Simply Junior

President Obama signed into law the Small Business Jobs Act of 2010 (H.R. 5297, the “Act”) on September 27, 2010. The Act includes a $12 billion tax incentive package aimed at small businesses to help them grow and to expand lending. These tax incentives are offset by several revenue-raising provisions, as discussed in more detail below.

Provisions Providing Small Business Access to Capital

Temporary 100 Percent Gain Exclusion on the Sale of Certain Small Business Stock

In general, non-corporate taxpayers may exclude 50 percent of any gain from the sale or exchange of qualified small business stock

(“QSBS”) held for more than 5 years (75 percent of any gain may be excluded if the QSBS is acquired after February 17, 2009, and before January 1, 2011). The amount of gain exclusion permitted is the greater of (i) 10 times the taxpayer’s basis in the QSBS or (ii) $10 million. In general, QSBS is stock in a C corporation that conducts an active trade or business and has gross assets not exceeding $50 million at the time the stock is issued.

Under the Act, 100 percent of the gain from a non-corporate taxpayer’s sale of QSBS acquired after September 27, 2010, and before January 1, 2011, that is held for 5 years is excluded from taxable income and no regular or alternative minimum tax will be imposed on the gain.

Temporary Reduction in Recognition Period for S Corporation Built-in Gain Tax

When a C corporation converts to an S corporation the S corporation must generally pay a tax on gain that arose before the conversion to an S corporation, known as built-in gain, and that is recognized in the first ten years that the S corporation election is in effect. A C corporation is one that is taxed at both the corporate and shareholder level while an S corporation receives pass-through tax treatment and is taxed at the shareholder level only. An S corporation is formed by election and is only permitted if a number of specific requirements are met.

Under the Act, the recognition period for an S corporation to recognize built-in gain is reduced to seven years for taxable years beginning in 2009 or 2010 and to five years for taxable years beginning in 2011.

Eligible Small Business’s General Business Credit

A taxpayer’s general business credit is generally limited to the excess of the taxpayer’s net income tax over the greater of (i) the taxpayer’s tentative minimum tax or (ii) 25 percent of the excess of the taxpayer’s net regular tax liability over $25,000. General business tax credits that are greater than this limitation may be carried back one year and carried forward up to twenty years.

Under the Act, the general business tax credit of an eligible small business for 2010 may be carried back five years, instead of one year. These general small-business credits are not subject to the alternative minimum tax for 2010. For this purpose, an eligible small business is a non-publicly traded corporation or partnership that has average annual gross receipts for the three taxable years prior to the current taxable year of no more than $50 million.

Provisions Encouraging Small Business Investment and Growth

Expansion of Internal Revenue Code Section 179 Deduction Limits

Under Internal Revenue Code Section 179, a taxpayer may elect to deduct the cost of “qualifying property.” “Qualifying property” is depreciable tangible personal property that is purchased or used in the active conduct of a trade or business such as equipment purchased for business use, office furniture, or office equipment. For taxable years after 2007 and before 2011, the maximum amount a taxpayer may elect to deduct under section 179 is $250,000 of the cost of the qualifying property placed in service for the taxable year ($25,000 for all other taxable years). For taxable years beginning after 2007 and before 2011, this $250,000 maximum amount is reduced by the amount by which the cost of the qualifying property placed in service during the taxable year exceeds $800,000 ($200,000 for all other taxable years).

The Act increases the section 179 expensing limitation for 2010 and 2011 to $500,000 with a phase-out threshold of $2 million and allows taxpayers to expense up to $250,000 of the cost of qualifying leasehold improvement, restaurant, and retail property.

Bonus Depreciation

The Act extends for one additional year the temporary 50 percent depreciation bonus first enacted in the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 and then renewed in the American Recovery Reinvestment Act of 2009.

Under this bonus depreciation provision, 50 percent of the basis of qualified property may be deducted in the year the property is placed in service and the remaining 50 percent is recovered under normal depreciation rules. Generally, qualified property includes (i) property with a MACRS recovery period of 20 years or less, (ii) water utility property, (iii) certain computer software, and (iv) qualified leasehold improvement property.

The result of the bonus depreciation extension is that it is generally available for qualified property the original use of which begins with the taxpayer and that is placed in service during 2008, 2009, 2010, or 2011 in case of certain property with longer production periods.

Provisions Promoting Entrepreneurship

A taxpayer may elect to deduct up to $5,000 of start-up expenditures in the taxable year in which the taxpayer’s business begins. The $5,000 amount is reduced by the amount which the total amount of start-up costs exceeds $50,000.

The Act increases the amount of start-up expenditures a taxpayer may elect to deduct from $5,000 to $10,000 and increases the deduction phase-out threshold so that this $10,000 amount is reduced by the amount which the total amount of start-up costs exceeds $60,000.

Other Provisions

The Act provides a deduction for health insurance costs in computing self-employment taxes in 2010.

The Act removes employer-provided cell phones and similar telecommunications equipment from “listed property” effective for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2009. By de-listing employer-provided cell phones, the Act removes the strict substantiation-of-use requirements and the limitation on depreciation deductions, and eases administrative burdens on employers, employees, and the Internal Revenue Service.

