Hot Topics Article Archives - Page 17
Goodwill Impairment Looks to Have Spiked in 2020
Goodwill impairments recorded by public companies declined in 2019, but the COVID-19 pandemic appears to have caused it to spike in 2020, based on early reports. A study released Wednesday by Duff & Phelps examined the trends in goodwill impairment of over 8,800 public companies and found that the total GWI they recorded fell 10 percent from $78.9 billion in 2018 to $71 billion in 2019. However, that was still the second highest ...
Read MoreTax Court: You Have to be 'Away From Home' to Take Lodging Deduction
The Tax Court added its voice to the dilemma facing many taxpayers working remotely due to the pandemic, denying an attorney his lodging expenses in Maryland because he was not “away from home” while working in the Washington, D.C., area. In the case of Soboyede v. Commissioner, Akeem Soboyede, an attorney licensed to practice in both Minnesota and Washington, D.C., maintained solo law practices in both jurisdictions in ...
Read MoreDropping the Curtain on Entertainment Deductions
The law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), P.L. 115-97, significantly changed Sec. 274(a) by eliminating any deduction of expenses considered entertainment, amusement, or recreation. The TCJA also extended the 50% deduction limitation for expenses related to food and beverages to those provided by employers to employees in some instances. Because the changes were unclear on whether food and beverage expenses could be deducted when ...
Read MoreIRS postpones April 15 deadline
The IRS announced on Wednesday that it is postponing the deadline for all individual tax returns. Returns otherwise due April 15 will not have to be filed until May 17 this year. The IRS says it will issue formal guidance in the near future. The postponement applies only to individual taxpayers, who can postpone their federal income tax returns and income tax payment due on April 15 until May 17, 2021. They do not have to file Form ...
Read MoreThe Wrong Idea: Clients’ Wacky Notions About Taxes
It’s hard enough for preparers to keep up with tax changes — clients are completely at sea, and often enough end up relying on very odd notions about taxes. Attempted deductions from recent years (the Minnesota Society of CPAs produces one of the most famous lists) always evince taxpayers strangest ideas about what’s deductible under the Tax Code: boats, family vacations, materials for a new house, a fur coat, charity to ...
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