Congress included the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) in the National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2021. The legislation requires filing of information on beneficial owners of new (and eventually, of existing) US entities and foreign entities which apply for permission to do business in the US.  These requirements will be effective on promulgation of regulations by the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). This agency is required to promulgate the regulations within one year from the 1/1/2021 date the legislation (P.L. 116-283) became law.
 
Due Dates For Reports
 
Existing companies will have to report beneficial ownership information…
Continue Reading New Federal Corporate Transparency Act Will Add Owner Disclosure Requirements For All Business Entities

(Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay )

The CARES Act, Public Law 116-46, signed into law 03/27/2020, see https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/748, expanded unemployment benefits to include business owners and self-employed individuals. This means that you, as an owner or self employed individual with lost income as a result of Coronavirus shutdowns, can apply for Illinois unemployment insurance, in the same way as employees of firms covered by the Illinois Unemployment Insurance Act can. This article explains how:

a. You can immediately file with the Illinois Department of Employment Security as a sole proprietor under your Social Security Number as employer and employee,…
Continue Reading Filing For Unemployment Insurance In Illinois As A Business Owner Or Self-Employed Individual

This is a summary of what the President signed on Wednesday, March 18, 2020, after it passed both houses. Employers of employees with 50-500 employees are affected. Department of Labor emergency regulations have not clarified what the “50 employee” amount means, but we do not appear to come within that category. Both for profit and nonprofit/religious employers appear to be covered, since DoL wage laws, not just unemployment insurance laws, are amended. The bill is supposed to come into effect within 15 days of Wednesday, March 18th. Some parts of the bill expanded unpaid family and medical leave for persons…
Continue Reading Summary of Families First Coronavirus Response Act (H.R. 6201)

You Could Lose Your Federal Income Tax Exemption: Corporate or trust income tax at the highest rate (21% for corporations, 35% for trusts, in 2019)[i] applies if a nonprofit entity fails to qualify, engages in prohibited transactions, or stops operations that are exempt from taxation.[ii] 378 entity 501(c)(3) exemptions are listed by the IRS as having been revoked through formal hearings since 2005, and many more of these and other types of exempt entities have had their exemptions automatically revoked for failure to file required tax forms.[iii] If your organization wants to become and remain exempt, it…
Continue Reading Nonprofit Killers No. 1: Loss of Federal Tax Exemption

Corporate or trust income tax at the highest rate (21% for corporations, 35% for trusts, in 2019)[i] applies if a nonprofit entity fails to qualify, engages in prohibited transactions, or stops operations that are exempt from taxation.[ii] 378 entity 501(c)(3) exemptions are listed by the IRS as having been revoked through formal hearings since 2005, and many more of these and other types of exempt entities have had their exemptions automatically revoked for failure to file required tax forms.[iii] If your organization wants to become and remain exempt, it needs to be ready for a denial of…
Continue Reading Nonprofit Organization Killers No. 1: Loss of Federal Income Tax Exemption

The Illinois Policy Institute has examined IRS data, and thinks this is a problem. Texas and Florida appear to be prime destinations, see https://www.illinoispolicy.org/reports/irs-data-show-continuing-illinois-wealth-flight/

The real problem appears, however,  to be attraction of new residents, since an aging population moving to warmer climates may have nothing to do with tax burdens, see https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-census-illinois-population-trend-leavers-met-20190925-55e2uha64rardg7pa5734u6twu-story.html

Past increases in income taxes have, somewhat unexpectedly, been associated with increases in high net worth tax filers in Illinois. It is lower income residents who are moving out for other opportunities, and not finding new jobs here. Restrictions on immigration probably have an effect on that…
Continue Reading Are High Net Worth People Leaving Illinois?

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The Illinois Supreme Court’s decision in Oswald v. Hamer (2018 IL 122203, 115 N.E.3d 181, 425 Ill.Dec. 626 (Ill., September 20, 2018)) upheld a General Assembly action changing the statute which was interpreted to deny a charitable use exemption for a hospital in the Provena Covenant Medical Center v. Department of Revenue, 236 Ill. 2d 368, 388, 339 Ill.Dec. 10, 925 N.E.2d 1131 (2010). (Amendment is 35 ILCS 200/15-86.) The Oswald court’s decision noted that it was upholding the amending statute as constitutional on its face, so…
Continue Reading Hospital And Other Illinois Property Tax Exemption Decisions In 2019

Top Ten Church, Charity, and School Illinois Property Tax Exemption Mistakes
By: William A. Price, www.growthlaw.com

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Continue Reading Top Ten Church, Charity, and School Illinois Property Tax Exemption Mistakes

The practice of law has changed, starting in London, and moving fast around the world. The four biggest law firms are the “Final Four” accounting firms, with law licenses in many countries and over 10,000 lawyer employees collectively. British solicitors (their term for non-trial lawyers, where trial lawyers are barristers) firms like Eversheds, Allen & OIvery, Clifford Chance, and Wilmer Hale have founded “Alternative Legal Services” firms as a controlled part of their operations. Other ALS firms like United Lex have passed the “Unicorn” level of $1 billion per year in sales. Thompson Reuters, itself a major provider of alternative…
Continue Reading Alternative Legal Services Markets Top $10 billion In Sales

 
Stock option plans and other stock plans let you compensate your employees or independent contractors for improving the value of the company without making them immediately liable for taxes on the value of their stock or options. There are several variations. These include:
 
Classic stock options: Employee or Contractor purchase rights, exercisable immediately or after a vesting period. Company gets deduction and employee gets taxable income as capital gain when vests. If related persons (10% or more of company owned), then “Incentive Stock Options”, exercise price must be 110% or more of stock fair market value at time…
Continue Reading Employee Stock and Stock Options Plans