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).
As a solution architect at Atos North America, Jonas Bull leads pre-sales efforts, solution design and customer engagement, and manages cloud and hybrid engineering projects involving high performance computing, artificial intelligence and analytics. Bull helps industries across market verticals recognize value from technology investments, as well as identifies and prioritizes their goals for growth, design and implementation.
Bull has more than 20 years of business, leadership and technology experience, including Forrest Health Systems of Mississippi, CSpire Telecom and the US Navy. Bull is a mentor for students at University of Texas at Dallas, a volunteer mentor with Score.org, and is an active member of Tech Titans of North Dallas. He holds a bachelor's degree in Anthropology from the University of Southern Mississippi, and is pursuing an MBA with the Smartly Institute of Washington, D.C.
Anil Somani is chief transformation officer at Altimetrik.
Michael Kanellos, IoT Analyst at OSIsoft, tracks how innovation and IoT will impact energy, people and business. He’s written for over 20 years for CNET, Greentech Media, Forbes, Wired, Computer Reseller News, the New York Times and other publications and appeared as a guest on outlets like NPR, 60 Minutes, Fox News, CNN, the Today Show and Al Jazeera. Prior to technology, he also worked as an attorney, a Census Bureau enumerator and a busboy in a pancake house.
“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.
