American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012

On January 2, 2013, the President signed the American Taxpayer Relief Act, thus ending the nation’s brief stint over the “fiscal cliff” - a confluence of expiring Bush-era tax cuts and the imposition of scheduled spending cuts - but not the national debate over revenue and spending issues.

The Act increases taxes for high-earners as well as trusts, and defers for two months significant automatic sequestration cuts that had been set to take effect on January 1, 2013. The cuts are now scheduled to begin on March 1, 2013.

The 3.8% Medicare Surtax on Investment Income

Beginning in 2013, certain investment income will be subject to an additional 3.8% surtax, enacted as part of the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010. This tax will also have to be taken into account for estimated tax purposes.

What the New Law Means for Taxpayers

Here are questions and answers about what the newly signed tax agreement means for millions of Americans.

What happens to individual tax rates for 2013?

For most people they stay the same as last year, but for the wealthiest there's a new permanent top rate of 39.6%, compared with 35% for 2012. The threshold for the top rate is $450,000 of taxable income for married couples filing jointly and $400,000 for single filers.

So you have your EB-5 Regional Center: Now What?

Immigrant investors want to and need to know who they are dealing with on all sides. As we experience the certain and continued expansion of the EB-5 Regional Center Pilot Program, stakeholders should seek financial advice from trusted advisors; hire independent immigration counsel; and partner with proven developers. Please see link to full article.

IRS Implements Interim Changes to ITIN Application Requirements

The IRS released on June 22, 2012, important interim changes to its procedures for issuing new Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) from now through the end of the year. Designed specifically for tax-administration purposes, ITINs are only issued to people who are not eligible to obtain a Social Security Number.

These interim procedures apply to applicants generally seeking ITINs for the purposes of filing U.S. individual income tax returns. Because the April 17 filing deadline has passed, the IRS anticipates that a small number of taxpayers will need ITINs between now and the end of the year for these purposes.

Supporting estimations of fair value

On May 12, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued new standards for public and private companies on fair value measurement and disclosures. The new requirements, found in Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2011-04, Fair Value Measurement (Topic 820): Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value, provide direction on how fair value accounting should be applied. Although ASU 2011-04 will have little effect on the measurement of fair value by most companies, the Update by the Financial Accounting Standards Board once again highlights fair value accounting and disclosures as matters of significant importance and pertinence to preparers and users of financial statements today.

IC-DISC still offers permanent tax savings for exporters

If your closely held company earns significant income from exporting US-made products - or from engineering or architectural services on foreign construction projects - consider forming an interest charge domestic international sales corporation (IC-DISC).

An IC-DISC is relatively inexpensive to set up and operate, and it can reduce your federal tax rate on a portion of net export income by up to 20 percentage points.

Politico

The IRS audited a higher percentage of millionaiers in 2011 than in previous years, but the rate didnt change for those making $200,000, new federal data show

Beware: New from 8938 - Statement of Foreign Financial Assets.

Effective for tax years starting after March 18,2010 individual U.S. taxpayers(as well as bona fied residents of American Samoa and Puerto Rico) are requred to include from...