Maryland Divorce & Tax Issues
A divorce comes with many difficult challenges, but those involved also need to consider the tax consequences of the divorce. Tax issues can result from a number of areas. Of course, the parties will no longer be able to use their married status for their tax returns, but the divorce property settlement itself can cause problems if the tax consequences of the settlement are ignored. Read more…
Maryland Special Needs Trusts
Many people desire to give gifts and bequests to their friends and relatives with special needs. But to accomplish this wish, the person must consider whether the gift or bequest will cause the beneficiary to lose their government benefits. Ensuring the beneficiary will continue to receive their government benefits, such as Medicaid or Supplemental Security Income (SSI), may require that the person give the gift or bequest through a special needs trust, also known as a supplemental needs trust.
Obviously, when providing such a gift or bequest your intention is to improve the comfort of the person with special needs, not relieve the government of its burden. However, certain government benefit programs require Read more…
Personal Liability for Maryland Business Taxes
Unlike most business debts, employees and owners of a Maryland business can have personal liability for the company’s tax debts. Similar to how the IRS pursues responsible persons and owners for payroll taxes, states, including Maryland, also pursue responsible persons and owners for certain state taxes. A person that normally would be protected from business liabilities by a personal liability shield, such as the corporate or LLC entity, will not be able to similarly avoid these tax liabilities.
The state of Maryland will pursue employees, managers, officers, and owners for unpaid taxes. The person does not need to Read more…
A Prelude to a National Sales Tax?
Squeezed into the Democrat’s health care reform bill was a little noticed provision for a 10% “excise” tax on tanning services. Under the bill’s Section 5000B, the tanning tax “shall be paid by the individual” receiving the services. The tanning business must “collect” the tax and “remit” the amounts paid, otherwise the company is responsible for the amounts it failed to collect and remit. Does this concept sound familiar? Welcome to what could be the beachhead for a national sales tax.
Pennsylvania Tax Amnesty 2010 Summary
The 2010 Pennsylvania Tax Amnesty officially ended June 18, 2010. If you missed the deadline you may still be able to negotiate payments and reduce your penalties for past due taxes. For instance, you may be able to use a Voluntary Disclosure Agreement. Please contact my office for more information.
Pennsylvania has joined the parade of states that decided to use a tax amnesty for an immediate boost to their state’s revenue. The Pennsylvania tax amnesty begins on April 26, 2010 and ends June 18, 2010. Included in the taxes eligible for amnesty are the corporate income tax, the individual income tax, and the sales and use taxes. This can be an excellent opportunity for businesses and individuals located outside the state to become compliant with Pennsylvania.
The Pennsylvania tax amnesty relieves the taxpayer of all penalties and half the interest due… Read more…
Tax Installment Agreements – Payment Plans
If you are unable to pay the Internal Revenue Service for taxes you owe, you may be able to qualify for a tax payment plan. The IRS calls such payment plans an Installment Agreement. Your state, including Maryland, also may offer similar tax payment plans.
While most would prefer to obtain an offer in compromise, which reduces the total tax debt, many will not qualify because either their income is too high (by IRS standards) or the taxpayer has too many assets, which includes home equity. Thus, that taxpayer’s only option may only be to request a payment plan. Read more…
Form a Maryland LLC for Real Estate Investments
When purchasing real estate for investment, you should be concerned about the liability your investment property can create. Often, your biggest worry will be paying the mortgage, but don’t think that’s the extent of your possible liability. A personal injury attorney could turn your retirement investment into a wealth destroying nightmare unless you protect your assets.
The most common way to minimize your potential liabilities would be to have your properties held by and managed by a separate entity with limited liability. While you may consider the property to be separate from your personal assets, unless you proactively create that separation, an attorney will pursue your personal assets in addition to the value of the property itself… Read more…
The Best Entity for Your Maryland Business: LLC or Corporation?
