, 2021, before filing the 2020 federal income tax return. Bob files the 2020 federal income tax return on August 10, 2021. As in Example 1, no portion of the coronavirus-related distribution is includible in income for the 2020 tax year because Bob made the recontribution before the timely filing of the 2020 federal income tax return.

Example 3. Cynthia receives a $15,000 distribution from an employer plan on March 30, 2020. Cynthia elects out of the 3-year ratable income inclusion on Form 8915-E and includes the entire $15,000 in gross income for the 2020 tax year. On December 31, 2022, she recontributes $15,000 to her employer plan. Cynthia will need to file an amended federal income tax return for the 2020 tax year to report the amount of the recontribution and reduce the gross income by $15,000 with respect to the coronavirus-related distribution included on the 2020 original federal income tax return.

Recontributions: Recognizing Income Over Three Years
If a qualified individual includes a coronavirus-related distribution ratably over a three-year period and the individual recontributes any portion to an eligible retirement plan at any date before the timely filing of the individual’s federal income tax return (that is, by the due date, including extensions) for a tax year in the three-year period, the amount of the recontribution will reduce the ratable portion of the coronavirus-related distribution that is includible in gross income for that tax year.

Example 4. Dan receives $75,000 from his employer plan on December 1, 2020. Dan uses the three-year ratable income inclusion method. Dan makes one recontribution of $25,000 to the plan on April 10, 2022. Dan files his 2021 federal income tax return on April 15, 2022. Without the recontribution, Dan should include $25,000 in income with respect to the coronavirus-related distribution on each of his 2020, 2021, and 2022 federal income tax returns. However, as a result of the recontribution, Dan should include $25,000 in income with respect to the coronavirus-related distribution on the 2020 federal income tax return, $0 in income with respect to the coronavirus-related distribution on the 2021 federal income tax return, and $25,000 in income with respect to the coronavirus-related distribution on the 2022 federal income tax return.

Example 5. The facts are the same as in Example 4, except Dan recontributes $25,000 to the plan on August 10, 2022. Dan files the 2021 federal income tax return on April 15, 2022, and does not request an extension of time to file that federal income tax return. As a result of the recontribution, Dan should include $25,000 in income with respect to the coronavirus-related distribution on the 2020 federal income tax return, $25,000 in income with respect to the coronavirus-related distribution on the 2021 federal income tax return, and $0 in income with respect to the coronavirus-related distribution on the 2022 federal income tax return.

Carryovers. If the taxpayer recontributes an amount for a tax year in the three-year period that exceeds the amount that is otherwise includible in gross income for that tax year, the excess amount of the recontribution may be carried forward to reduce the amount of the distribution includible in gross income in the next tax year in the three-year period. Alternatively, the qualified individual is permitted to carry back the excess amount of the recontribution to a prior tax year or years in which the individual included income attributable to a coronavirus-related distribution. The individual will need to file an amended federal income tax return for the prior tax year or years to report the amount of the recontribution on Form 8915-E and reduce his or her gross income by the excess amount of the recontribution.

Example 6. Eliza receives a distribution of $90,000 from her IRA on November 15, 2020. Eliza ratably includes the $90,000 distribution in income over a three-year period. Without any recontribution, Eliza will include $30,000 in income with respect to the coronavirus-related distribution on each of the 2020, 2021, and 2022 federal income tax returns. Eliza includes $30,000 in income with respect to the coronavirus-related distribution on the 2020 federal income tax return. Eliza then recontributes $40,000 to an IRA on November 10, 2021 (and makes no other recontribution in the three-year period). Eliza may do either of the following:

• Option 1: Include $0 in income with respect to the coronavirus-related distribution on the 2021 federal income tax return. Carry forward the excess recontribution of $10,000 to 2022, and include $20,000 in income with respect to the coronavirus-related distribution on the 2022 federal income tax return.
• Option 2: Include $0 in income with respect to the coronavirus-related distribution on the 2021 tax return and $30,000 in income on the 2022 federal income tax return. Also, file an amended federal income tax return for 2020 to reduce the amount included in income as a result of the coronavirus-related distribution to $20,000 (that is, the $30,000 original amount includible in income for 2020 minus the remaining $10,000 recontribution that is not offset on either the 2021 or 2022 federal tax return).

Safe Harbor for Plan Loans
The CARES Act provides that in the case of a qualified individual with a loan from a qualified employer plan outstanding on or after March 27, 2020, if the due date for any repayment with respect to the loan occurs during the period beginning on March 27, 2020, and ending on December 31, 2020, the due date shall be delayed for one year.

Under a safe harbor provided in the guidance, a qualified employer plan will satisfy this requirement if a qualified individual’s obligation to repay a plan loan is suspended under the plan for any period beginning not earlier than March 27, 2020, and ending not later than December 31, 2020. The loan repayments must resume after the end of the suspension period, and the term of the loan may be extended by up to one year from the date the loan was originally due to be repaid.

The IRS has released guidance that provides temporary administrative relief to help certain retirement plan participants or beneficiaries who need to make participant elections by allowing flexibility for remote signatures. Specifically, the guidance provides participants, beneficiaries, and administrators of qualified retirement plans and other tax-favored retirement arrangements with temporary relief from the physical presence requirement for any participant election (1) witnessed by a notary public in a state that permits remote notarization, or (2) witnessed by a plan representative using certain safeguards. The guidance accommodates local shutdowns and social distancing practices and is intended to facilitate the payment of coronavirus-related distributions and plan loans to qualified individuals, as permitted by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) ( P.L. 116-136).

The IRS has released guidance that provides temporary administrative relief to help certain retirement plan participants or beneficiaries who need to make participant elections by allowing flexibility for remote signatures. Specifically, the guidance provides participants, beneficiaries, and administrators of qualified retirement plans and other tax-favored retirement arrangements with temporary relief from the physical presence requirement for any participant election (1) witnessed by a notary public in a state that permits remote notarization, or (2) witnessed by a plan representative using certain safeguards. The guidance accommodates local shutdowns and social distancing practices and is intended to facilitate the payment of coronavirus-related distributions and plan loans to qualified individuals, as permitted by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) ( P.L. 116-136).

