Accounting firms Crowe LLP and BKD LLP released year-end tax-planning guides Wednesday, during a time of great uncertainty over future tax changes in the midst of the novel coronavirus pandemic and the upcoming election.
Crowe’s Tax Planning: 2020 Year-End Guide discusses a number of issues, including recent legislation passed in Congress in response to COVID-19, such as the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act).
Kiley Lambert is a veteran content strategist and producer who leads editorial efforts across several American Banker live media programs. Prior to joining Arizent, he worked as a coordinating producer at CNBC Events and was an original member of the Bloomberg Live editorial team, where he was instrumental in launching several of the group's top event franchises. A graduate of Columbia University's School of General Studies, Lambert began his career in film and television, before landing his first events job as a producer of the annual PopTech Conference in Camden, Maine.
George Nichkov is the CEO and co-founder of Taxnova, a platform that helps tech companies automate their R&D tax credit with AI. Before Taxnova, he was a product lead at Gett, where he built and launched B2B products including a corporate portal, APIs and carpooling. He began his career in strategy consulting at Oliver Wyman, and has since worked across product, AI and entrepreneurship.
Ali Diab is the co-founder and CEO of Collective Health, the world's leading employer health benefit plan administration platform. Ali has more than 25 years of experience leading high-growth technology organizations, and prior to co-founding Collective Health, was Vice President of Product Management and Business Operations at AdMob by Google. Previously, Ali held executive and management positions at Goldman Sachs, Microsoft, and Yahoo!. Ali is a graduate of Stanford and Oxford Universities and is a Member of the Board of Advisers of the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR) and a Trustee of San Francisco Day School.
“Navigating the current landscape can be tricky and confusing,” said Gary Fox, managing partner of tax services at Crowe, in a statement. “It is important to stay on top of all the fast-moving law changes of the past six months and to remain prepared for the possible changes in the near future.”
Other topics include standard deductions vs. itemizing, state and local tax deductions, home-related breaks and tax-advantaged saving for health care. The guide also covers family-oriented tax breaks such as child, dependent and adoption credits, dependent care breaks, the “kiddie tax,” Section 529 plans, education savings accounts and Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) accounts.
The Crowe guide also covers investor issues, such as capital gains taxes and timing, being tax-smart with losses, mutual funds, income investments and 3.8 percent net investment income tax. Business-related tax topics include business structure, Section 199A deductions for pass-through businesses, projecting income, depreciation, vehicle-related depreciation, meals, entertainment and transportation, employee benefits, tax credits and the self-employed.
Retirement tax topics include 401(k)s and other employer plans, more tax-deferred options, Roth alternatives, early withdrawals, required minimum distributions, IRA donations to charity and the Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement Act (SECURE Act).
Estate-planning topics in the guide include estate taxes, gift taxes, the generation-skipping transfer (GST) tax, state taxes, exemption portability and tax-smart giving.
The Crowe guide also covers income tax rates for individuals, corporations and estates and trusts.
The BKD Year-End Tax Advisor aims to help businesses and individuals with their year-end planning decisions and the development of an effective tax strategy, given the recent changes in requirements, updated regulations and new tax laws this year.
“2020 has been a year like no other, with the COVID-19 pandemic affecting each of our lives, businesses and communities in ways many of us have never experienced,” said BKD director of tax quality control Jesse Palmer in a statement. “Solid tax planning is probably more important than it’s ever been before as you work to create a healthy financial future for yourself and your business.”
The BKD Year-End Tax Advisor includes reminders for the year ahead. More than a dozen contributors have written 18 articles for the guide, including discussions of how COVID-19 has affected various industries, charitable giving and information-reporting reminders.