The Revenue-Raising Offset Provisions

The Act raises revenue through several information reporting and penalty provisions, some of which are listed below:

1. Recipients of real estate rental income that make payments of $600 or more to a service provider (such as a plumber or accountant) in the course of earning rental income must send an information return to the Internal Revenue Service and to the service provider.

2. The Internal Revenue Service may issue levies before a collection due process hearing occurs for federal contractors who owe federal taxes.

3. An increase on the penalties for failure to file correct information returns is imposed.

Anybody having studied taxation knows what it means to do tax preparation for the past whole year. Sifting through the conundrums of the taxation is a real mental exercise. The use of computers and the Internet has considerably resolved the complexities in the understanding, calculation, filing, and payment of taxes.

Main Features

The software companies have regularly introduced the tax software that incorporates the changes made in the current financial year. Alternatively, these changes can be availed online in the form of updates. The software are developed with the help of accounting and taxation experts with the objective of making the whole process of tax preparation, filing, and payment easier and hassle free. These sites promise maximum deductions to reduce your taxable income and maximum refunds after the taxes are paid. Most of these incorporate the provisions of both the federal and state level taxes. Further, tax help is provided for individuals and businesses alike.

Companies offering online tax preparation usually offer different free and paid plans to the customers. Even the paid plans are offered free until the time one prints or files taxes online. Current tax news and customer reviews are also displayed on the site to help the visitors remain informed. If you are still not sure about anything, the site has the experts manning its customer service who can satisfy you. But who should be held responsible if any calculation goes wrong? Most of the online tax sites promise to pay the penalties and fines if there are calculation issues with the IRS. These also promise to file your tax returns in a way that the later audit does not find errors. There is a provision to import the accounting and financial data from the books maintained on your computer software.

Main Benefits

There are several benefits of the online medium of tax preparation. After entering the required information, the calculations are made with the in-built system. You do not have to go through the myriad of calculations involving addition of income from different sources, deductions, exemptions, and what not. All the related work can be done online within the confines of your home or office within a matter of a few hours. Some sites also allow you to make comparisons with the past records of taxes filed.

These are good alternatives for those people who wish to pay taxes without consulting accountants. So much so even the professionals use these mediums for tax preparation and e-filing the returns of their clients. The software for tax is compatible with the most of accounting software used in the United States, which facilitates the import of data from there for tax purposes. So you do not have to shuffle between them separately. There are online standardized forms for varied uses, and this save a lot of time of both the administration and the e-filing service providers.

Most of the sites provide comprehensive tax solutions to the individuals and organizations. They are very effective for filing simple returns; complex cases might require the expertise of trusted professionals. However, to many people, these are easy-to-use tools of tax preparation and filing.

Every so often, real estate transactions can go bad. This often results in one party demanding the other specifically perform pursuant to the real estate contract.

Specific Performance Demands In Real Estate Transactions

Once a seller and buyer agree on a price for a property, a real estate contract is signed. The contract contains provisions each must comply with, provisions that are legally binding. If problems arise during escrow, particularly if things turn nasty, one party may look to legal remedies to force the other party to do something.

Specific performance is a legal demand that a party perform some act. Although the theory can be applied to many situations, it is often seen in real estate transactions. This is because courts have determined that property is unique, and specific performance is often more valuable than monetary damages.

In the case of real estate, specific performance demands often involve the conveyance of title. Having met the conditions of the contract, the buyer demands the seller convey title to them. Why would sellers not do this automatically? Situations can include seller remorse, basic flakiness or the realization the seller accepted far too low an offer compared to what the market would produce.

Specific performance demands are a two sided situation. Courts often are reluctant to grant them because human nature is such that the defendant will often poison a situation by damaging the property or screwing up title. This does not mean the seller is off the hook.

While courts are hesitant to grant specific performance demands, they are not hesitant to enforce real estate contracts. Depending upon the laws in your state, the court may grant something called a lis pendens. The lis pendens represents the equivalent of the monetary damages suffered by the buyer. More importantly, it is recorded against the deed of the seller’s property. This effectively forces the seller to pay the buyer if the seller ever hopes to sell the property. When a title insurance company reviews title for any subsequent sale, it will notify the new purchaser of the lis pendens and refuse to issue title insurance. With no title insurance, the seller is going to have an extremely hard time moving the property. In fact, it will be nearly impossible as it is difficult to imagine any buyer that would want to get involved in the dispute.

While there can be sniping in real estate transactions, most go fairly smoothly. When they fall apart, specific performance and lis pendens can become dominant issues.

457 retirement plans are actually sets of provisions under Tax Code Section 457 that governs all non-qualified compensation plans of governmental and non-church controlled tax-exempt organizations. The purpose is to allow employees to set aside funds for their retirement.

These plans are also known as Section 457 plans.

Only eligible employers can establish 457 retirement plans.

Eligible employers refer to states, subdivisions of states, instrumentalities or political subdivisions of states, or any entity other than a governmental unit that is exempt from federal income taxes.

In many areas, the 457 plans are similar to the 401k plans (retirement plans created specifically for employees in the private sector). In both plans, employees would contribute portions of their paychecks into a retirement account. That money and any earnings that the employees accumulate are not taxed until they withdraw them.

But there’re 3 key differences found in a 457 plan, in that it has:

No employer match No minimum retirement age No 10% federal penalty if you withdraw the funds early (i.e.before the age of 59