The IRS recently extended the period of time during which a surviving spouse can make a “portability election,” which enables the surviving spouse to reduce or eliminate federal estate taxes that otherwise may be due at the surviving spouse’s death. In 2022, every person has a federal estate tax exclusion amount – an amount that can be gifted...
City of Milwaukee Property Tax Notice of Assessment Objection/Appeal Deadline – May 16, 2022.
The City of Milwaukee has sent its 2022 “Notice of Assessed Value – Real Property” to all City of Milwaukee property owners. Almost every year the City revalues properties, which is the case again for 2022 after having performed a maintenance assessment for 2021. The recently released 2022 assessments are effective as of January 1, 2022, and...

IRS Provides Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2022
While Congress is busy debating changes to federal tax law, the IRS continues to operate on the basis of existing provisions. Over the last week, a number of updates have been issued by the IRS regarding inflation adjustments. Below is a summary of the recent announcements for calendar year 2022. INCOME TAXATION On November 10, 2021, the...

When Congress Says, “Never Mind”, Does It Mean It? The latest news regarding changes to the Gift and Estate Tax Laws.
For nearly a year, various proposals and so-called “frameworks” have been debated in Congress regarding changes to the federal estate and gift tax laws. Nearly all would have (i) reduced the amount that individuals could gift during lifetime or bequeath at death before application of federal transfer taxes, (ii) eliminated the so-called “step...

Corporate Transparency Act and its Impact on Your Business
On January 1, 2021, Congress passed the Corporate Transparency Act (the “CTA”), which requires all entities formed in or registered to do business in the United States to report beneficial ownership information to the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”), subject to some exceptions, by no later than January 1, 2022. Although the CTA...

How Might Joe Biden’s Tax Proposals Affect You?
On April 28, 2021, President Joe Biden presented his proposed “American Families Plan” in an address to the nation. The address set forth hoped-for “once in a generation” investments focused on benefits to American families. These investments included expanded government-funded education, increases in various child and earned income credits, paid...

IRS Issues Guidance to Employers to Claim Tax Credits for Voluntary Leave Related to COVID-19 and the Vaccine
As set forth in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP), employers and certain governmental employers are allowed to claim refundable tax credits that reimburse them if they choose to provide paid sick and family leave due to COVID-19, including leave taken to receive and/or recover from COVID-19 vaccines. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS)...

Section 1031 Tax Deferred Exchanges: Implications of the Biden Proposal
On April 28th, 2021, President Biden revealed a slew of tax proposals. One of these proposals involved curtailing the use of a long-standing planning tool -- the Tax Deferred Like-Kind Exchange. Flowing from Section 1031 of the Internal Revenue Code, Section 1031 exchanges are a key component of the investment real estate market, especially for...

Act Now – Estate Tax Planning Under the Biden Administration
Over the past twenty years, there has been a dramatic change in the Estate tax laws. Given the Democratic control established in Washington, D.C. this month, additional Estate Tax reform is now a distinct possibility. Currently, each person can give away during lifetime, or distribute at death, an amount of $11.7 million without being subject to...

Year-End Corporate Tax Considerations: The Essentials
As the end of year approaches, our thoughts turn to the holidays…and year-end tax planning. Especially in this year where there have been numerous disruptions, it is valuable to set aside some time to review company actions from a tax perspective. The following list outlines a few items that we believe companies should review before the holidays....