Conditions for Participant Elections
Reg. §1.401(a)-21 sets forth standards for the use of an electronic medium to provide applicable notices to recipients or to make participant elections with respect to a retirement plan, an employee benefit arrangement, or an individual retirement plan. Reg. §1.401(a)-21(e)(6) defines a participant election as any consent, election, request, agreement, or similar communication made by or from a participant, beneficiary, alternate payee, or an individual entitled to benefits under a retirement plan, employee benefit arrangement, or individual retirement plan. Reg. §1.401(a)-21(d) sets forth the following conditions for participant elections:

• The individual must be effectively able to access the electronic medium used to make the participant election;
• The electronic system must be reasonably designed to preclude any person other than the appropriate individual from making the participant election;
• The electronic system must provide the individual making the participant election with a reasonable opportunity to review, confirm, modify, or rescind the terms of the election before it becomes effective; and
• The individual making the participant election, within a reasonable time, must receive confirmation of the election through either a written paper document or an electronic medium under a system that satisfies the applicable notice requirements under Reg. §1.401(a)-21.

Applicability
While this temporary relief, which covers the period from January 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020, is intended to facilitate the payment of coronavirus-related distributions and plan loans to qualified individuals, as permitted by section 2202 of the CARES Act, the temporary relief applies to any participant election that requires the signature of an individual to be witnessed in the physical presence of a plan representative or notary.

The IRS has released a revenue procedure that describes temporary safe harbors for the purpose of determining the federal tax status of certain arrangements that hold real property as trusts in response to the COVID-19 emergency. Specifically, the Service has provided temporary relief to arrangements that are treated as trusts under Reg. §301.7701-4(c) which are, or have tenants who are, experiencing financial hardship as a result of COVID-19, to allow them to make certain modifications to their mortgages loans and their lease agreements, and to accept additional cash contributions without jeopardizing their tax status as grantor trusts. This revenue procedure also indicates that a cash contribution from one or more new trust interest holders to acquire a trust interest or a non-pro rata cash contribution from one or more current trust interest holders must be treated as a purchase and sale under Code Sec. 1001 of a portion of each non-contributing (or lesser contributing) trust interest holder’s proportionate interest in the trust’s assets.

The IRS has released a revenue procedure that describes temporary safe harbors for the purpose of determining the federal tax status of certain arrangements that hold real property as trusts in response to the COVID-19 emergency. Specifically, the Service has provided temporary relief to arrangements that are treated as trusts under Reg. §301.7701-4(c) which are, or have tenants who are, experiencing financial hardship as a result of COVID-19, to allow them to make certain modifications to their mortgages loans and their lease agreements, and to accept additional cash contributions without jeopardizing their tax status as grantor trusts. This revenue procedure also indicates that a cash contribution from one or more new trust interest holders to acquire a trust interest or a non-pro rata cash contribution from one or more current trust interest holders must be treated as a purchase and sale under Code Sec. 1001 of a portion of each non-contributing (or lesser contributing) trust interest holder’s proportionate interest in the trust’s assets.

Applicability
This revenue procedure applies to arrangements that are trusts under Reg. §301.7701-4(c) and Rev. Rul. 2004-86, 2004-2 CB 191, and that hold real property and engage in one or more of the actions described in sections 6.02, 6.03, or 6.04 of this revenue procedure.

Background
The IRS and the Treasury Department received comments addressing arrangements organized as trusts under Reg. §301.7701-4(c) and Rev. Rul. 2004-86 that hold rental real property. The commenters reported that many of these arrangements and their tenants are experiencing financial hardship due, directly or indirectly, to the COVID-19 emergency.

Rev. Proc. 2020-26
The IRS and the Treasury Department issued certain safe harbors in Rev. Proc. 2020-26, I.R.B. 2020-18, 753. Under the safe harbors, certain modifications of mortgage loans in connection with forbearance programs described in that guidance are not treated as replacing the unmodified obligation with a newly issued obligation, as giving rise to prohibited transactions, or as manifesting a power to vary.

In the case of mortgage loans held by real estate mortgage investment conduits (REMICs) and investment trusts, Rev. Proc. 2020-26 applies to—

• Forbearance (and all related modifications) of a federally backed mortgage loan or a federally backed multifamily mortgage loan, if the forbearance is provided under section 4022 or 4023, respectively, of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) ( P.L. 116-136) (CARES Act Forbearances); and
• Forbearances (and all related modifications) that are not CARES Act Forbearances, that are agreed to by the borrower of any Federally backed or non-Federally backed mortgage loan, and that are provided by a holder or servicer of the loan under a forbearance program for borrowers experiencing a financial hardship due, directly or indirectly, to the COVID-19 emergency.

The forbearance programs covered are those (a) which are identical or similar to those described in section 2.07 of Rev. Proc. 2020-26; and (b) pursuant to which, between March 27, 2020, and December 31, 2020, inclusive, the borrower requests or agrees to the forbearance (and all related modifications).

The IRS has announced various extensions of deadlines for qualified opportunity funds and their investors due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

The IRS has announced various extensions of deadlines for qualified opportunity funds and their investors due to the Coronavirus pandemic.

180-Day Investment Period
Generally taxpayers must reinvestment capital gain in a qualified opportunity fund (QOF) within 180 days after the gain is realized from a sale or exchange. Under the guidance, if the last day of the 180-day investment period falls on or after April 1, 2020, and before December 31, 2020, the last day of the investment period is automatically postponed to December 31, 2020.

