Insights

On December 19, 2019, the SECURE (“Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement”) Act became law.  The legislation contains a lengthy series of provisions impacting retirement plans and their participants.  Two such changes are especially significant.

There are far-reaching impacts of the Wayfair decision that continue to evolve as individual states modify their laws. Provided here is an update for 2020 of the state thresholds required to register and collect sales tax in light of the Wayfair decision.

On November 15, 2019, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) announced it had officially delayed implementing certain accounting standards for private companies, including the new lease accounting standard (ASC 842) for an additional year, from January 1, 2020 to January 1, 2021. But don’t breathe a sigh of relief yet. You will need this extra time to understand the process involved and to collect all the necessary data in order to comply by the deadline. 

In a recent roundtable discussion on middle-market business issues sponsored by City National Bank and the custom division of Crain’s New York Business, Anchin's Marc Federbush and executives from a range of industries weighed in on the challenges they’ve faced in 2019 and discussed the strategies they—and their clients—are using to navigate today’s uncertain corporate environment. They also revealed some of the strategies they’re using to protect their companies from what-if scenarios.

A spending bill currently working its way through Congress is expected to be signed by President Trump this week to avoid a government shutdown. The bill includes certain “tax extenders” as well as other tax provisions.

Resources from our 12/17 session covering the five-step model and industry specific considerations for Services companies, including PR/Advertising/Media and Technology.

With Notice 2019-66 (“Notice”), issued on December 9, the IRS reversed course and is delaying some partnership reporting requirements that were outlined in our earlier alert after many practitioners contended that they would not be able to comply under such a tight timeframe. The Notice provides that the requirement to report partners’ shares of partnership capital on the tax basis method will not be effective for 2019 (for partnership taxable years beginning in calendar 2019) but will be effective starting in 2020 (for partnership taxable years that start on or after Jan. 1, 2020). Instead, for 2019, partnerships and other persons must report partner capital accounts consistent with the reporting requirements in the 2018 forms and instructions, including the requirement to report negative tax basis capital accounts on a partner-by-partner basis. These partnerships and other persons must include a statement identifying the method upon which a partner’s capital account is reported. The final instructions for the 2019 forms are expected to include additional details on how such reporting should be done.

The guide includes tax planning strategies for investors, business owners, individuals and families, as well as education, retirement, estate planning and other tax saving opportunities. The on-line guide will be updated regularly to reflect any changes that are made in tax law on the federal level. 

Russell B. Shinsky, co-managing partner at Anchin, Block & Anchin LLP, announced the firm’s newest affiliate, CostMarc Consulting Group, a profit enhancement firm that uncovers cost reduction and operational  savings. 

As we continue to monitor the prospects of regulations, guidance and potential new tax reform and as year-end approaches, you should consider the following opportunities as you review your tax picture.