A little disclaimer first: this article is concerned only with individuals contacting Minneapolis tax lawyers for a consultation. I will discuss preparation of business owners for an initial tax consultation in another article. There are two sides to your preparation for the initial consultation with your Minneapolis tax lawyer. First, the information you need to [...]

Prior to the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the “Act”) and after abolishment of the estate tax for decedents dying in 2010, the estate tax was scheduled to return in the tax year 2011 with a maximum tax rate of 55% and a $1 million exclusion. Under the Act, [...]

One of the most important provisions of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the “Act”), which was signed into law on December 17, 2010, deals with Social Security tax reduction for employees. The Act reduces the employee’s share of Social Security tax from 6.2% to 4.2% for wages earned [...]

Do you frequently trade stocks or purchase options? Then you should be aware of the wash-sales rules. In some extreme circumstances, the wash-sales rules can have drastic negative effects on your taxes, so they are well worth knowing. A wash-sale occurs when stock, securities, or options are sold for a loss, and within a 61-day [...]

Under the U.S. tax laws, partnership income and expenses flow through to each partner in a partnership, at a partnership’s tax year-end. Generally, the tax year of a partnership must conform to the tax years of its partners. In some situations, however, a partner, or multiple partners, and the partnership itself may have different tax [...]

Corporations that make valid election to be taxed under Subchapter S (“S corporation”) are treated as pass-through entities.  This means that the S corporation’s gains, losses, income and expenses are passed onto shareholders who will pay the applicable federal income taxes; the S corporation itself does not pay any taxes (as opposed to a regular [...]

The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the “Act”) was singed into law on December 17, 2010.  One of the most important tax provisions in the Act deals with the alternative minimum (“AMT”) tax patch. Under the Act, the AMT exemption amounts for the tax year 2010 will be $72,450 [...]

Member Control Agreement can be the most important governance document in the process of the LLC Formation because it may provide the LLC members with maximum governance flexibility, including overruling some provisions of the Minnesota Limited Liability Company Act. In fact, a Member Control Agreement may completely reorganize the governance structure of an LLC away [...]

Pursuant to the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the “Act”), which was singed into law on December 17, 2010, the tax cuts on capital gains and qualified dividends have been extended through the tax year 2012. Generally, long-term capital gains of individuals will be taxed at a maximum rate [...]

The Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (the “Act”) was singed into law on December 17, 2010. Prior to the Act, the previous tax cuts were scheduled to expire and the marginal federal income tax rates for individuals were scheduled to return to 15%, 28%, 31%, 36% and 39.6%.  Under [...]