90-Percent Investment Standard
The guidance also provides that a QOF’s failure to hold 90 percent of its assets in qualified opportunity zone property on any semi-annual testing date that falls on or after April 1, 2020 and ends on or before December 31, 2020 is due to reasonable cause on account of the COVIS-19 pandemic. Therefore, the failure to satisfy the 90-percent test does not affect an entity’s status as a QOF or prevent an investment in the entity from being a qualified investment. Penalties due to failure to satisfy the 90-percent investment standard during this period are waived.

30-month Substantial Improvement Period Tolled
The 30-month period during which property held by a QOF or qualified opportunity zone business must be substantially improved is tolled during the period beginning on April 1, 2020, and ending on December 31, 2020.

24-Month Extension of Working Capital Safe Harbor Spending Deadline
Qualified opportunity zone businesses holding working capital intended to be covered by the 31-month working capital safe harbor before December 31, 2020, receive up to an additional 24 months to spend the working on qualifying property. This extension is allowed under the QOF regulations on account of the prior declaration of a Federally declared disaster relating to the pandemic effective on January 20, 2020.

12-Month Extension of Reinvestment Period for QOFs
Finally, if any part of the 12-month period during which a QOF may reinvest returns of capital and proceeds from the sale of qualified opportunity property in other qualified opportunity zone property includes January 20, 2020, the reinvestment period is extended up to an additional 12 months. Again, this extension is allowed under the QOF regulations due to the disaster declaration.

Notice 2020-23, I.R.B. 2020-18, 742 is modified.

The IRS has issued proposed regulations clarifying the definition of a qualifying relative for various tax benefits for tax years 2018 through 2025 in which the dependent exemption amount is zero. During these years, the exemption amount will be inflation adjusted as provided in annual IRS guidance in determining whether an individual is a qualifying relative such as for head of household filing status and $500 child tax credit.

The IRS has issued proposed regulations clarifying the definition of a qualifying relative for various tax benefits for tax years 2018 through 2025 in which the dependent exemption amount is zero. During these years, the exemption amount will be inflation adjusted as provided in annual IRS guidance in determining whether an individual is a qualifying relative such as for head of household filing status and $500 child tax credit.

Qualifying Relative
A taxpayer may claim a qualifying relative as a dependent on his or her return provided certain requirements are met, including that the individual’s gross income is less than the exemption amount for the tax year. The exemption amount is zero (-$0-) for tax years beginning in 2018 through 2025 and no deduction may be claimed for a dependency exemption. However, the rules for determining who is a qualifying relative remain applicable for claiming other tax benefits in 2018 through 2025.

Inflation-Adjustment Exemption Amount
Consistent with Notice 2018-70, I.R.B. 2018-38, 441, the proposed regulations provide that in determining whether an individual is a qualifying relative for purposes of various tax provisions in 2018 through 2025 the exemption amount will be the inflation-adjusted. The IRS will publish the exemption amount annually in guidance. For example, the exemption amount is $4,200 for 2019 ( Rev. Proc. 2018-57, I.R.B. 2018-49, 827) and $4,300 for 2020 ( Rev. Proc. 2019-44, I.R.B. 2019-47, 1093).

Proposed regulations provide guidance regarding the elimination of the deduction for expenses related to qualified transportation fringe benefits (QTFs) provided to an employee. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (P.L. 115-97) eliminated the deduction, effective for amounts paid or incurred after December 31, 2017.

Proposed regulations provide guidance regarding the elimination of the deduction for expenses related to qualified transportation fringe benefits (QTFs) provided to an employee. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (P.L. 115-97) eliminated the deduction, effective for amounts paid or incurred after December 31, 2017.

In general, the proposed regulations refine guidance previously provided in Notice 2018-99, 2018-52 I.R.B. 1067. They provide a general rule and three simplified methodologies to determine the amount of QTF parking expense that is nondeductible when a parking facility is owned or leased by an employer. Additionally, the proposed regulations address the disallowance of deductions for expenses related to providing employees transportation in a commuter highway vehicle and transit passes.

The proposed regulations include definitions from Notice 2018-99, with modifications in response to public comments, as well as new definitions to clarify application of the rules.

If an employer pays a third party for its employee’s QTF, the disallowance is generally calculated as the taxpayer’s total annual cost of the QTF paid to the third party.

In valuing a QTF relating to employee-owned or leased parking facilities, an employer may choose to apply the general rule or any of the three simplified methods for each tax year and each parking facility: the "qualified parking limit methodology," the "primary use methodology," or the "cost per space methodology." Statistical sampling may be used with the general rule or simplified methodologies.

The general rule allows a taxpayer to calculate the disallowed amount based on a reasonable interpretation of the statute. However, the actual expense paid or incurred in providing the QTF must be used. The value of the QTF to the employee is ignored. In addition, the employee must allocate parking expenses to reserved employee spaces, and properly apply the exception for parking made available to the general public. Parking spaces may be aggregated by geographical location.

Special rules explain how to allocate mixed parking expenses, aggregate parking spaces by geographic location, and remove inventory/unusable spaces from available parking spaces. Five or few reserved parking spaces may be disregarded if the reserved spaces are 5 percent or less of total parking spaces.

Effective Date
The proposed regulations will apply in tax years beginning on or after the date they are published as final regulations. However, a taxpayer may rely on the proposed regulations for expenses paid or incurred in tax years beginning after December 31, 2017. Alternatively, a taxpayer may rely on the guidance provided in Notice 2018-99 until the regulations are published as final.

Proposed regulations would define expenditures for direct primary care arrangements and health care sharing ministry memberships as amounts paid for medical care. Thus, amounts paid for those arrangements may be deductible medical expenses. The proposed regulations also clarify that amounts paid for certain arrangements and programs, such as health maintenance organizations (HMO) and certain government-sponsored health care programs, are amounts paid for medical insurance.

Proposed regulations would define expenditures for direct primary care arrangements and health care sharing ministry memberships as amounts paid for medical care. Thus, amounts paid for those arrangements may be deductible medical expenses. The proposed regulations also clarify that amounts paid for certain arrangements and programs, such as health maintenance organizations (HMO) and certain government-sponsored health care programs, are amounts paid for medical insurance.

