Source: https://blog.ishade.com/
Timestamp: 2016-10-24 18:13:38
Document Index: 635394816

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 41', '§ 181', '§ 179', '§ 179', '§ 179', '§ 179', '§ 179', '§ 179', '§ 179', '§ 162', '§ 263', '§ 263']

iShade's Curator Comments | Accounting Profession Beat by Korinne DePew (as of 12/3/13)
Posted on January 14, 2016 by iShade	Reply	On December 18th of 2015, President Obama signed into law the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (hereinafter the “PATH Act”) that significantly enhanced the Federal-Level R&D Tax Credit Program (hereinafter “RTC Program”) under I.R.C. § 41 on a myriad of levels for both eligible “Small Businesses” and eligible “Start-Up Companies”. More specifically, the enhanced RTC Program has been considerably restructured for these aforementioned companies to now:
Allow eligible “Small Businesses” (i.e., $50 million or less in gross receipts) to claim the credit against the Alternative Minimum Tax (hereinafter “AMT”) for tax years beginning after December 31, 2015; and
Allow eligible “Start-Up Companies” (i.e., those with less than $5 million in gross receipts and earning revenue for less than 5 years) to claim up to $250,000 of the credit against the company’s federal payroll tax for tax years beginning after December 31, 2015.
These aforesaid statutory changes to the RTC Program truly represent a paradigm shift for eligible Small Businesses and Start-Up Companies alike to not only claim the R&D Tax Credit but most importantly to be able to actually utilize the tax benefits associated with this advantageous program.
Please contact me to discuss the scope and application of the newly enhanced RTC Program and how to properly identify, gather and document a sustainable R&D Tax Credit claim for your eligible Small Business and / or Start-Up Company.
A copy of the PATH Act can be downloaded for your reference at: http://waysandmeans.house.gov/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/PATH_Act_xml.pdf
For complete legislative updates from the Hill please follow Peter J. Scalise at http://www.ishade.com/member/14683/profile
iShade Tax Faculty Biography:
Peter is a highly acclaimed thought leader in the fields of accounting and taxation with deep subject matter expertise in connection to designing, implementing and defending sustainable methodologies for specialty tax incentives including, but not limited to, research tax incentives; orphan drug credits; therapeutic discovery credits; movie production tax incentives; accounting methods and periods; energy tax incentives in connection to green building envelope efficiency and benchmarking, solar energy, bio energies, fuel cells, wind turbines, micro turbines, and geothermal systems; and comprehensive fixed asset analysis incorporating principles of construction tax planning, cost segregation analysis and the final treasury regulations governing tangible property.
Lights, Camera, Action and Tax Cut! A Spotlight on Broadway
Posted on December 23, 2015 by iShade	Reply	By Peter J. Scalise, B.S., M.S.
On December 18th of 2015, President Obama signed into law the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (hereinafter the “PATH Act”) which expanded the scope and application of the I.R.C. § 181 deduction for Qualified Film and Television Production expenditures to now encompass Live-Theatrical Productions. The PATH Act also extended this highly advantageous tax incentive through December 31, 2016.
The PATH Act truly enables a level playing field between live-theatrical productions and film and television productions in connection to the tax incentives available for the entertainment industry. Robert E. Wankel, Chairman of The Broadway League in a prepared statement indicated: “The Broadway and Touring Broadway industries have a combined economic impact of more than $15 billion dollars on the nation’s economy and employ tens of thousands of people in the U.S. and around the world, yet we are still very much made up of small businesses that actively seek financing from individual investors. This relatively small amendment to the Tax Code will have a tremendous impact on the theatre business by eliminating one of the largest challenges that producers face when trying to attract capital for what is always a highly risky endeavor. We applaud Senator Schumer, as well as the members of the Ways and Means and Finance Committees, for their extraordinary efforts and recognition of the financial and cultural impact of live entertainment.”
Please contact me to discuss the scope and application of the PATH Act and how movie production tax incentives can be utilized to properly tax effect the production costs for live-theatrical productions, as well as for movie and television productions.
