William Byrnes' Tax, Wealth, and Risk Intelligence

William Byrnes (Texas A&M) tax & compliance articles

Posts Tagged ‘Income’

What are the tax benefits of real estate investment?

Posted by William Byrnes on February 5, 2014


Q. In general, what are the tax benefits of real estate investment?

What limitations may restrict enjoyment of those benefits?

As a general rule, an investor takes the same deductions and credits and recognizes income whether the investor owns the property directly or has an interest in a limited partnership that “passes through” the deductions, credits, and income. However, …..

For the three-page analysis of Income, Interest, Taxes, Credits, Depreciation, Deductions, Limitations, and other issues, read William Byrnes and Robert Bloink of Tax Facts Online on > Think Advisor <

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2014 Tax Facts on Investments provides clear, concise answers to often complex tax questions concerning investments.  Pertinent planning points are provided throughout.

Organized in a convenient Q&A format to speed you to the information you need, 2014 Tax Facts on Investments delivers the latest guidance on:

  • Mutual Funds, Unit Trusts, REITs
  • Incentive Stock Options
  • Options & Futures
  • Real Estate
  • Stocks, Bonds
  • Oil & Gas
  • Precious Metals & Collectibles
  • And much more!

Key updates for 2014:

  • Important federal income and estate tax developments impacting investments, including changes from the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012
  • Expanded coverage of Reverse Mortgages
  • Expanded coverage of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)
  • More than 30 new Planning Points, written by practitioners for practitioners, in the following areas:
    • Limitations on Loss Deductions
    • Charitable Gifts
    • Reverse Mortgages
    • Deduction of Interest and Expenses
    • REITs

Plus, you’re kept up-to-date with online supplements for critical developments.  Written and reviewed by practicing professionals who are subject matter experts in their respective topics, Tax Facts is the practical resource you can rely on.

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How Much to Allocate to Annuities: A Critical Analysis

Posted by William Byrnes on October 4, 2011


A commonly known characteristic of annuities is providing retirees retirement income security. However, a more complicated aspect is deciding exactly how much of a retiree’s nest egg should be allocated to an annuity to reduce the person’s probability of outliving their retirement income.

The Employee Benefits Research Institute takes some of the guesswork out of allocation in a study released this month. The study analyzes the impact of longevity and immediate annuities on retirement income adequacy. The study finds that the “optimal level of annuitization and asset allocation that would give a desired level of confidence that people will have enough retirement income, based on the three different types of risk: investment income, longevity, and long-term care.”

The study’s results offer a prescient guide for advisors looking to maximize their client’s retirement success through annuities. Although parts of the study are quite technical, briefly reviewing the results can be enlightening.

Read this complete analysis of the impact at AdvisorFX (sign up for a free trial subscription with full access to all of the planning libraries and client presentations if you are not already a subscriber).

For previous coverage of annuities in Advisor’s Journal, see Drama Over the “Drawbacks” of Annuities (CC 11-62).

Posted in Wealth Management | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Obama Tax Cuts Alternative Minimum Tax Exemption Extensions

Posted by William Byrnes on January 15, 2011


“For more than three decades, the individual income tax has consisted of two parallel tax systems: the regular tax and an alternative tax that was originally intended to impose taxes on high-income individuals who have no liability under the regular income tax.” [1]

Current law imposes an alternative minimum tax (AMT) only on individuals.  “The stated purpose of the alternative minimum tax (AMT) is to keep taxpayers with high incomes from paying little or no income tax by taking advantage of various preferences in the tax code.” [2]

The parallel tax structure to the regular income tax law requires individuals “to recalculate their taxes under alternative rules that include certain forms of income exempt from regular tax and that do not allow specific exemptions, deductions, and other preferences.” [3]

Generally, the AMT is an amount that is the excess of the “tentative minimum tax” over the regular income tax.

Tentative minimum tax is equal to the sum of (1) 26 percent of so much of the taxable excess as does not exceed $175,000 ($87,500 in the case of a married individual filing a separate return) and (2) 28 percent of the remaining taxable excess, which is essentially an individual’s taxable income adjusted to take into account certain specified preferences and adjustments (also known as alternative minimum taxable income (“AMTI”)) minus the exemption amount.  To read this article excerpted above, please access http://www.advisorfyi.com/2010/12/obama-tax-cuts-alternative-minimum-tax-exemption-extensions/

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Exclusions from Gross Income—Gifts

Posted by William Byrnes on December 23, 2010


Why is this Topic Important to Wealth Managers? Discusses gifts and the general income tax implications gifts have to those who are the beneficiaries.  Also discusses gifts as they relate to estate taxes.

As Christmas and Holiday time approaches, some clients who may be expecting large sums from Santa or other sources as gifts, may be interested to know the tax laws on gifts generally; today’s blogiticle present’s our “re-gifting” of an old idea, Section 102 of the Internal Revenue Code.

For those who haven’t had an opportunity to read the Code lately, (some estimate the Code and Regulations are close to 80,000 pages) there are still a few “friendly” sections that remain which serve as a reminder of a time gone by.  Side Note:  These authors have not yet evaluated the shortest Code section in terms of actual words, but if we were to, our guess is that Section 102 would be in the running at 212 words.

Section 102(a) reads: “Gross income does not include the value of property acquired by gift, bequest, devise, or inheritance.”  It is worth noting, if we go back to Section 61, and the starting point for gross income, that Section 61(a) states:  “Except as otherwise provided in this subtitle gross income means all income from whatever source derived…”   The “[e]xcept as otherwise provided” is applicable here to amounts received as a gift, bequest, devise, or inheritance, which are specifically excluded from gross income.  In other words, a taxpayer can give another taxpayer a gift of $1,000,000 and the latter will not recognize a penny of income for tax purposes, so long as it is really a gift, bequest, devise or inheritance.  To read this article excerpted above, please access www.AdvisorFX.com

For further discussion on the gift tax generally see, AdvisorFX: Nature and Background of the Federal Gift Tax (sign up for a free trial subscription with full access to all of the planning libraries and client presentations if you are not already a subscriber).

Posted in Estate Tax | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

 
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