President Trump's Executive Order 13877, "Improving Price and Quality Transparency in American Healthcare to Put Patients First" (84 FR 30849) directed Treasury to treat expenses related to these types of arrangements as eligible medical expenses.

These regulations are proposed to apply for tax years that begin on or after the date of publication of a Treasury Decision adopting these rules as final regulations.

Caution: Characterization of direct primary care arrangements and health care sharing ministry memberships as medical insurance may affect eligibility to contribute to a health savings account (HSA). For an individual in a direct primary care arrangement, the type of coverage provided by the arrangement will affect eligibility. Membership in a health care sharing ministry would preclude an individual from contributing to an HSA.

Direct Primary Care Arrangement
A direct primary care arrangement is a contract between an individual and one or more primary care physicians under which the physician or physicians agree to provide medical care for a fixed annual or periodic fee without billing a third party.

The IRS requests comments on whether to expand the definition to include a contract with nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, or physician assistants who provide primary care services. The IRS also requests comments on whether the final regulations should clarify the treatment of other types of arrangements that are similar to direct primary care arrangements, such as an agreement between a dentist and a patient to provide dental care, or a physician and patient to provide specialty care.

Health Care Sharing Ministry
The proposed regulations define a health care sharing ministry as an organization:

• that is described in Code Sec. 501(c)(3) and is exempt from taxation under Code Sec. 501(a);
• members of which share a common set of ethical or religious beliefs and share medical expenses among members in accordance with those beliefs and without regard to the state in which a member resides or is employed;
• members of which retain membership even after they develop a medical condition;
• which (or a predecessor of which) has been in existence at all times since December 31, 1999, and medical expenses of its members have been shared continuously and without interruption since at least December 31, 1999; and
• that conducts an annual audit performed by an independent certified public accounting firm in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and that is made available to the public upon request.

The proposed regulations provide that medical insurance under Code Sec. 213(d)(1)(D) includes health care sharing ministries that share expenses for medical care under Code Sec. 213(d)(1)(A). This proposal does not affect whether a health care sharing ministry is considered an insurance company, insurance service, or insurance organization (health insurance issuer) for other purposes of the Code, ERISA, the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act), or any other federal or state law.

Fees for HMO Membership and Government-Sponsored Programs
The proposed regulations incorporate the longstanding IRS position of treating amounts paid for membership in an HMO as medical insurance premiums. Amounts paid to an HMO or a provider to cover coinsurance, copayment, or deductible obligations under an HMO’s terms are payments for medical care. In either case, such payments are eligible for the medical expense deduction.

Amounts paid for coverage under certain government-sponsored health care programs are also treated as amounts paid for medical insurance. The proposed regulations:

• incorporate the guidance in Code Sec. 213(d)(1)(D) and Rev. Rul. 79-175 that Medicare Parts A and B are medical insurance;
• clarify that Medicare Parts C and D are medical insurance; and
• provide that Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), TRICARE, and certain veterans’ health care programs are medical insurance.

Thus, to extent individuals pay premiums or enrollment fees for coverage under these programs, those amounts would be eligible for deduction as a medical expense.

The IRS requests comments on whether amounts paid for other government-sponsored health care programs should be treated as amounts paid for medical insurance.

Proposed reliance regulations clarify the definitions of "real property" that qualifies for a like-kind exchange, including incidental personal property. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) ( P.L. 115-97), like-kind exchanges occurring after 2017 are limited to real property used in a trade or business or for investment. Comments are requested.

Proposed reliance regulations clarify the definitions of "real property" that qualifies for a like-kind exchange, including incidental personal property. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) ( P.L. 115-97), like-kind exchanges occurring after 2017 are limited to real property used in a trade or business or for investment. Comments are requested.

Real Property Defined for Like-Kind Exchanges
Under the proposed regulations, real property includes:

• land and improvements to land,
• unsevered crops and other natural products of land, and
• water and air space superjacent to land.

This real property definition language is very similar to the language in many other regulations, but it also includes necessary differences. As under pre-TCJA law, local law definitions are not controlling.

Real Property Includes Improvements and Inherently Permanent Structures
As mentioned above, real property includes improvements to land. Improvements include:

• inherently permanent structures, and
• the structural components of inherently permanent structures.

Each distinct asset must be analyzed separately to determine if it land, an inherently permanent structure, or a structural component of an inherently permanent structure. The regs identify several specific items, assets and systems as distinct assets, and provides factors for identifying other distinct assets.

Inherently Permanent Structures: Buildings and Machinery
Inherently permanent structures include any building or other structure that is permanently affixed to real property and that will ordinarily remain affixed for an indefinite period of time. A building is any structure or edifice enclosing a space within its walls, and usually covered by a roof, the purpose of which is, for example, to provide shelter or housing, or to provide working, office, parking, display, or sales space. Buildings also include several distinct assets if permanently affixed, such as houses, hotels, enclosed stadiums shopping malls, factory and office buildings, and warehouse.

The proposed regulations also identify other structures that qualify as inherently permanent structures, and provide factors that must be used to determine if other property is an inherently permanent structure.

Property that is in the nature of machinery or is essentially an item of machinery or equipment is generally not an inherently permanent structure unless it serves the inherently permanent structure and does not produce or contribute to the production of income other than for the use or occupancy of space.

Inherently Permanent Structures: Structural Components
Structural components of inherently permanent structures are improvements to land and, thus, are real property. A structural component is any distinct asset that is a constituent part of, and integrated into, an inherently permanent structure. If interconnected assets work together to serve an inherently permanent structure (for example, systems that provide a building with electricity, heat, or water), the assets are analyzed together as one distinct asset that may qualify as a structural component.

However, a structural component may qualify as real property only if the taxpayer holds its interest in the component together with a real property interest within the physical space of the inherently permanent structure. Customization of a distinct asset in connection with the rental of space does not affect whether the asset is a structural component.

