Business, Tax & Estates

Businesses of all sizes are being impacted by the coronavirus and more are feeling the impact every day as the ripple effects move throughout the global economy. Businesses need to evaluate their particular situation and create a continuity plan to continue operating in these rapidly changing times. Below is an outline of key areas to focus on and address to ensure your business can successfully ride out the storm. Access to Capital: This is a critical area for many businesses to ensure emplo ...
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The United States Senate has now passed, and the President has signed into law, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, effective April 2, 2020 to December 31, 2020. Among other provisions, the Act modifies the Family Medical Leave Act and requires certain Employer funded sick leave. Additionally, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper has issued Executive Order 118, expanding unemployment benefits for North Carolina employees. Reductions in workload and the need to avoid close contact ra ...
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Retirement plan accounts, like 401(k)s and IRAs, are becoming an increasingly larger portion of many estates, especially since funds have the potential to accumulate in a tax-deferred manner for many years. The tax-deferral attributes of retirement accounts, however, have resulted in specific rules that impact how these accounts are treated after death. Given that distributions from inherited retirement accounts are taxable as part of a beneficiary's ordinary income, Congress has instituted r ...
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Senate Bill 523 (July 26, 2019) made significant amendments to N.C.G.S. 105-163.3, which requires that any payer paying more than $1,500 in a calendar year to an ITIN contractor to withhold 4% of income tax on the compensation being paid to the ITIN contractor.  Under the amended N.C.G.S 105-163.3, effective January 1, 2020, a payer must deduct and withhold 4% NC income tax from nonwage compensation paid to a "payee" if the payer expects to pay more than $1,500 to the payee in that calendar yea ...
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On January 1, 2020, the salary threshold for “white collar” exemption from overtime will increase to $684 per week ($35,568 annualized). In order to qualify for the “white collar” exemption from overtime (available for certain executive, administrative, and professional employees), the employee must meet both a “duties” test and be paid on a “salary” basis.  Under Department of Labor rules, being paid on a “salary basis” means an employee must regularly receive a predet ...
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The IRS has recently started sending letters to businesses asserting tax penalties under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as "Obamacare". These letters advise that the business owes an Employer Shared Responsibility Payment (ESRP) penalty as a result of failing to comply with certain provisions of the ACA. Under the ACA, all employers with 50 or more full-time employees are required to offer health insurance coverage that is affordable and provides minimal essential coverage to at le ...
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On January 1, 2018, new IRS audit rules went into effect that made big changes on how the IRS will conduct future audits of partnerships (i.e, general and limited partnerships and LLCs).  These new changes give the IRS more power in conducting audits of partnership tax returns. Before 2018, in most cases, if the IRS wanted to audit the tax return of a partnership, the IRS had to open up audits of the individual partners (or LLC members). And, the IRS would then have to assess tax, penalties ...
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