
September 2014
Tax Schools Are Coming...
We are prepping for our annual Farm and Urban Tax Schools, and registration for eight Iowa locations is underway now! New this year is an option to register for the December 15-16 Ames school as a live webinar! Watch the seminar live and receive full CPE/CLE credit from the comfort of your office or home.
ACA October Webinars
Also, don't forget that Kristy is offering seven new Affordable Care Act webinars in October.
Try Twitter!
(But don't try to say that 10 times!) To receive daily updates regarding important agricultural and tax law topics, follow us on Twitter. Here's a sample of our most recent tweets:
9/27: USDA is investigating discovery of small plot of unauthorized GMO wheat in Montana. Origin unknown.
9/26: In today's e-News for Tax Professionals, IRS said it will begin sending warning letters re: EITC due diligence to tax preparers in October.
9/25: #IRS has issued draft instructions for Form 8965 #ACA health coverage exemptions.
Legal News
TaxPlace is LIVE!
After months of preparation, we are excited to announce that TaxPlace is live and ready for subscribers! Check it out here! TaxPlace offers a broad selection of fresh content that will continually include new webinars, seminars, and articles. For a limited time, we are offering a one-year TaxPlace subscription for the low introductory rate of $150. This subscription entitles you and your staff to one calendar year of unlimited access to all TaxPlace materials and services, including:
- A searchable database of timely articles and seminar materials explaining basic, new, and complex tax issues, with a particular emphasis on issues impacting farmers, ranchers, and ag-businesses.
- Unlimited replays of recorded seminars and webinars addressing timely and challenging farm tax and estate and business planning concepts.
- Access to “Ask a Question,” a personal connection with a professional knowledgeable in farm tax requirements. (“Ask a question” is not a gateway for legal advice and does not substitute for services from a legal or accounting professional.)
- Tables, charts, explanations of procedures and forms, and contact information to simplify your interaction with the Internal Revenue Service or state tax departments.
- Access to a weekly blog offering timely advice to practitioners and full access to future archives of “the Scoop,” a bi-monthly live webinar addressing new tax laws and procedures as they develop and providing attendees with an opportunity to ask questions.
Why is TaxPlace a subscription service?
Although CALT is part of Iowa State University, our work is wholly supported by the money we bring in through seminars and donations. We are excited to offer this new service to tax professionals, but must be able to cover the extra costs associated with its creation and maintenance. We have attempted to keep the price for this new service as low as possible, and we look forward to continuing to expand its offerings.
What will happen to the CALT Website?
Absolutely nothing. The CALT website will continue to offer important legal articles, case summaries, and other materials related to agricultural law and taxation. We will continue to offer this material without charge. TaxPlace goes the next step to bring content we've never offered to an audience that can apply it directly to their business. Tax professionals and business planners, especially those dealing with farming issues, can now view our seminar and webinar replays in the comfort of their offices or homes at any time they choose. They can also access seminar materials, articles, and booklets that have in the past been offered for purchase on a per-item basis.
Corporate-Provided Meals and Lodging
This is a sample of the types of articles available on TaxPlace. We are offering it today to our newsletter subscribers free of charge.
Overview
Meals and lodging furnished in-kind to an employee (including the employee’s spouse and children) for the convenience of the employer on the employer’s business premises are excluded from the employee’s gross income and are deductible by the employer (as a non-cash fringe benefit) if they are provided in-kind. From the employer’s perspective, meals and lodging provided to employees are not considered to be compensation. They are deductible as an ordinary and necessary business expense. With respect to employer-provided lodging, the employee must accept the lodging as a condition of employment. In addition to being excluded from income, the value of meals and lodging furnished for the employer’s convenience is not wages for FICA and FUTA purposes.
This article examines the details of the exclusion. Read the full article.
Donate to CALT
As you know, our work at the Center is dependent on the fees generated by seminar registrations and gifts. If you would like to donate to further the Center's efforts, please contact our Program Administrator, Tiffany Kayser at tlkayser@iastate.edu or (515) 294-5217. You can also give online with a credit card. We thank you for your generous support.
From Our Question Files
My client wants to change ownership of her certificates of deposit to make her son a joint tenant with right of survivorship. My client would continue to be the primary owner and would pay tax on the interest earned. It is her intent to maintain these funds for her care in the event she should need them, and then make the funds accessible to the surviving son at her death. Would this change of ownership to Joint Tenancy With Right of Survivorship constitute a gift?
Answer: This is an excellent question and there is much confusion on the issue. Fortunately, the answer is clear. With respect to bank accounts and most brokerage accounts, Treas. Reg. Sec. 25.2511-1(h)4) says that there is no gift triggered by simply adding a name to the account. The gift occurs at the time (if it occurs at all) the funds are drawn upon by the person whose name was added to the account. See also Rev. Rul. 69-148. For other assets (e.g., a house) a gift is deemed to occur immediately upon adding another person to the title. Treas. Reg. Sec. 25.2511-1(h)(5).
Recent Case Review
Following is a sample of recent legal cases summarized on our website. See the complete collection here.
Taxation
Long-Term Change in Function of Charity May Result in Loss of Exempt Status.
Judge Not Pleased with IRS Conduct.
Bankruptcy
Big Spender Gets To Discharge Debts.
Business Planning
Sharing of Equipment and Labor Not Enough To Establish A Partnership.
Civil Liabilities
Saga of Missing Cattle Continues.
No Punitive Damages For Injuries From Grain Bin Explosion.
Environmental
Inert Ingredients Need Not Be Listed on Pesticide Labels.
Another global warming case tossed out.
Real Property
Seller Gets Shot At Reforming Deed.
Regulatory
Increase In Illinois Food Stamp Enrollment Bigger Than Job Creation.
Mulching Operation Is Not An Agricultural Operation Or Forestry Activity.
The Center for Agricultural Law and Taxation does not provide legal advice. Any information provided on this website is not intended to be a substitute for legal services from a competent professional. The Center's work is supported by fee-based seminars and generous private gifts. Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in the material contained on this website do not necessarily reflect the views of Iowa State University.