The Dove Firm PLLC

Many folks are interested in forming revocable living trusts as a part of their estate plan, and many others are interested in selling revocable living trust kits.  Here’s what you should consider if you are wondering if this estate planning tool is right for you: Where do you live ?  One of the highlights of revocable living trusts is they are designed to avoid probate.  If you live in Texas, the probate process is relatively simple, allowing for an independent administration of assets which typically only requires one short court visit.  In states like this, forming and administering a revocable living trust would generally be more of a hassle (and often more costly) than the probate process itself.  If you live in a state that only has dependent administrations, a revocable living trust may be more beneficial to you. What types of assets do you have ?  Some assets can be titled in such a manner that...

The IRS is reminding owners of highway motor vehicles weighing over 55,000 pounds that highway use tax returns and payment are due September 2, 2014.  The normal deadline for filing Form 2290 is August 31, but this year that date falls on a Sunday, and the following Monday is the Labor Day holiday.  Be sure to keep track of the mileage for such vehicles, because the IRS allows a suspension of tax on heavy vehicles used for 5,000 miles or less during the tax year.  You can read more about the highway use tax on the IRS website at http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Trucking-Tax-Center .  This blog is for informational purposes only.  It is not intended to be and should not be relied upon as legal advice.

A popular recent topic in politics has been “corporate inversion.” By claiming residence elsewhere, corporations are lowering their corporate income tax rates, but may not be escaping U.S. taxes altogether.  Corporations with U.S. employees may still liable for payroll taxes, there are industry-specific excise taxes that may be due, and states have their own various taxes, such as Texas’s franchise tax, which may also be imposed.   This blog is for informational purposes only.  It is not intended to be and should not be relied upon as legal advice.

Most people are familiar with the works of William Shakespeare.  One of his lesser-known writings is surprisingly found in his will.  In it, Shakespeare left to his wife his “second best bed.” Many have written over what this gift means about the relationship he had with his wife.  From an estate planning perspective, what it means is this: there is no right or wrong way to make gifts in your will.  Those items are yours and you are free to leave them as you wish. Compare that to the will and estate plan of James Gandolfini, who passed away more recently.  When his will was made public, it contained more ordinary provisions (no talk of second-best bequests), but the distributions left his estate subject to estate tax, which added up to what was reported at approximately $30 million owed to the IRS. While he was free to leave the gifts as he chose, he could have done so in a way that did not result in a large tax due. Taking these two public figures...

The IRS announced last week that it will be offering a pilot program to allow small businesses with retirement plans to catch up on filing reporting documents without facing a penalty. The program allows plan administrators who did not file annual Form 5500 series returns to file those returns for current and prior years, and avoid the heavy penalties that could be assessed for the late returns.   The program is scheduled to start in June 2014 and run for one year.   More information is available in Revenue Procedure 2014-32.   This blog is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal advice.  

In a case recently upheld by the Fifth Circuit, the Tax Court found that amounts deposited into a “pastoral account” were not deductible as charitable contributions.  The Court focused on the pastors’ (a husband and wife) control over the funds in the account, noting that personal expenses were paid out of the account, and social security payments for the husband were directly deposited into the account.  The case (Gunkle v. Commissioner) involved the use of a “corporation sole” in what appeared to be an attempt to avoid certain taxes.  However, in the end, the taxpayers were assessed tax on the personal expenses paid out of the account, along with a 20% accuracy related penalty.   This blog is for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as legal advice.

Texas doesn’t have a state income tax, but we do have property taxes.   The state may mandate the tax, but it is the county that is in charge of assessing and collecting it.   In many counties proposed assessments from the appraisal district are mailed to taxpayers around this time of year.   If you disagree with the proposed assessment, ensure that you meet the deadline in your county to file a protest.   And if you own a business, your county will also have a deadline for filing a rendition.   Failure to meet this deadline could result in a penalty on top of the tax on business personal property.     This blog is for informational purposes only.   It is not intended to be and should not be relied upon as legal advice.