Choosing an entity for your business can be a difficult decision. There are many types of entities available, and you are not limited to forming an entity in your state. Further, the entity you choose does not necessarily determine how the entity will be taxed. For instance, you may choose to form a Maryland LLC but also choose to have it taxed as an s-corporation. The decision depends upon many factors including: the business purpose, the property to be owned, expectations to terminate or sell the business, the owner’s estate planning concerns, and, of course, taxes. There is no universal “best entity”, and choosing the proper entity requires every business to be individually analyzed.
Most states, including Maryland, provide you with the following popular state entity choices: the sole proprietorship, the general partnership, the limited liability company, and the corporation. Other entities for more specialized purposes also exist, such as the limited partnership and the professional association (a P.A. or P.C.).
Maryland Sales Tax Audit Defense
With Maryland tax audits increasing, you should ensure your company is prepared. An ongoing, organized approach to preserving necessary documents will streamline a sales tax audit and may even lead to tax refunds. First, beware, a state auditor visiting your office for a sales tax audit isn’t required to keep the focus solely upon sales taxes. A typical audit may cover other area such as your payroll taxes, and information obtained through the audit can lead to income tax adjustments as well. So, while a sales tax deficiency may only cause a minor sales tax adjustment, the revenue and expense information obtained can lead to sizable state income tax adjustments. Further, since states share their income tax adjustments with the IRS, you may trigger a federal income tax audit and adjustment as well. Read more…
Sales Tax Matrices and Taxability Guides
Your company may need a sales tax matrix or taxability guide to ensure employees know how to fullfill their sales and use tax duties. Sales and use taxes are inherently complex, in part, because each state’s rules vary. This leaves many tax departments ill-equipped to adequately maintain every tax and accounting responsibility. Sales and use tax requirements do not only concern tax departments as accurate reporting can require the efforts of any employee with the ability to pay a bill or issue an invoice. Read more…
Voluntary Disclosure Agreements
Many companies discover they did not file required state tax returns, but they do not know how to address the issue. States understand that taxpayers often do not uncover income tax or sales tax filing obligations until a potentially large tax bill makes coming forward difficult, if not impossible. Most states provide voluntary disclosure programs to bring these reluctant, but otherwise law-abiding, taxpayers back into the flock. The voluntary disclosure programs forgive all but the most recent tax years and reduce or eliminate penalties and interest. Read more…
State Tax Nexus Reviews & Studies
Introduction
All states are becoming more aggressive in locating non-filing businesses, particularly those operating largely outside their state. Unfortunately, many businesses first realize their filing obligation to another state when visited by the state’s auditor. An analysis of your company’s connections, or “nexus”, to the states it touches, directly and indirectly, will be beneficial regardless of whether your business is a start-up or established, expanding or contracting.
Each state’s laws for determining whether your company has a filing obligation vary, but all states are limited by the “minimum contacts” standards established under the U.S. Constitution. Adding to many companies’ confusion, there are separate standards applied for sales and use tax nexus and income tax nexus. For instance, a company with a representative in a state may not have an income tax filing obligation but may have a sales tax obligation. Read more…
Managed Compliance & Effective Tax Rate Agreements
Companies can manage risks, lower use taxes, and reduce tax administrative burdens by using managed compliance and effective tax rate agreements. In an effort to streamline the tax compliance process, most states now allow companies to automate their sales and use tax compliance through tax agreements. These agreements operate on a prospective basis whereby “effective rates” can be assigned to the company’s expense accounts.
The states use numerous names for such agreements, including: managed compliance agreements, formulary sales and use tax agreements, single use tax compliance agreement, negotiated rate agreements, alternative use tax payment methods, simplified procedure agreements, or, as known here in Maryland, effective rate agreements. Regardless of the chosen name, the states use similar processes to form the agreements and the companies often realize fantastic results. Read more…
Find Cash by Recovering Tax Overpayments
In today’s competitive business climate, businesses paying more taxes than necessary do so at their own peril. But when extra cash is needed, the company can hire tax professionals to recover those overpayments through refunds.
