The IRS may apply the step-transaction doctrine, a rule of substance over form, in a variety of taxpayer circumstances to deny tax benefits derived from a series of transactions that should more ...

Each year, tax professionals who deal with real estate must evaluate the most recent building expenditures and determine which items should be deducted as a repair expense or capitalized. Of all the ...

Every fall, students all over the country set off to attend various colleges and universities. With the rising cost of higher education, many of these students are looking forward to receiving some ...

On occasion, taxpayers holding investments in foreign financial assets or with foreign financial institutions may find themselves in the uncomfortable position of realizing that they have failed to ...

Taxpayers may be subject to the risk that an IRS examination could increase (or create) a gift tax or estate tax liability many years after a gift is made. Practitioners can help clients limit this ...

Undocumented immigrants venture to the United States from all parts of the world and endure enormous challenges in their new life, ranging from cultural ones to those that are language–oriented in ...

Advisers focused on private clients commonly overlook planning for the income and estate taxes on income in respect of a decedent (IRD). This item discusses issues created by IRD and presents ...

The basic rule for when a partner recognizes gain as a result of a distribution is found in Sec. 731(a)(1), which applies to both current distributions (from current income and activities) and ...

Only certain types of trusts are permitted to hold an interest in an S corporation. Two of these are an electing small business trust, or ESBT, and a qualified Subchapter S trust, or QSST. An ESBT is ...

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the merger-and-acquisition (M&A) market had a string of years of strong activity. Seemingly overnight, COVID-19 changed the M&A landscape, as many transactions were put ...

Whether a taxpayer is subject to an accuracy-related penalty due to an understatement of tax is the most-litigated tax issue in recent years. Although the IRS wins a large majority of cases on this ...

Individuals are subject to two income tax systems: the regular income tax and the alternative minimum tax (AMT). Taxpayers must compute their tax under each system and pay the greater of the two ...