Tax Monitor

The Ins and Outs of the CARE Act Paycheck Protection Program – What Lenders and Borrowers Need to Know

April 1, 2020

The Paycheck Protection Program(“PPP”) in the CARE Act authorizes up to $349 billion dollars in forgivable loans. What do you really need to know to be a lender or a successful borrower under the PPP? Jackson Kelly’s lawyers have been sorting through the guidelines and available information and layering on years of experience in representing business to help guide our clients through the CARE…

Employer What Ifs for COVID-19

March 26, 2020

BEFORE YOU ACT ON EMPLOYEE BENEFITS BECAUSE OF COVID-19 STRESSORS, CONSIDER: 

If you are considering terminating your 401(k) plan to end contribution obligations.

This could have adverse consequences since the “successor plan” rule in IRS regulations currently prohibits covering the same employees in a new plan for 12 months following the termination. A plan termination also requires full vesting…

Cash Flow Considerations During the Coronavirus Pandemic

March 23, 2020

Your business was shut down over night for at least two weeks if not longer. What should you do to help preserve cash flow and help keep the doors open post coronavirus shut down?

Here are a couple of suggestions. Note, with regard to employees and paths taken, please refer to recent articles from Justin Harrison that address a number employee issues.

First, if you have loans, talk to your bank.…

An Update on Taxes During COVID-19 - UPDATED

March 18, 2020

Breaking News: U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin announced on March 20, 2020 that the IRS is moving Tax Day to July 15, 2020 from April 15. Accordingly, taxpayers can now delay filing and paying taxes until July 15.  Taxpayers can also still delay paying first quarter 2020 estimates until July 15. For details click here.

The Treasury announced yesterday, March 17, 2020, invoking the…

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT HOW THE SECURE ACT AFFECTS YOU AND YOUR BENEFICIARIES

January 23, 2020

The SECURE Act¹ makes sweeping changes to the required minimum distribution (“RMD”) rules for retirement accounts. Except for a few types of beneficiaries, it eliminates the most popular tax-advantaged planning feature - the ability of a retirement beneficiary to stretch RMDs over the beneficiary’s life expectancy. The elimination of the stretch fundamentally changes how beneficiaries are taxed…

TIPS FOR THE SMALL EMPLOYER: WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW NOW ABOUT THE SECURE ACT AND YOUR RETIREMENT PLAN

January 23, 2020

The SECURE Act, signed into law on December 20, 2019, may help alleviate some of the burdens small employers face when providing retirement plans. Here are a few key things you need to know when evaluating what, if any, changes you should make to take advantage of this new legislation. 

OPEN MULTIPLE EMPLOYER PLANS

While Multiple Employer Plans (or MEPs) are not new to the retirement industry, they…

The Other Probate: A Guide to Ancillary Administration in West Virginia

May 23, 2019

The Initial Probate

Most people are familiar with the concept of probating an estate upon the death of the decedent.  The administration of the decedent’s estate is initiated in the county and state where the decedent lived at the time of his or her death, known as the decedent’s domicile.  Depending on the state in which the decedent lived, the estate administration procedure may be different if…

U.S. Supreme Court Holds That West Virginia Tax Exemption Unlawfully Discriminates Against Federal Law Enforcement Retirees

April 7, 2019

The United States Supreme Court recently put an end to West Virginia’s practice of exempting pension income of certain State law enforcement officers from the State’s income tax while disallowing the exemption for similarly situated federal retirees.  At issue was a provision in the State’s tax code that exempts from West Virginia income tax pension payments received from a number of pension funds…

U.S. Supreme Court Decision Clears the Way for West Virginia to Tax Internet Sales

October 10, 2018

On June 21, 2018, in a 5-4 opinion, the United States Supreme Court overturned Quill Corp. v. North Dakota and National Bellas Hess, Inc. v. Department of Revenue of Illinois, which had previously held that a state cannot require an out-of-state seller with no physical presence in the state to collect and remit sales taxes on goods the seller ships to consumers in the state.  See South Dakota v. …

Estate Planning Under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act

January 22, 2018

On December 22, 2017, President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“Tax Act”) into law which makes significant changes to the estate, gift, and generation skipping taxes.

The Tax Act doubles the estate, gift, and generation skipping tax exemptions to approximately $11.2 Million per person for 2018, which provides significant relief for high net worth individuals and families with valuable…

New Claims Procedure for ERISA Plans: Providing Disability Benefits

December 19, 2017

New Claims Procedure for ERISA Plans: Providing Disability Benefits

In December 2016, the Department of Labor published final regulations in connection with claims procedures for plans providing disability benefits.  The regulations were originally scheduled to be effective for claims filed under a plan on or after January 1, 2018, but that date has been delayed until April 1, 2018.  The regulations…

Notes on Portability: Relief for Late Portability Elections, When to Elect Portability, and How to Maximize GST Tax Effectiveness in the Absence of Portability for GST Exemption

October 9, 2017

Portability

Since the concept of “portability” was made permanent in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, it has been an essential and beneficial estate planning tool.  Portability allows a decedent to carryover his or her unused estate and gift tax exclusion amount ($5.49 million in 2017) for use by the surviving spouse’s estate.  Thus, if a decedent has not used all of his or her estate…