Archive for the ‘Legislation’ Category
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
Update: this legislation has been passed by the Senate as well as the House, and becomes law upon being signed by President Obama.
Under current law, the homebuyer tax credit is available only if you had a binding contract by April 30 and close on your transaction by June 30. The June 30 closing deadline has posed problems for some purchasers, and on June 29 the House of Representatives passed a law that would extend the closing deadline to September 30. The Senate must act before this bill can become law.
This bill would extend the closing deadline but does not make the credit available to people who did not have a binding contract by the April 30 deadline.
Posted in Home Ownership, Legislation, News, Taxation of Investments | Comments Off
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
Action in the Senate June 29 may result in expanded access to Roth accounts. One provision would take effect upon enactment, which is on a fast track. Before it can become law, the provision must be approved by the House of Representatives. (more…)
Tags: feature, Roth conversion
Posted in 401k, Legislation, News, Retirement, Roth Accounts | Comments Off
Monday, June 28th, 2010
President Obama has signed a law that relaxes funding requirements for employers maintaining defined benefit pension plans. The law will help companies deal with cash shortfalls caused by the poor economic conditions — and also provide revenue to cover the cost of preventing a decrease in Medicare reimbursement levels. (more…)
Tags: db plans
Posted in Legislation, News, Retirement | Comments Off
Friday, June 18th, 2010
It’s been a busy week in the world of taxes and investing. Here’s a wrapup of happenings in Congress, guidance from the IRS, and what’s going on here at Fairmark.com. (more…)
Tags: wrapup
Posted in @Fairmark, IRS Guidance, Legislation, News | Comments Off
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
Taxation of investments will undergo one of its most significant changes ever in 2013, when the Medicare tax is set to begin applying to investment earnings of higher-income individuals. Although this tax is years away, investors and their advisors need to be planning for it now as it will affect strategic decisions they make this year, including Roth conversions and capital gain realizations. Here’s a first look at the new tax. (more…)
Tags: feature
Posted in Annuities & Insurance, Capital Gains, Dividends, Interest Income, Legislation, News, Taxation of Investments | 5 Comments »
Friday, May 21st, 2010
The extenders legislation currently under consideration (see related post) would shut down a method of avoiding employment tax (including self-employment tax) used by many individuals who earn money from personal services. A dentist, for example, who earns $90,000 in fee income might form an S corporation to receive that income, and pay himself a salary of $2,000 per month, taking the rest of the money as a distribution (dividend). He would still pay income tax on the entire $90,000, but avoid paying Social Security and Medicare tax on the amount above his salary $24,000. These arrangements are subject to challenge by the IRS, but the tax agency doesn’t have the resources to pursue all the individuals who use this technique. (more…)
Tags: Employment Tax, feature, S corporations
Posted in Business Taxation, Legislation, News | Comments Off
Friday, May 21st, 2010
Lead taxwriters in the House and Senate have emerged from lengthy negotiations to announce a deal on legislation to extend various popular tax breaks that expired at the end of 2009. For individuals these include the deduction for state and local sales taxes, the additional standard deduction for real property taxes, and the above-the-line deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses. These tax breaks aren’t particularly controversial, but every year there’s a struggle to reach agreement on whether to offset the revenue loss with a tax increase somewhere else, and if so, how to do that. Despite the agreement between Democrats Max Baucus of the Senate Finance Committee and Sander Levin of the House Ways and Means Committee, it isn’t yet clear that the votes are available to pass this legislation. (more…)
Tags: extenders
Posted in General Taxation, Legislation, News | Comments Off
Thursday, May 20th, 2010
Barney Frank, Democrat of Massachusetts, and Ron Paul, Republican of Texas, may seem an unlikely pair to be lead cosponsors of legislation, but they’ve found common ground on legislation that would legalize, regulate and tax Internet gambling. Frank testified in favor of the legislation at a Ways and Means Committee hearing on May 19. Testimony against came from Bob Goodlatte, Republican of Virginia. (more…)
Tags: feature, gambling
Posted in General Taxation, Legislation, News | Comments Off
