U.S. Customs and Border Protection Has ACE Up Its Sleeve
A version of this article was also published by the Journal of Commerce in February 2016.
What a difference a few days make! Up until Monday, February 8th, it was understood that on February 28th, CBP entries, and those filed with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) (Lacey Act) would all have to be filed through ACE. Thirteen more PGAs were scheduled to come on-line in July 2016, full implementation for all remaining electronic portions of the CBP cargo process was scheduled for October 2016 and ACE for all agencies and all purposes would be operational by December 2016. Continue reading “U.S. Customs and Border Protection Has ACE Up Its Sleeve”
EU Safe Harbor- Nothing Settled Yet
By Susan Kohn Ross While a new Safe Harbor agreement was hoped for by the January 31, 2016 deadline, negotiations still continue. It is expected the European Commission will receive an update, but keep your fingers crossed for an actual deal! In the meantime, American companies continue to rely on recommended provisions to satisfy their privacy protection requirements. Continue reading EU Safe Harbor- Nothing Settled Yet
Where Do You Think You’re Going?
Maybe nowhere if you owe the IRS more than $50,000.
Congress recently passed H.R.22. It was signed by the President on December 4th and it became Public Law No: 114-94. The law is known as the “Fixing America’s Surface Transportation Act” (“FAST”).
For taxpayers who owe the IRS more than $50,000, the FAST Act might be more appropriately classified as the STOP Act because it may prevent them from leaving the country. Continue reading “Where Do You Think You’re Going?”
The Charitable IRA Rollover is Now Permanent!
Under the normal rules, an IRA distribution is included in the gross income of a donor, who then may claim a charitable income tax deduction if she contributes that money to charity. There has been a special rule for qualified charitable distributions, which has been extended on a temporary basis every two years, with the last such extension expiring at the end of 2014. This special rule, which has proven to be very important for charitable gift planning, has finally been made permanent by the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act, signed by President Obama on December 18, 2015, effective for distributions made in 2015. Continue reading “The Charitable IRA Rollover is Now Permanent!”
California Clarifies Investment Standards for Public Benefit and Religious Corporations
Without a lot of fanfare, the California State Legislature recently passed a bill that seeks to provide some clarity for charities as to how they are supposed to invest their assets.
Assembly Bill 792 (“AB 792”) was passed by the California State Legislature in June, 2015, signed by Governor Brown in July, 2015, and will become effective on January 1st of next year. According to its author, it will assist California nonprofit public benefit and California religious corporations in making better investment decisions by clarifying California law regarding the investment of their assets. The hope is that this, in turn, will provide these entities with improved investment returns. Continue reading “California Clarifies Investment Standards for Public Benefit and Religious Corporations”
Tips re Cybersecurity
Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer recently provided tips to aid individuals to protect themselves from identity theft:
- Shred all documents containing personal, financial or medical information before you throw them out.
- Be cautious using debit cards. Don’t use at gas pumps or for shopping online.
- Don’t respond to e-mails, calls or texts seeking sensitive information. Legitimate companies don’t seek customers’ information this way.
- Create strong passwords that mix letters, numbers and special characters, and use different passwords for different accounts.
- Lock your mailbox. Stolen mail is a leading cause of identity theft.
- Don’t keep your license, title and registration in your glove compartment.
It’s Just a Simple Will
Often times, people believe their wills (or other estate planning documents) are really simple and straight forward. In fact, this assumption is probably the primary reason that some websites generate significant business selling legal documents prepared by non-lawyers. Such websites seek to create simple documents and offer to purportedly save consumers lots of money. Continue reading “It’s Just a Simple Will”
Regulations Modify Basis Rules for Term Interests in CRTs
The Treasury recently issued final regulations that modify the rules for determining the basis of an income interest in a charitable remainder trust in order to curtail a perceived abuse of the general rules. To understand the perceived abuse, and the mechanics of these regulations, it is helpful to understand the context in which the issue arises. Continue reading “Regulations Modify Basis Rules for Term Interests in CRTs”
New Due Dates for Certain Entity Federal Income Tax Returns
The Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015 (the “Act”) was signed into law by President Obama on July 31, 2015. Under the Act, the due dates for certain federal income tax returns were changed.
For tax years beginning after December 31, 2015, the due date for federal income tax returns for Subchapter S corporations and partnerships (including limited liability companies treated as partnerships for income tax purposes) with calendar year ends will be March 15th following the close of the calendar year, and the 15th day of the third month following the close of the fiscal year, for fiscal year partnerships and S corporations. Continue reading “New Due Dates for Certain Entity Federal Income Tax Returns”
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