Posted on December 21, 2015 by iShade	Reply	By Peter J. Scalise, B.S., M.S.
In particular, the PATH Act meaningfully enhanced the R&D Tax Credit Program (hereinafter “RTC program”) on a myriad of levels. As an overview, the RTC program was initially added to the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (hereinafter the “Code”) in 1981 through the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 as a temporary provision of the Code. The RTC program had most recently expired on December 31, 2014. A tremendous paradigm shift to the RTC program was made possible through the PATH Act which not only renewed the RTC retroactively for all of calendar year 2015 but most importantly made the RTC program permanent. In addition, the enhanced RTC program has been considerably restructured to:
Allow eligible startup companies (i.e., those with less than $5 million in gross receipts and earning revenue for less than 5 years) to claim up to $250,000 of the credit against the company’s federal payroll tax for tax years beginning after December 31, 2015; and
Please contact me to discuss the scope and application of the PATH Act and its impact on your R&D Tax Credit claim and / or for assistance in identifying, gathering, and documenting a sustainable R&D Tax Credit claim.
On December 18th of 2015, President Obama signed into law a sweeping $1.14 trillion dollar funding bill that will keep the federal government operating through September 30th of 2016. In connection to the tax aspects of this comprehensive and pivotal legislation, the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (hereinafter the “PATH Act”) does considerably more than the typical tax-extenders legislation passed in previous years and truly signifies a dynamic paradigm shift as the PATH Act makes permanent over twenty leading tax incentives, including the Research & Development Tax Credit Program, the American Opportunity Tax Credit Program and the enhanced I.R.C. § 179 Expensing Program. The PATH Act further extends other key tax incentives, including the Bonus Depreciation Program and the New Markets Tax Credit Program for five years while reinstating other significant tax incentives for two years. The PATH Act also imposes a two-year suspension on the ACA Medical Device Excise Tax.
The subsequent synopsis will serve as a practical overview of just some of the many far-reaching changes enacted by the PATH Act affecting both business entities and individuals including, but certainly not limited to:
The R&D Tax Credit Program: As a background, the R&D Tax Credit Program (hereinafter “RTC program”) was initially added to the U.S. Internal Revenue Code (hereinafter the “Code”) in 1981 through the Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 as a temporary provision of the Code. The RTC program had most recently expired on December 31, 2014. A tremendous paradigm shift to the RTC program was made possible through the PATH Act which not only renewed the RTC retroactively for all of calendar year 2015 but most importantly made the RTC program permanent. In addition, the enhanced RTC program has been considerably restructured to:
The American Opportunity Tax Credit Program: The PATH Act made permanent the American Opportunity Tax Credit Program (hereinafter “AOTC program”), an enhanced version of the Hope education credit. It should be duly recalled that the AOTC program had been previously scheduled to expire after 2017.
The I.R.C. § 179 Expensing Program: It should be duly recalled that the Pre-PATH Act dollar limit for the I.R.C. § 179 expensing for 2015 had reverted back to $ 25,000 with an investment limit of $ 200,000. However, the new PATH Act permanently sets forth the I.R.C. § 179 expensing limit at $ 500,000 with a $ 2 million overall investment limit before phase out in 2015 with both amounts being indexed for inflation commencing in 2016.
The Bonus Depreciation Program: The PATH Act extended the bonus depreciation program over 5 years under a phase-down schedule through 2019 as follows:
50% Bonus Depreciation for 2015 through 2017;
40% Bonus Depreciation for 2018; and
30% Bonus Depreciation for 2019.
The New Markets Tax Credit Program: The PATH Act extended the New Markets Tax Credit Program (hereinafter “NMTC”) over 5 years and authorized the allocation of $ 3.5 billion dollars of NMTC’s for each year from 2015 through 2019.