The proposed regulations list properties that are structural components, and provide factors for determining whether other components are structural components. The proposed regs also address tenant improvements to a building, and property produced for sale that is not real property in the hands of the producing taxpayer.

Unsevered Natural Products are Real Property
The proposed regulations provide that unsevered natural products of land are generally real property. These include growing crops, plants, and timber, as well as mines, wells and other natural deposits. Natural products and deposits, such as crops, timber, water, ores, and minerals, cease to be real property when they are severed, extracted, or removed from the land.

Intangible Assets as Real Property
An intangible asset is real property or an interest in real property to the extent that the asset:

• derives its value from real property or an interest in real property,
• is inseparable from that real property or interest in real property, and
• does not produce or contribute to the production of income other than consideration for the use or occupancy of space.

For instance, a license, permit, or other similar right generally is an interest in real property if (1) it is solely for the use, enjoyment, or occupation of land or an inherently permanent structure, and (2) it is in the nature of a leasehold, easement, or fee ownership. In contrast, a license or permit is not an interest in real property if it produces or contributes to the production of income other than consideration for the use and occupancy of space.

Incidental Personal Property and Qualified Intermediaries
The proposed regs provide that personal property that is incidental to replacement real property is disregarded in determining whether a taxpayer's rights to receive, pledge, borrow, or otherwise obtain the benefits of money or other property held by a qualified intermediary are expressly limited as provided in Reg. §1.1031(k)-1(g)(6).

Personal property is incidental to real property acquired in an exchange if:

• in standard commercial transactions, the personal property is typically transferred together with the real property; and
• its aggregate fair market value does not exceed 15 percent of the aggregate fair market value of the replacement real property.

This incidental property rule in the proposed regulations is based on the existing rule in Reg. §1.1031(k)-1(c)(5), which provides that certain incidental property is ignored in determining whether a taxpayer has properly identified replacement property.

Effective Dates
The regulations are proposed to apply to like-kind exchanges that begin on or after the date they are published as final regs. However, taxpayers may rely on them for exchanges of real property beginning after December 31, 2017, if the proposed regs are followed consistently and in their entirety.

The IRS has issued final regulations that amend the rules relating to hardship distributions from Code Sec. 401(k) plans. The final regulations are substantially similar to the proposed regulations. Further, plans that complied with the proposed regulations satisfy the final regulations as well. The regulations are effective on September 23, 2019.

The IRS has issued final regulations that amend the rules relating to hardship distributions from Code Sec. 401(k) plans. The final regulations are substantially similar to the proposed regulations. Further, plans that complied with the proposed regulations satisfy the final regulations as well. The regulations are effective on September 23, 2019.

The final regulations:

• reflect statutory changes affecting Code Sec. 401(k) plans, including changes made by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 ( P.L. 115-123); and
• affect participants in, beneficiaries of, employers maintaining, and administrators of plans that include cash or deferred arrangements or provide for employee or matching contributions.

Deemed Immediate and Heavy Financial Need
The final regulations modify the safe harbor list of expenses for which distributions are deemed to be made on account of an immediate and heavy financial need. The final regulations:

• add "primary beneficiary under the plan" as an individual for whom qualifying medical, educational, and funeral expenses may be incurred;
• modify the expense listed in existing Reg. §1.401(k)-1(d)(3)(iii)(B)(6) to provide that the limitations in Code Sec. 165(h)(5) do not apply for this purpose; and
• add to the list a new type of expense, relating to expenses incurred as a result of certain disasters.

Distribution Necessary to Satisfy Financial Need
The final regulations modify the rules for determining whether a distribution is necessary to satisfy an immediate and heavy financial need, by:

• eliminating any requirement that an employee be prohibited from making elective contributions and employee contributions after receipt of a hardship distribution; and
• eliminating any requirement to take plan loans prior to obtaining a hardship distribution.

In particular, the final regulations, like the proposed regulations, eliminate the safe harbor in existing Reg. §1.401(k)-1(d)(3)(iv)(E), under which a distribution is deemed necessary to satisfy the financial need only if elective contributions and employee contributions are suspended for at least six months after a hardship distribution is made and, if available, nontaxable plan loans are taken before the hardship distribution is made.

Expanded Sources for Hardship Distributions
The final regulations modify existing Reg. §1.401(k)-1(d)(3) to permit hardship distributions from Code Sec. 401(k) plans of elective contributions, qualified nonelective contributions (QNECs), qualified matching contributions (QMACs), and earnings on these amounts, regardless of when contributed or earned.

Section 403(b) Plans
A hardship distribution of Code Sec. 403(b) elective deferrals is subject to the rules and restrictions set forth in Reg. §1.401(k)-1(d)(3). Accordingly, the preamble to the proposed regulations had stated that the new rules relating to a hardship distribution of elective contributions from a Code Sec. 401(k) plan generally apply to Code Sec. 403(b) plans. Because this requirement is retained in the final regulations, at Reg. §1.401(k)-1(d)(3)(iii)(B), it applies to Code Sec. 403(b) plans.

Applicability Dates
The changes to the hardship distribution rules made by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 are effective for plan years beginning after December 31, 2018.

Plan Amendments
The Treasury Department and IRS expect that plan sponsors will need to amend their plans’ hardship distribution provisions to reflect the final regulations, and any such amendment must be effective for distributions beginning no later than January 1, 2020. The deadline for amending a disqualifying provision is set forth in Rev. Proc. 2016-37, I.R.B. 2016-29,136.

In order to be tax deductible, compensation must be a reasonable payment for services. Smaller companies, whose employees frequently hold significant ownership interests, are particularly vulnerable to IRS attack on their compensation deductions.

In order to be tax deductible, compensation must be a reasonable payment for services. Smaller companies, whose employees frequently hold significant ownership interests, are particularly vulnerable to IRS attack on their compensation deductions.

