Whether you are in New Haven, Connecticut or not, what is "Reasonable Compensation" is a critical issue for S Corporation owners.  We have defended both taxpayers and tax preparers on this issue before the IRS.  The answer to this question depends on a variety of factors and can be complicated. This blog post will explore the concept of reasonable compensation for an S-Corp owner and provide some basic guidelines to help you better understand how to support the wage number on that 1120-S Return.Tax ImplicationsThe Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requires that S-Corporations pay their owners “reasonable” compensation" in order to avoid tax penalties. Reasonable compensation is defined as any amount that is considered fair and consistent with the industry standard for similar services prov... 01/18/2023

As an estate planning attorney in New Haven, Connecticut, clients often come to me and say they want to avoid probate. This usually occurs after they have been through the probate process for a parent or other family member and have learned the hard way just how much of a nightmare it can be.  Fortunately, with proper planning, much of the probate process can be simplified or avoided entirely with the use of trusts. In Connecticut, the probate process is used to settle estates and transfer a decedent’s property. The use of a will does not avoid going through the probate court. To the contrary, if the decedent had a will, the will must be “probated” through the probate court.  Some people make the mistake of thinking that titling their assets jointly will solve the problem. While holding... 11/02/2022

I am an estate administration legal assistant in New Haven, Connecticut, and frequently help clients probate estates. In my last post I provided an overview of the probate process. This may have compelled some of you to start thinking about whether you need to retain a probate attorney. If you have been appointed the fiduciary of an estate, navigating the probate process alone can be particularly difficult after just losing a loved one, as well as stressful and time consuming. As a fiduciary the probate process can become even more complicated if the decedent owned numerous assets, and by the involvement of potential creditors and possible disputes with beneficiaries. If you have decided that retaining a probate attorney is the right decision for you, successful planning for your first ... 11/01/2022

My latest column is out on Bloomberg Tax: Are You a Non-Filer? How to Come in From the Cold With the IRSIn it I walk you through whether the tax returns can just be filed, how many years to file, and when the taxpayer should consider making a voluntary disclosure with the IRS.Check out the column here and let me know if you have any questions or comments: https://news.bloombergtax.com/tax-insights-and-commentary/are-you-a-non-filer-how-to-come-in-from-the-cold-with-the-irs Thanks, EricEric L. Green, JD, LL.M.Green & Sklarz LLC1 Audubon Street, 3rd FlNew Haven, CT 06511egreen@gs-lawfirm.comhttps://gs-lawfirm.com  08/19/2022

My most recent column on the new enforcement focus on unpaid payroll taxes is out on Bloomberg Tax:https://news.bloombergtax.com/tax-insights-and-commentary/unpaid-payroll-taxes-just-became-more-dangerous-for-ownersIf you or your client has a payroll tax problem please contact me at either (203) 285-8545 or by email at egreen@gs-lawfirm.com.    07/08/2022

I am a legal assistant in our tax practice in New Haven, Connecticut and routinely work to represent taxpayers before the Internal Revenue Service.  Most people are unaware that when a married couple files their returns jointly there is something called “joint and several liability”.  This means that both taxpayers are liable for tax, interest or penalties that occur from the return and the IRS does not distinguish between the two people.Did you know the IRS allows you to submit a claim for injured spouse relief?  The term injured spouse refers to one spouse being negatively impacted by the other spouse’s debt.  An Injured spouse relief claim can be used to help one spouse obtain their share of the joint refund that was taken due to the other spouse owing some of the following debts: Pa... 07/05/2022

As an estate planning attorney in New Haven, Connecticut, I counsel clients in all stages of life and with varying backgrounds. Some clients are single, some are married, some are divorced or widowed, and some are in second or third marriages. While all of these situations require different considerations from an estate planning perspective, clients who have remarried and have children from prior marriages find themselves in a unique position. How do they provide for their spouse and ensure their children from a previous marriage are also taken into consideration? To illustrate the potential problem, take the following example: John and Jane are married, and each has a child from a previous marriage. John and Jane both have wills that leave their entire estates to each other. John dies ... 05/29/2022

