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).
Isabella Aldrete is a summer reporter at Employee Benefit News. She is currently a senior at Barnard College and a former deputy editor at the Columbia Daily Spectator.
Jonathan Schiff, Ph.D, is a professor of accounting at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, N.J. He is the author of over 70 articles and research studies on accounting, controls, performance management, CFO practice development, and financial and cost management. He also served as visiting professor of accounting at Columbia University's School of Business and taught in their MBA and executive MBA programs, and was the founder, in 1995, of the Finance Development & Training Institute (www.fdti.org) a 10-member company alliance, chaired by Dell Technologies. He also established several other best practices sharing alliances including the Activity-Based Costing Implementation Group, the Europe-Finance Leadership Institute, the Transit-Finance Learning Exchange and the China Finance Institute. He has served as chairman of a Nasdaq-listed company audit committee and is frequently quoted in the national business media, including Business Week, The Washington Post, USA Today and The New York Times. Schiff received his Ph.D. from New York University. Before completing his master's degree in accounting at NYU, he worked as a staff auditor with Price Waterhouse.
Lars Boeing is a Vice President in Capgemini Invent's Insurance Practice and leads Capgemini's global Future of Claims offering. He has been working for 20+ years in consulting and industry roles, primarily focused on strategy development, customer experience design, efficiency improvement, and business model (re)design.
“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.