Reasonable compensation is generally defined as the amount that would ordinarily be paid for like services by like enterprises under like circumstances. This broad definition is supplemented, for purposes of determining whether compensation is deductible as an ordinary and necessary expense, by a number of more specific factors expressed in varying forms by the IRS, the Tax Court and the Circuit Courts of Appeal, and generally relating to the type and extent of services provided, the financial concerns of the company, and the nature of the relationship between the employee and the employer.

Why IRS Is Interested

A chief concern behind the IRS's keen interest in what a company calls "compensation" is the possibility that what is being labeled compensation is in fact a constructive dividend. If employees with ownership interests are being paid excessive amounts by the company, the IRS may challenge compensation deductions on the grounds that what is being called deductible compensation is, in fact, a nondeductible dividend.

Another area of concern for the IRS is the payment of personal expenses of an employee that are disguised as businesses expenses. There, the business is trying to obtain a business expense deduction without the offsetting tax paid by the employee in recognizing income. In such cases, a business and its owners can end up with a triple loss after an IRS audit: taxable income to the individual, no deduction to the business and a tax penalty due from both parties.

Factors Examined

The factors most often examined by the IRS in deciding whether payments are reasonable compensation for services or are, instead, disguised dividend payments, include:

1. The salary history of the individual employee
2. Compensation paid by comparable employers to comparable employees
3. The salary history of other employees of the company
4. Special employee expertise or efforts
5. Year-end payments
6. Independent inactive investor analysis
7. Deferred compensation plan contributions
8. Independence of the board of directors
9. Viewpoint of a hypothetical investor contemplating purchase of the company as to whether such potential investor would be willing to pay the compensation.

Failure to pass the reasonable compensation test will result in the company's loss of all or part of its deduction. Analysis and examination of a company's compensation deductions in light of the relevant listed factors can provide the company with the assurance that the compensation it pays will be treated as reasonable -- and may in the process prevent the loss of its deductions.

Note: In the case of publicly held corporations, a separate $1 million dollar per person cap is also placed on deductible compensation paid to the CEO and each of the four other highest-paid officers identified for SEC purposes. (Certain types of compensation, including performance-based compensation approved by outside directors, are not included in the $1 million limitation.)

The S Corp Enigma

The opposite side of the reasonable compensation coin is present in the case of some S corporations. By characterizing compensation payments as dividends, the owners of these corporations seek to reduce employment taxes due on amounts paid to them by their companies. In these cases, the IRS attempts to recharacterize dividends as salary if the amounts were, in fact, paid to the shareholders for services rendered to the corporation.

Caution. In the course of performing the compensation-dividend analysis, watch out for contingent compensation arrangements and for compensation that is proportional to stock ownership. While not always indicators that payments are distributions of dividends instead of compensation for services, their presence does suggest the possibility. Compensation plans should not be keyed to ownership interests. Contingent and incentive arrangements are also scrutinized by the IRS. The courts have frequently ruled that a shareholder has a built-in interest in seeing that the company is successful and rewarding him for increasing the value of his own property is inappropriate. Similar to the reasonable compensation test, however, this rule is not hard and fast. Accordingly, the rules followed in each jurisdiction will control there.

Conclusions

Determining whether a shareholder-employee's compensation is reasonable depends upon many variables, such as the contributions that employee makes to your business, the compensation levels within your industry, and whether an independent investor in your company would accept the employee's compensation as reasonable.

Please call our office for a more customized analysis of how your particular compensation package fits into the various rules and guidelines. Further examination of your practices not only may help your business better sustain its compensation deductions; it may also help you take advantage of other compensation arrangements and opportunities.

'Tax risk management" is a fairly recent term first used by large accounting firms to underscore to businesses the opportunities and pitfalls inherent within the particular tax positions taken by a business at any point in time. The collapse of Enron and WorldCom, and Congress's response through Sarbanes/Oxley legislation, have elevated corporate tax departments from what were once sleepy backroom operations to key participants in corporate bottom-line performance. Tax reserves and other tax forecasts now take a more prominent role in SEC-required disclosure and their resulting impact on shareholder value. Corporate boards and top executives are now held directly responsible for tax-related mistakes.

In tandem with tighter legislative rules, the corporate tax world itself has become more complicated. From state and local tax considerations and a growing federal tax code to aggressive audit positions by the IRS on tax-shelter type transactions to the growing body of international tax rules that a global business must follow, the tax world for many businesses has become considerably more dangerous. Like a juggler trying to keep too many balls in the air at once, businesses are feeling more pressure on the tax side of their operations. The greater the number of balls (or tax risk situations) in the air, the greater the need is for preventive management of them.

Tax risk management, however, is no longer confined to large public companies listed on a major stock exchange. The "trickle down" of tax problems from public corporations to private businesses, run as corporations, partnerships or LLCs, to small businesses is evident. Lenders, take-over prospects, and co-owners are all acutely concerned with the financial health of a business. Tax considerations now play an increasingly vital role in determining whether any particular business can receive a clean bill of health. Past positions taken on open-year tax returns, the likelihood of the success of any ongoing tax strategy, stepped up IRS audits, changing tax accounting rules and the growing complexity of the tax code itself, not to mention state and local tax law considerations and the increasingly large penalties that taxing authorities are free to assess if a tax position turns out to be incorrect, make tax risk management essential for the smaller business as well.

How much tax risk is your business carrying? The first step to finding a solution to a problem is determining the extent of the problem. Do you know how many "dropped balls" on the tax-side of your business it would take to bankrupt your operations or set them back several years? If you have neglected this side of managing your business, or if you want some reassurance that you are prepared for "worst case" tax scenarios, please feel free to give this office a call.

For partnerships and entities taxed like partnerships (e.g., limited liability companies), each partner must compute the basis of his/her partnership interest separately from the basis of each asset owned by the partnership. Because the basis of this interest is critical to determining the tax consequences resulting from any number of transactions (e.g., distributions, sale of your interest, etc..), if your business is taxed as a partnership, it is important that you understand the concept of tax basis as well as how to keep track of that basis for tax purposes.

