Storm Clouds Gathering Over U.S. Economy?
I KNOW! I KNOW! This is supposed to be a tax column, showing you how to keep it, once youve made it. In the same spirit of lets explore another area of...
2004 Wealth Transfer Plan Test Reveals a Mess
BACK IN EARLY 1995 I wrote a long column headlined, A new plan to beat the estate tax. The column said in part: If you use the right tax tools and techniques...
Payroll Taxes Go Up, Up and Away
The news for 2005 is the same and sorry old story: Social Security taxes are in the stratosphere. Your take-home pay will be lower in 2005. First the...
When the Whole Family is in on the Planning
MOST CLOSELY HELD business owners spend 10 years (often 20 years, or even longer) working on tax-related planning. You know, that not-so-easy stuff like...
Get Minority Discounts On Your Firm's Stock
ITS ALWAYS A good day when you can beat up the IRS legally. Its even better when you can pummel it with its own rules. The issue concerns the value of...
How to really create a charitable endowment
WHEN I ASK my clients, "What is your charitable intent?" most of them respond with something like, "Nothing significant." But when asking the same clients,...
All life insurance policies not created equal
WHAT DO AIRLINE tickets and life insurance premiums have in common? The cost for the identical service can vary all over the map. Two unrelated airline...
How to eliminate a tax-you-twice IRD
OVER THE YEARS, this tax column has ground out more than 1,200 articles on a ton of tax subjects. But never have I heard more from readers about a subject...
Traditional Estate Plans Enrich the IRS
THIS IS A TAX WAR story, told in a U.S. Tax Court memorandum opinion case. In 1989, Robert H. Lurie, a successful entrepreneur and very wealthy man, was...
Get Income From Your Business After You Retire
YOU ARE ABOUT to read a real-life, tax-war story. Joe, a reader of this column from Wisconsin, founded and ran his family business, Success Co., for 28...
Turn $1,058,220 into $9,082,290 Tax-Free
THESE ARE TOUGH times for investors. The stock market mimics a roller coaster. Uncertainty prevails. The conservative investor struggles to find safety....
'Worthless' Insurance Policy May Have Value
THIS ARTICLE IS for you youngsters, 65 or older. If you are younger, read it anyway. Then, give it to one or more of your older family members or friends....
IRS Boosts Auto Mileage Allowance
DO YOU USE your car for business? Hate keeping records of the actual expenses you pay for the business use of your car? Theres another way to deduct the...
Want Life Insurance With Zero Net Cost?
BUY TERM LIFE insurance and you are betting you will die before the end of the term. Typical terms are one year or five, 10, 15 and 20 years. The longer...
Must Reading If You Are a C Corporation
On May 28, President Bush signed a new tax law. Two provisions in the new law directly affect whether you should or should not be a C corporation (as...
Tax-free Life Insurance Strategy Gets Even Better
JOE HAD JUST gone to the big business in the sky. His wife had preceded him two years earlier. Joes son Sam called me looking for some post-death-tax...
Clock is Ticking on Split-Dollar Insurance
THE SAD BUT TRUE fact is that the IRS changed the rules on split-dollar insurance in the middle of the game. If you or anyone in your company has what...
Valuation victory Eases Succession Problems
RAISE YOUR HAND if you own all or a portion of a closely held business. Raise the other hand if you intend, sooner or later, to transfer your interest...
Why Your Firm Shouldn't Own Life Insurance
IT IS RARE indeed that we look over the life insurance program of a business-owner client without finding a potentially expensive tax blunder sometimes...
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