I am a business bankruptcy and insolvency attorney who routinely represents businesses in a variety of bankruptcy matters.  When a corporate client calls me, it is usually because something has gone wrong – maybe they couldn’t pay their rent due to a reduction in monthly sales, so the landlord is ready to kick them out of their prime location, or the recent global supply chain issues are affecting their ability to manufacture their product as forecast, causing a huge reduction in operating cash flow. If this is a smaller business, filing for bankruptcy and reorganizing its debt under Chapter 11 may be the best option for it to survive.  In February 2020, a new federal law known as the Small Business Reorganization Act (the “SBRA” or “Subchapter V”) went into effect.  The SBRA is specifi... 05/27/2022

I am an estate administration legal assistant in New Haven, Connecticut, and frequently encounter clients who are in the vulnerable position of just losing loved ones and unfamiliar with the Connecticut probate process. My main objective is to inform clients of the administration process in a straightforward manner. Connecticut has a streamlined process for settling small estates, where the decedent owned less than $40,000.00 in solely owned assets. The process includes filing an affidavit and an estate tax return, and circumvents regular estate proceedings. Thus, the small estate procedure expends less time and funds. This process cannot be used if the decedent possessed solely owned real estate.  With real estate the normal probate procedure is required. If a Connecticut resident died... 04/21/2022

I regularly represent clients in business insolvency and bankruptcy matters in Connecticut. Recently, with the passage of the Marijuana Opportunity Reinvestment and Expungement (MORE) Act on April 1, 2022, conversations among business law and bankruptcy practitioners have again turned to the topic of the cannabis industry. In particular, many are wondering about the future of the nascent cannabis industry here in Connecticut and what effect a reduction of restrictions at the federal level might have on it. In light of these developments and the recent trend of legalizing recreational adult use, many entrepreneurs are also sizing up the market—and rightfully so.While cannabis is now legal in Connecticut for both medical and recreational adult use, cannabis, and certain cannabis-based pro... 04/19/2022

I am a tax attorney who routinely represents taxpayers before the IRS in Connecticut in civil tax matters.  With the increase in online retail businesses, we are seeing a surge of businesses receiving bad 1099Ks under the owner’s social security number rather than the business federal identification number.  This creates a tax problem for the owner, and getting these situations fixed has become routine in our firm. The IRS requires payment settlement entities to report the gross amount of payments received by a U.S. taxpayer when that taxpayer receives more than $20,000 in sales and has over 200 transactions in a year.  A Form 1099K is the information return that is filed with the IRS. Anytime you receive 1099K, it is important to make sure the form belongs to you and has the right soci... 04/13/2022

I am an estate planning attorney in New Haven, Connecticut. As such, I’m often asked the question, “when should I get an estate plan?” Although estate planning involves much more, the potential client is generally asking the me when they should get a will or trust.  I routinely handle estate planning for clients from different walks and stages of life, and over the years have concluded the answer is this: if you experience (or are about to experience) a significant life change, you should create or consider revising your estate plan. For example, getting married, the birth or adoption of a child, and the passing of a relative are all life events that impact your estate.  Marriage is the perfect time to review or create an estate plan. If it is the first marriage for both spouses, it is ... 04/11/2022

The focus of our tax practice is representing taxpayers before the IRS.  An Offer-in-Compromise allows a taxpayer to settle their tax debt for less than the full amount. Although this is one of the most common options for tax resolution it is not always the best route for everyone and there are still a lot of misconceptions regarding Offers. I deal with clients everyday looking to resolve their tax debts through the IRS Offer-in-Compromise program, and below are a few of the most popular urban legends I hear: The IRS never accepts offers There is no way to change the amount of your Offer There is a special “Fresh-Start” program that helps you settle IRS debts The IRS doesn’t care about the current year If you transfer away everything before you submit your Offer it wont be considered as... 04/05/2022

I am a tax attorney who routinely represents taxpayers before the IRS in Connecticut in civil and criminal tax matters.  We routinely handle innocent spouse claims for a spouse (or former spouse) who believes that he or she should not be responsible for a joint tax liability.  Over the years I have heard many so called tax pros provide “advice” to spouses, if you want to call it that, and I thought it might be helpful to clear up the worst of these urban legends.  These include: Just amend the joint tax return to ‘married-filing-separate’ and the liability goes away; If your spouse is responsible for any tax debts in your divorce agreement you are free and clear; and File for innocent spouse relief before the IRS shows up. Now, none of these are true.  You can elect after filing separat... 03/31/2022

