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).
Joey Pizzolato is a reporter at American Banker, covering all things payments, including stablecoins, agentic AI, buy now, pay later and earned wage access. He is based in New York.
Prior to reporting on payments, Joey spent nearly six years covering auto finance as the editor of Auto Finance News, and has also covered the mortgage and housing industry, bank technology and marketing, state and federal regulation, fraud and the asset-backed securities market.
His work has earned him two Azbee Awards: One for investigative journalism examining the ease at which bad actors can obtain fraudulent employment verification needed to finance automobiles on social networks such as Facebook and Instagram; and one for enterprise news reporting that examined the lasting effects of inflation and COVID-19 pandemic on the subprime auto finance industry. In 2023, he was named a Goldschmidt FRED Fellow by the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing.
Joey holds a Master of Fine Arts from the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University and a Bachelor of Arts degree from DePaul University.
Email Joey at joey.pizzolato@americanbanker.com. Reach him on Signal at @joeypizzolato.25
Tunua Thrash-Ntuk is president and CEO of The Center by Lendistry, a nonprofit organization dedicated to closing the racial wealth gap by anchoring small businesses and the communities where they do business.
John Alchemy, M.D., is founder and CEO of Rate-Fast.
He has been practicing occupational and family medicine since 1997 and is a diplomate of the American Board of Family Practice. Dr. Alchemy has performed and reviewed over 10,000 cases (and counting).
“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.