For partnerships and entities taxed like partnerships (e.g., limited liability companies), each partner must compute the basis of his/her partnership interest separately from the basis of each asset owned by the partnership. Because the basis of this interest is critical to determining the tax consequences resulting from any number of transactions (e.g., distributions, sale of your interest, etc..), if your business is taxed as a partnership, it is important that you understand the concept of tax basis as well as how to keep track of that basis for tax purposes.

Note: The term "partnership interest" generally refers to an interest in any type of entity taxed as a partnership. The term "partnership" usually means any entity that is taxed as a partnership, and the term "partner" refers to any owner of an entity taxed as a partnership.

The initial basis in your partnership interest depends on how you acquired your interest. The basis of a partnership interest that you obtained in exchange for a contribution of cash or property to the partnership is equal to the amount of money you invested plus the adjusted basis of any property that you contributed. If you purchased your partnership interest, your initial basis will be the amount of cash you paid plus the fair market value of any property that you provided as part of the purchase price.

Generally, if you receive your partnership interest as a gift, your basis will be the same basis that the donor had in the partnership interest before he or she gave it to you. On the other hand, if you inherit your partnership interest, your initial basis in the partnership interest generally will be the fair market value of the partnership interest on the date of the partner's death.

Each year, various adjustments must be made to the tax basis in your partnership interest to reflect certain partnership transactions that have occurred during the year. The basis in your partnership interest is increased to reflect your proportional share of partnership income (both taxable and tax-exempt income). This increase protects you as a partner from being taxed again when (1) the partnership distributes cash to you or (2) when you dispose of your partnership interest. The basis in your partnership interest also increases if you make additional contributions of cash or other property to the partnership.

The basis in your partnership interest is likewise decreased each year to reflect your share as a partner of any partnership losses and your share of any nondeductible expenses. This adjustment is made to prevent you from obtaining a tax benefit when the partnership makes a distribution to you or when you dispose of your partnership interest. Your basis in the partnership also must be decreased by any actual or deemed distributions you received from the partnership. However, the basis in your partnership interest may never be reduced below zero.

Adjustments to a partner's basis also must be made to reflect any increases or decreases in a partner's share of the partnership's liabilities

It is important that a partnership keep proper records of all transactions that occur during the year and take the time to make the basis adjustments using these basis computation rules as close in time to the occurrence of the transaction as possible.

The general guidelines detailed above will give you a good foundation of knowledge for computing the basis of your partnership interest. For more information about how to track your basis in your partnership interest, please contact the office.

If you are considering selling business property that has substantially appreciated in value, you owe it to your business to explore the possibility of a like-kind exchange. Done properly, a like-kind exchange will allow you to transfer your appreciated business property without incurring a current tax liability. However, since the related tax rules can be complex, careful planning is needed to properly structure the transaction.

If you are considering selling business property that has substantially appreciated in value, you owe it to your business to explore the possibility of a like-kind exchange. Done properly, a like-kind exchange will allow you to transfer your appreciated business property without incurring a current tax liability. However, since the related tax rules can be complex, careful planning is needed to properly structure the transaction.

Like-kind exchanges: The basics

The tax law permits you to exchange property that you use in your business or property that you hold for investment purposes with the same type of property held by another business or investor. These transactions are referred to as "like-kind" exchanges and, if done properly, can save your business from paying the taxes that normally would be due in the year of sale of the appreciated property.

Instead of an immediate tax on any appreciation in the year of sale, a like-kind exchange allows the appreciated value of the property you're transferring to be rolled into the working asset that you'll be receiving in the exchange. Mixed cash and property sales, multi-party exchanges, and time-delayed exchanges are all possible under this tax break.

What property qualifies?

In order to qualify as a tax-free like-kind exchange, the following conditions must be met:

• The property must be business or investment property. You must hold both the property you trade and the property you receive for productive use in your trade or business or for investment. Neither property may be property used for personal purposes, such as your home or family car.
• The property must not be held primarily for sale. The property you trade and the property you receive must not be property you sell to customers, such as merchandise.
• Most securities and instruments of indebtedness or interest are not eligible. The property must not be stocks, bonds, notes, chooses in action, certificates of trust or beneficial interest, or other securities or evidences of indebtedness or interest, including partnership interests. However, you can have a nontaxable exchange of corporate stocks in certain circumstances.
• There must be a trade of like property. The trade of real estate for real estate, or personal property for similar personal property is a trade of like property.

Examples:

Like property:

• An apartment house for a store building
• A panel truck for a pickup truck

Not like property:

• A piece of machinery for a store building
• Real estate in the U.S. for real estate outside the U.S.

• The property being received must be identified by a specified date. The property to be received must be identified within 45 days after the date you transfer the property given up in trade.
• The property being received must be received by a specified date.The property to be received must be received by the earlier of:
  1. The 180th day after the date on which you transfer the property given up in trade, or
  2. The due date, including extensions, for your tax return for the year in which the transfer of the property given up occurs.

Dealing with "boot" received

If you successfully make a straight asset-for-asset exchange, as discussed earlier, you will not pay any immediate tax with respect to the transaction. The property you acquire gets the same tax "basis" (your cost for tax purposes) as the property you gave up. In some circumstances, when you are attempting to make a like-kind exchange, the properties are not always going to be of precisely the same value. Many times, cash or other property is included in the deal. This cash or other property is referred to as "boot." If boot is present in an exchange, you will be required to recognize some of your taxable gain, but only up to the amount of boot you receive in the transaction.

Example:

XYZ Office Supply Co. exchanges its business real estate with a basis of $200,000 and valued at $240,000 for the ABC Restaurant's business real estate valued at $220,000. ABC also gives XYZ $35,000 in cash. XYZ receives property with a total value of $255,000 for an asset with a basis of $200,000. XYZ's gain on the exchange is $55,000, but it only has to report $35,000 on its tax return - the amount of cash or "boot" XYZ received. Note: If no cash changed hands, XYZ would not report any gain or loss on its tax return.

