TaxEsqBlog -by Ronald J. Cappuccio, J.D., LL.M.(Tax)

Choosing the best business entity structure post-TCJA For tax years beginning in 2018 and beyond, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) created a flat 21% federal income tax rate for C corporations. Under prior law, C corporations were taxed at rates as high as 35%. The TCJA also reduced individual income tax rates, which apply to sole proprietorships and pass-through entities, including partnerships, S corporations, and, typically, limited liability companies (LLCs). The top rate, however, dropped only slightly, from 39.6% to 37%. On the surface, that may make choosing C corporation structure seem like a no-brainer. But there are many other considerations involved. Conventional wisdom Under prior tax law, conventional wisdom was that most small businesses should be set up as sole proprietorships or pass-through entities to avoid the double taxation of C corporations: A C corporation pays entity-level income tax and then shareholders pay tax on dividends — and on capi...

Don’t forget: 2017 tax filing deadline for pass-through entities is March 15 When it comes to income tax returns, April 15 (actually April 17 this year, because of a weekend and a Washington, D.C., holiday) isn’t the only deadline taxpayers need to think about. The federal income tax filing deadline for calendar-year partnerships, S corporations and limited liability companies (LLCs) treated as partnerships or S corporations for tax purposes is March 15. While this has been the S corporation deadline for a long time, it’s only the second year the partnership deadline has been in March rather than in April. Why the deadline change? One of the primary reasons for moving up the partnership filing deadline was to make it easier for owners to file their personal returns by the April filing deadline. After all, partnership (and S corporation) income passes through to the owners. The earlier date allows owners to use the information contained in the pass-through entity forms to file t...

Small business owners: A SEP may give you one last 2017 tax and retirement saving opportunity Are you a high-income small-business owner who doesn’t currently have a tax-advantaged retirement plan set up for yourself? A Simplified Employee Pension (SEP) may be just what you need, and now may be a great time to establish one. A SEP has high contribution limits and is simple to set up. Best of all, there’s still time to establish a SEP for 2017 and make contributions to it that you can deduct on your 2017 income tax return. 2018 deadlines for 2017 A SEP can be set up as late as the due date (including extensions) of your income tax return for the tax year for which the SEP is to first apply. That means you can establish a SEP for 2017 in 2018 as long as you do it before your 2017 return filing deadline. You have until the same deadline to make 2017 contributions and still claim a potentially hefty deduction on your 2017 return. Generally, other types of retirement plans would hav...

New tax law gives pass-through businesses a valuable deduction Although the drop of the corporate tax rate from a top rate of 35% to a flat rate of 21% may be one of the most talked about provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), C corporations aren’t the only type of entity significantly benefiting from the new law. Owners of noncorporate “pass-through” entities may see some major — albeit temporary — relief in the form of a new deduction for a portion of qualified business income (QBI). A 20% deduction For tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, and before January 1, 2026, the new deduction is available to individuals, estates and trusts that own interests in pass-through business entities. Such entities include sole proprietorships, partnerships, S corporations and, typically, limited liability companies (LLCs). The deduction generally equals 20% of QBI, subject to restrictions that can apply if taxable income exceeds the applicable threshold — $157,500 or, if mar...

Congress refuses to actually simplify the Internal Revenue Code. Since the 1986 tax Reform Act, Congress has passed more than 30,000 amendments to the Internal Revenue Code. Instead of simplification, Congress is now proposing a disguise tax increase for businesses. Under our present federal corporate structure, if an individual owns a limited liability company or a sole proprietorship, the entity is not tax separately. Rather the income is added to the individual's own tax. That is also true for partnerships and limited partnerships. Congress wants to change this to add a 25% tax at the business level. This will mean that small businesses will now be facing the same double tax problem that large businesses have. In addition there will have to be a whole series of new forms and a complete rewrite of a portion of the Internal Revenue Code for this new scheme. Instead of moving in the right direction, Congress is moving in the wrong direction! Please see this interesting articl...

The LLC is the most popular form of business in the US The limited liability company is taxed like a partnership in the US as the default rule. There can be other types of taxation elected, but that is generally not advisable. The limited liability company is established by filing a certificate of formation or articles of formation with the state. This is like the cover page of a book. It s just a bare outline of the business. It lets the public know that the entity is formed. The legal documents which control the limited liability company is the operating agreement and a buy and sell agreement. The operating agreement establishes all the terms of the LLC, the rights of the membership, the control of the LLC, and its tax attributes. The LLC is an extremely flexible type of entity. Similar to a partnership, it is as flexible as the attorney and the owners can be in drafting the documents. If the owners of an LLC simply adopt a form that they grab off the Internet or some service, th...