The I.R.C. § 179D Energy Tax Deduction for Building Envelope Efficiency Program: The I.R.C. § 179D Energy Tax Deduction for Building Envelope Efficiency Program has been extended for a 2 year period (i.e., retroactively to cover all of calendar year 2015 and prospectively to cover all of calendar year 2016). As a caveat, the revised qualifying building energy code standards have been increased from ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2001 to ASHRAE Standard 90.1-2007 for properties placed in service after December 31, 2015. The tax savings can be up to $1.80/sq. ft. for the installation of Energy-Efficient Lighting, Energy-Efficient HVAC systems, and Energy-Efficient Building Envelope systems in new or existing buildings.
Please contact me to discuss the scope and application of the PATH Act and its impact on your upcoming 2015 tax return filing positions. http://www.ishade.com/member/14683/profile
Washington National Tax Alert
Posted on December 17, 2015 by iShade	Reply	By Peter J. Scalise, B.S., M.S.
As a synopsis, the proposed tax-extenders package called for making permanent a number of tax extenders equally split 50-50 between business entities and individuals. Under the proposal, the tax-extenders package would make permanent the Research and Development Tax Credit Program; I.R.C. § 179 Expensing; the Earned Income Tax Credit Program; and the Work Opportunity Tax Credit Program. Furthermore, the proposed tax-extenders package included modifications to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA; P.L. 111-148), with a two-year suspension of the Medical Device tax and the “Cadillac” tax on high-end Health Insurance plans. Reports indicated that both provisions were included in the final agreement.
As a caveat, both the House of Representatives and the Senate must still compromise and present the President with a unified bill before any of these tax extender proposals can be signed into law before the end of the 2015 calendar year-end.
A copy of the proposed legislation can be downloaded for your reference at: http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20151214/121515.250_xml.pdf
Posted on November 30, 2015 by iShade	Reply	On November 24th of 2015, the Internal Revenue Service (hereinafter the “Service”) streamlined the compliance for the Tangible Property Regulations (hereinafter “TPR”) for small businesses by increasing the safe harbor threshold for deducting certain capital items from $ 500 to $ 2,500 under IRS Notice 2015-82. The scope affects businesses that do not maintain an Applicable Financial Statement (hereinafter “AFS”) such as an audited financial statement. It applies to amounts spent to acquire, produce or improve tangible property that would normally qualify as a capital item.
The Service indicated that it received more than 150 letters from businesses and their representatives suggesting an increase in the De Minimis Safe Harbor threshold. Perhaps one of the more compelling letters came from The American Institute of CPAs (hereinafter the “AICPA”) on April 21st of 2015 that strongly recommended to the Service that the De Minimis Safe Harbor threshold amount under the TPR be increased from $500 to $2,500 for small business entity taxpayers without an AFS. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen indicated today in a prepared statement “we received many thoughtful comments from taxpayers, their representatives and the professional tax community and this important step simplifies taxes for small businesses, easing the recordkeeping and paperwork burden on small business owners and their tax preparers.”
Posted on November 23, 2015 by iShade	Reply	On November 20, 2015, the Internal Revenue Service (hereinafter the “Service”) issued new administrative authority governing the Tangible Property Regulations (hereinafter “TPR”) in connection to the safe harbor rules for the retail and restaurant industries. More specifically, the newly released Revenue Procedure 2015-56 (hereinafter “Rev. Proc. 2015-56) provides a safe harbor method of accounting for taxpayers engaged in the trade or business of operating either a retail establishment or a restaurant for purposes of determining whether expenditures paid or incurred to remodel or refresh a qualified building are:
Deductible pursuant to I.R.C. § 162(a);
Requires capitalization treatment as an improvement pursuant to I.R.C. § 263(a); or
Requires capitalization treatment as the costs of property produced by the taxpayer for use in its trade or business meets the requirements as set forth under I.R.C. § 263A.
The Retail Industry Leaders Association (hereinafter the “RILA”) enthusiastically welcomed the new safe harbor rules from the Service regarding the deductibility treatment for qualified costs in connection to store remodels, repairs, and refreshes. Christine Pollack, the Vice President of Government Affairs at RILA indicated that “retailers welcome this safe harbor rule, which helps to ensure that federal tax policy better reflects the real world realities for retail businesses that undergo store remodels and repairs.”
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