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).
Maiclaire Bolton Smith holds the position of senior leader, research and content strategy at CoreLogic. In this role, she leads the thought leadership team for the insurance division and works with the enterprise thought leadership team to reveal new insights about climate to the broader property ecosystem.
Prior to CoreLogic, Bolton Smith held previous positions at RMS, Emergency Management British Columbia, the International Seismological Centre and the Geological Survey of Canada. She is a seismologist by trade. She earned her bachelor’s in geophysics from the University of Western Ontario and her master’s in geophysics, specializing in earthquake seismology, from the University of Victoria.
Sameer leads a team dedicated to continuous growth and delivering a portfolio of services to leading insurance companies around the world. Sameer brings to this role particular expertise in the insurance industry, operations excellence, data analytics, and digital transformation. Sameer is also a certified Six Sigma Black Belt.
Sameer has been in leadership roles of increasing responsibility at Genpact for 15 years and was instrumental in setting up the insurance business at Genpact. His holistic approach to serving clients, and his expert grasp of digital technologies and deep domain expertise, have helped him lead large, successful engagements over the years.
Prior to Genpact, Sameer worked for seven years in the insurance business at General Electric, earning a Master Black Belt designation and serving as an operations leader in GE’s insurance vertical focused on claims and underwriting operations.
Sameer earned dual masters’ degrees in management and economics from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science in Pilani, India.
Shelby is a reporter at Employee Benefit News. Send pitches to shelby.rosenberg@arizent.com.
“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.
