Tax Accounting Problems and Issues (704)

General Description:

Participants will gain an appreciation for the complexity of the basic tax accounting rules, with emphasis on issues with changes in methods of accounting and filing amended returns.

Learning Objectives:

After completing this course the participant will be able to:

• Identify the required taxable year ends for S corporations, partnerships, and personal service companies.
• Explain the tax advisor's responsibility in determining whether the client is using a correct method of accounting; differentiate between Category A and B accounting methods.
• Describe the basic rules that apply to the capitalization of tangibles: the de minimis rule and rules on routine maintenance, including capitalizing or deducting certain expenditures such as mold remediation, remodeling, asbestos removal, underground storage tanks, and replacing a roof on business property, and the effect of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
• Determine the deductibility of prepaid expenses and describe the difference between the deductibility of prepaid insurance and prepaid rent for both a cash and an accrual basis taxpayer.
• Discuss tax treatment of the following: retainers; security deposits and Indianapolis Power & Light; tenant finish costs and cost segregation study; removal of tenant finish at end of lease; advance payment for inventoriable goods; treatment of gift certificates and debit cards; advance trade discounts; ratable service contracts; stepped rental contracts; economic performance and exceptions under recurring item exception; different treatment for real property taxes; employment taxes on year-end wages, bonuses, and vacation pay; nonqualified deferred compensation payments under §404(a)(5).
• Describe transactional problems and the different options available when the transaction turns out differently than originally anticipated.
• Discuss changes in method of accounting, including the basics of Rev. Proc. 97-27, Rev. Proc. 2015-13, Rev. Proc. 2024-23, and filing Form 3115, and changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
• Explain the basic rules that apply to installment sales, including taxable dispositions and repossessions of real property under §1038.

Instructors:

Mark A. Vogel is a retired professor and director of the University of Denver Graduate Tax Program, where for 38 years he taught courses in individual, fiduciary, tax accounting, partnership, and corporate taxation. He is the author of Divorce Taxation Guide (John Wiley & Sons) and Individual Taxation (Shepards/McGraw-Hill). He received a J.D. and LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Denver College of Law and an undergraduate accounting degree from the University of Notre Dame. He is also a CPA licensed in Illinois.

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