Legal Updates & Commentary for Tax & Estate Planning
The experienced or well-informed investor recognizes that there is an element of risk in every business venture. They understand that the cash or other property they have contributed to the venture may be lost for any number of reasons – an economic downturn, a very competitive industry, the incompetence of officers, an adverse…
“Personal liability?!” the client screams. “For sales tax? How is that possible?” The look on their face is at once incredulous and accusatory. “Didn’t you say that the LLC would protect me and my assets from the liabilities of the business so long as we respected ‘corporate’ formalities, and treated the LLC as a…
Many taxpayers fail to appreciate that a member of a partnership or LLC may be held personally liable for the sales tax collected or required to be collected by the entity.
New York State Tax Law (the “Tax Law”) imposes personal responsibility for payment of sales tax on certain owners, officers, directors,…
Partnership Allocations
The allocation of a partnership’s items of income, gain, deduction and loss among its partners must have substantial economic effect if it is to be respected by the IRS. The determination of whether an allocation has substantial economic effect for tax purposes involves a two-part analysis: first, the allocation must have economic effect…
Partnership Allocations
A few weeks back we discussed the allocation of a partnership’s income and losses among its partners. Specifically, we considered the requirement that an allocation to a partner must have substantial economic effect if it is to be respected by the IRS. The determination of whether an allocation has substantial economic effect for…
Last week’s posts described a situation in which the IRS was able to collect a deficiency in corporate income tax from a minority shareholder of the taxpayer-corporation on the basis of transferee liability under state law. Recently, another decision addressed the question of transferee liability, this time in the instance of a dissolved corporation’s unpaid…
See yesterday’s post for the background on the liability of the minority shareholders discussed today.
Transferee Liability
Taxpayers argued that the IRS’s installment agreement with Corp cut off their transferee liability, and that the IRS’s failure to exhaust its collection options against Corp precluded the IRS from seeking to recover from them as transferees. They…
In prior posts, we have considered the “plight” of minority shareholders in various contexts. We have reviewed their inability to influence corporate decisions, to compel a dividend distribution or a redemption of their shares.
In spite of these shareholders’ non-controlling status, we have seen situations in which the taxing authorities have, nonetheless, held them…
In our last two posts, we described the concept of the “responsible person” under NY’s sales tax law, and how such an individual may become personally liable for the unpaid sales tax of a business. We also explored the factors that are considered in determining one’s status as a responsible person, as well as some…
In our last post, we described the concept of the “responsible person” under NY’s sales tax law, and how such an individual may become personally liable for the unpaid sales tax of a business. Today we will explore the factors that are considered in determining one’s status as a responsible person, as well as…