Using like-kind exchanges in your business

There are several different ways that like-kind exchanges can be used in your business and there are, likewise, a number of different ways these exchanges can be structured. Here are a couple of examples:

Multi-party exchanges. If you know another business owner or investor that has a piece of property that you would like to acquire, and he or she only wants to dispose of the property in a like-kind exchange, you can still make a deal even if you do not own a suitable property to exchange. The tax rules permit you to enter into a contract with another business owner that provides that you are going to receive the property that he or she has available in exchange for a property to be identified in the future. This type of multi-party transaction can also be arranged through a qualified intermediary with unknown third (or even fourth) parties.

Multiple property exchanges. Under the like-kind exchange rules, you are not limited in the number of properties that can be involved in an exchange. However, the recognized gain and basis of property is computed differently for multiple property exchanges than for single property-for-property exchanges.

Trade-ins. You could also structure a business to business trade-in of machinery, equipment, or vehicles as a like-kind exchange.

There are many ways that you can advantageously use the like-kind exchange rules when considering disposing of appreciated business assets. However, since the rules are complicated and careful planning is critical, please contact the office for assistance with structuring this type of transaction.

Limited liability companies (LLCs) remain one of the most popular choice of business forms in the U.S. today. This form of business entity is a hybrid that features the best characteristics of other forms of business entities, making it a good choice for both new and existing businesses and their owners.

Limited liability companies (LLCs) remain one of the most popular choice of business forms in the U.S. today. This form of business entity is a hybrid that features the best characteristics of other forms of business entities, making it a good choice for both new and existing businesses and their owners.

An LLC is a legal entity existing separately from its owners that has certain characteristics of both a corporation (limited liability) and a partnership (pass-through taxation). An LLC is created when articles of organization (or the equivalent under each state rules) are filed with the proper state authority, and all fees are paid. An operating agreement detailing the terms agreed to by the members usually accompanies the articles of organization.

Choosing the LLC as a Business Entity

Choosing the form of business entity for a new company is one of the first decisions that a new business owner will have to make. Here's how LLCs compare to other forms of entities:

C Corporation: Both C corporations and LLCs share the favorable limited liability feature and lack of restrictions on number of shareholders. Unlike LLCs, C corporations are subject to double taxation for federal tax purposes - once at the corporate level and the again at the shareholder level. C corporations do not have the ability to make special allocations amongst the shareholders like LLCs.

S Corporation: Both S corporations and LLCs permit pass-through taxation. However, unlike an S corporation, an LLC is not limited to the number or kind of members it can have, potentially giving it greater access to capital. LLCs are also not restricted to a single class of stock, resulting in greater flexibility in the allocation of gains, losses, deductions and credits. And for estate planning purposes, LLCs are a much more flexible tool than S corporations

Partnership: Partnerships, like LLCs, are "pass-through" entities that avoid double taxation. The greatest difference between a partnership and an LLC is that members of LLCs can participate in management without being subject to personal liability, unlike general partners in a partnership.

Sole Proprietorship: Companies that operate as sole proprietors report their income and expenses on Schedule C of Form 1040. Unlike LLCs, sole proprietors' personal liability is unlimited and ownership is limited to one owner. And while generally all of the earnings of a sole proprietorship are subject to self-employment taxes, some LLC members may avoid self-employment taxes under certain circumstances

Tax Consequences of Conversion to an LLC

In most cases, changing your company's form of business to an LLC will be a tax-free transaction. However, there are a few cases where careful consideration of the tax consequences should be analyzed prior to conversion. Here are some general guidelines regarding the tax effects of converting an existing entity to an LLC:

C Corporation to an LLC: Unfortunately, this transaction most likely will be considered a liquidation of the corporation and the formation of a new LLC for federal tax purposes. This type of conversion can result in major tax consequences for the corporation as well as the shareholders and should be considered very carefully.

S Corporation to an LLC: If the corporation was never a C corporation, or wasn't a C corporation within the last 10 years, in most cases, this conversion should be tax-free at the corporate level. However, the tax consequences of such a conversion may be different for the S corporation's shareholders. Since the S corporation is a flow-through entity, and has only one level of tax at the shareholder level, any gain incurred at the corporate level passes through to the shareholders. If, at the time of conversion, the fair market value of the S corporation's assets exceeds their tax basis, the corporation's shareholders may be liable for individual income taxes. Thus, any gain incurred at the corporate level from the appreciation of assets passes through to the S corporation's shareholders when the S corporation transfers assets to the LLC.

Partnership to LLC: This conversion should be tax-free and the new LLC would be treated as a continuation of the partnership.

Sole proprietorship to an LLC: This conversion is another example of a tax-free conversion to an LLC.

While considering the potential tax consequences of conversion is important, keep in mind how your change in entity will also affect the non-tax elements of your business operations. How will a conversion to an LLC effect existing agreements with suppliers, creditors, and financial institutions?

Taxation of LLCs and "Check-the-Box" Regulations

Before federal "check-the-box" regulations were enacted at the end of 1996, it wasn't easy for LLCs to be classified as a partnership for tax purposes. However, the "check-the-box" regulations eliminated many of the difficulties of obtaining partnership tax treatment for an LLC. Under the check-the-box rules, most LLCs with two or more members would receive partnership status, thus avoiding taxation at the entity level as an "association taxed as a corporation."

If an LLC has more than 2 members, it will automatically be classified as a partnership for federal tax purposes. If the LLC has only one member, it will automatically be classified as a sole proprietor and would report all income and expenses on Form 1040, Schedule C. LLCs wishing to change the automatic classification must file Form 8832, Entity Classification Election.

Keep in mind that state tax laws related to LLCs may differ from federal tax laws and should be addressed when considering the LLC as the form of business entity for your business.

Since the information provided is general in nature and may not apply to your specific circumstances, please contact the office for more information or further clarification.