By conducting reverse audits on behalf of companies, I have rarely found a company whose tax department didn’t have some oversights, particularly regarding indirect taxes. Likely targets for recoverable overpayments include the company’s indirect taxes, such as: sales & use taxes, value-added taxes, and excise taxes. Certain state-specific taxes are also likely cash sources, such as the Maryland admissions and amusement tax which is levied upon the business not the customer. Read more…
Louisiana Tax Amnesty 2009
Louisiana recently announced a tax amnesty period beginning September 1, 2009 and ending October 31, 2009. The tax amnesty will apply to all taxes “administered and collected by [the Louisiana Department of Revenue], except for motor fuel taxes.” The state will forgive all civil penalties and half the interest otherwise due. Read more…
10 Ways to Spot Tax Settlement Scams
Many unscrupulous tax debt settlement companies swindle consumers using the legitimate IRS offer-in-compromise process. A recent Inc. magazine article lists tax relief services among its “7 Businesses To Watch Out For”. I do not doubt it! As a Maryland tax attorney I’ve received countless calls from taxpayers who previously fell victim to scam tax relief companies that claimed they could resolve any tax problem through the IRS tax debt settlement program, the Offer-In-Compromise.
Conversations with clients previously cheated by these companies provide me the following tell-tale signs of an unethical tax settlement company:
Maryland Estate Planning Guide
Please see my new page, Maryland Estate Planning. The page is a summary for those seeking basic advice regarding Maryland estate planning. This summary covers the most frequently asked questions and stresses my belief that most, if not all, people should consider some estate planning. I welcome any suggestions for additional content.
Thanks for your continued support.
Sincerely,
2009 Maryland Tax Amnesty Summary
The Maryland Tax Amnesty for 2009 officially ended on October 30, 2009, but if you missed the deadline you may still be able to negotiate payments and reduce your penalties for past due taxes. For instance, you may be able to use a Voluntary Disclosure Agreement. Please contact my office for more information.
Updated 5/19/2009, Following publication, the Maryland Comptroller’s Office announced early filings and payments will not be eligible for amnesty. The Comptroller’s Office is drafting an official amnesty application. Payments “under protest” for contested liabilities are eligible for amnesty if otherwise meeting the amnesty requirements. To receive notice when the Comptroller issues the amnesty application or further updates, please feel free to e-mail me.
The 2009 Maryland Tax Amnesty bill was signed into law on May 7, 2009, but the Maryland Comptroller’s Office will need to consider certain policy issues regarding its implementation. One obvious question Maryland tax attorneys and tax accountants are asking is, “What if you file prior to the Maryland Tax Amnesty period?”
Maryland Senate Proposes Tax Amnesty
Updated: I now provide a new article summarizing the final Maryland tax amnesty bill being sent to the governor and some policy issues the Maryland Comptroller will likely consider given the bill’s delayed implementation date.
Maryland Pressing to Tax Internet Sales
The Maryland Senate jumped on the Amazon tax bandwagon despite disappointing revenues and damaging results for a prior enactor. The bill targets Amazon and select others who states portray as state tax scofflaws.
Because companies such as Amazon lack direct physical presence in Maryland, the U.S. Supreme Court’s 1992 Quill ruling does not permit Maryland to require these Internet-based companies to collect Maryland sales tax. Despite having no physical presence, states can confer physical presence if a state can establish a formal relationship between the company and an in-state agent, representative, or salesperson. Maryland seeks to require Amazon and similar companies to collect Maryland sales tax based upon its relationship to its Maryland “affiliates”.
California to Slash and Burn Amazon As Well
Taking its cue from New York, California introduced legislation to require online retailers with no physical presence to collect sales tax for sales into the state. The California bill, Assembly Bill 178, resembles a similar New York statute that, thus far, has passed constitutional muster at least with the local judiciary.
States have been seeking to get their claws into Amazon and similar retailers for a decade. States argue that the increased prevalence of Internet merchants and their cannibalization of sales by brick-and-mortar local merchants has reduced sales tax revenues.
