The Senate passed the “Tax Cuts and Jobs Act” early this morning, and the revote in the House looks like a formality, so soon there will a new law of the land. Regardless of the downstream economic affects of the new law, taxpayers should be aware the provisions that affect them in the near term. What...Read More

As the end of the year approaches, most of us have a lot of things on our to-do lists, from gift shopping to donating to our favorite charities to making New Year’s Eve plans. For taxpayers “of a certain age” with a tax-advantaged retirement account, as well as younger taxpayers who’ve inherited such an account,...Read More

Updated 12/21/17 — The TCJA has eliminated like-kind exchanges for personal property of all types. Like-kind exchanges can now only be utilized on real property (real estate) exchanges. Like many business owners, you might also own highly appreciated business or investment real estate. Fortunately, there’s an effective tax planning strategy at your disposal: the Section...Read More

It’s common for closely held businesses to transfer money into and out of the company, often in the form of a loan. However, the IRS looks closely at such transactions: Are they truly loans, or actually compensation, distributions or contributions to equity? Loans to owners When an owner withdraws funds from the company, the transaction...Read More

Many career-minded individuals struggle to balance the responsibilities of raising a family with the demands of the office. The solution is often hiring third party help in the form of nannies, maids, drivers, etc. But no matter what you call them, or what services they perform, the IRS classifies anyone who works in your home,...Read More

A recent Tax Court ruling saw a traveling salesman from Virginia disallowed a deduction for miles he had driven in the course of his work because he failed to properly document them (TC Memo 2016-111). Text from the Tax Court’s decision appears below, but the gist is that the IRS is serious in it’s requirement...Read More

The issue of identity theft has been coming up in a lot of client discussions I’ve had recently. As scary as having your identity stolen can be, many taxpayers take a lackadaisical approach to protecting themselves and assume that identity theft is something they read about in the headlines, but not something that will happen...Read More

Back in October, on Facebook and Twitter I linked to a Washington Post article on the new MCC Program offered by the Virginia Housing Development Authority, under which certain eligible homebuyers can get a credit against Virginia income tax for up to 20% of the mortgage interest they pay. The other 80% of mortgage interest...Read More