I am a tax attorney who spends the vast majority of my time representing taxpayers before the IRS in Connecticut in civil and criminal tax matters.  I have heard those stupid satellite radio ads too. Some deep male voice comes on the radio and asks you if you are sick and tired of being harassed by the IRS over those past tax debts?  Well what you need to do is hire the thieves from national ‘we’re going to screw you” tax resolution firm because they know the ins and outs of the ’IRS Fresh Start’ program.  A program that wasn’t actually program.  And oh yeah, it ended in 2012!This annoys me to no end, because the national companies are effectively conning people in tax trouble and desperate for help to hire them for a ridiculous amount of money with promises they have no idea if they ca... 03/30/2022

Joining me on this week's Tax Rep Network Podcast is Seth Fineberg from AccountingWEB.com to discuss the upcoming live summit in San Diego May 9th to the 12th, and the panels I have, including Criminal Tax with IRS-CI Deputy Chief James Robnett and Dawn W. Brolin, CPA, CFE, and one covering Resolving tax Debts with SB/SE Commissioner Darren John Guillot.  Haven't grabbed your seat yet? Hurry up before they are gone! https://www.accountingweblivesummit.com/Use Code TRN25 and save 25% off the cost of the Summit! 03/23/2022

On this week’s podcast episode Eric is joined by Gwen Moore and Ajay Gupta to walk through how a criminal tax works, from referral to sentencing.Check out the podcast on ITunes, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or on our Podcast Page Here!Want to contact Gwen?  She can be found here trying to save taxpayers.   https://www.mooretaxlawgroup.com/attorney/moore-guinevere-m/Ajay Gupta can be contacted here:  https://www.mooretaxlawgroup.com/attorney/ajay-gupta/ Interested in joining Tax Rep Network and building an unbelievable Tax Rep practice? Come check out Tax Rep here!Want to check out a special offer from bench on outsourced bookkeeping and forensic reconstruction?  https://bench.co/taxrep Use CallENQ to get through to the IRS in under 3 minutes!  Special Offer is here: https://... 02/10/2022

The headaches with the IRS continue: massive backlog of mail and returns that have not been processed, hold times on the phones that are measured in hours not minutes, and a grinding enforcement machine that continues unabated.  Guest Host Gwen Moore joins Eric on this special episode to discuss her recent Forbes Column, the ongoing issues at the IRS, why Congress is actually the bad actor, and what they think of the Congressional announcement made today regarding the call for the IRS to hold off on enforcement.Check out the podcast on ITunes, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or on our Podcast Page Here! Want to contact Gwen?  She can be found here trying to save taxpayers.   https://www.mooretaxlawgroup.com/attorney/moore-guinevere-m/Interested in joining Tax Rep Network and bu... 01/28/2022

Joining Eric on this week’s podcast is Andrew Lassise from the Tech4Accountants podcast, where they discuss how to actually make money by leveraging technology, streamlining your operation and scaling your enterprise so it’s no longer a ‘practice’ but a ‘business’ that you work on instead of in.Catch this and all the podcast episodes on ITunes, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on the Podcast Page. Want to connect with Andrew?  Check out https://tech4accountants.net  Interested in joining Tax Rep Network and building an unbelievable Tax Rep practice? Come check out Tax Rep here!Want to check out a special offer from bench on outsourced bookkeeping and forensic reconstruction?  https://bench.co/taxrep Use CallENQ to get through to the IRS in under 3 minutes!  Special Offer is ... 01/27/2022

Green & Sklarz LLC, a boutique law firm representing businesses and individuals with complex financial matters, including bankruptcy, tax and commercial litigation, is looking for a controller to oversee the firm accounting and financial needs as well as aid the partners of the firm with general office administration.  Candidates should have a CPA and extensive experience in financial accounting and tax.  The position will involve handling the day-to-day financial transactions of the firm, keeping the books and records, and working with our outside CPA firm.  A key responsibility will be ensuring that our client trust accounts are properly reconciled and maintained.In addition, to your controller duties, you will have the opportunity to assist the firm’s lawyers with estate planning, li... 01/23/2022