Posted on

April 15th Offers an Important Tax Planning Opportunity for Partners

By:  Amanda Wilson

April 15th is usually greeted with dread as tax day.  However, April 15th also offers an important tax planning opportunity for partners in partnerships (including limited liability companies that are treated as partnerships for federal income tax purposes).  The tax rules allow partners to amend their partnership agreement retroactively to January 1 of the prior year if the amendment is in place by April 15th.  If your business has a partnership, this might be a great opportunity for you.  You should take a moment to look at how your partnership is allocating taxable income and losses to the partners in 2013 and make changes if a different allocation would work better for your partnership.  Act fast, though, because unlike the due date for filing your return, this deadline cannot be extended. read more

Posted on

Government Shutdown Does Not Affect October 15th Tax Filing Deadlines

By:  Amanda Wilson

As a result of the government shutdown, IRS operations are extremely limited and most IRS personnel have been furloughed.  During this shutdown, the IRS will not be processing tax refunds.  However, taxpayers should not view this shutdown as impacting their tax filing obligations.  Specifically, taxpayers that filed an extension for their personal income tax returns should still file by the October 15th deadline.  For more information, please see IRS Operations During Lapse in Appropriations. read more

Posted on

IRS Provides Administrative Guidance to Employers in the Wake of Its Recognition of Same-Sex Marriage

By:  Amanda Wilson

Last month, the IRS announced that same-sex marriages would be recognized as marriages for federal tax purposes.  It is important to recognize that this position extends beyond individual income tax consequences and can impact employers as well. A number of income tax and employment tax provisions exclude from gross income and wages certain employee benefits provided to the spouse of an employee.  Before last month, the IRS took the position that benefits paid to same-sex spouses of employees did not qualify for these exclusion provisions.  The IRS has now changed its position and has stated that this change can be applied retroactively.  As a result, employers may find themselves in the situation of having overpaid employment taxes for employees that have a same-sex spouse.  The IRS has issued Notice 2013-61 to provide guidance to employers on how to deal with this situation.  Employers that have employees with same-sex spouses should be aware of this notice and consider how it may apply to them. read more