Your Tax, Estate & Business Resource!

Posted on February 8, 2016 by
  • PAY LESS TAXES: Are you paying high taxes but not knowing what to do about it?
  • CONTROL YOUR LEGAL DOCUMENTS: Understand & control risky contracts.
  • PLAN YOUR ESTATE! yProtect your family from taxes and Probate costs?

Here’s How I Can Help

First, it is always Tax Season! You must prepare year round.For that matter, you cannot predict when you will need those estate planning documents.  So don’t leave tax and legal dollars on the table. This website shows you thousands of ways to save thousands of dollars, and my motto is ease and effectiveness. So keep on reading. 

If you are a successful business/property owner or employee I may be the only tax and legal adviser that you’ll ever need. Why? Here is why:

⊗ As a tax attorney, I am more than an accountant. I am your legal advocate
⊗ As a former IRS lawyer, I have inside experience.
⊗ Instead of telling you what you can’t do, I show you how to do what you want.
⊗ As a former corporate counsel, I specialize in win-win contracts.
⊗ As your legal mentor, I teach you how to make smart, informed decisions.
⊗ I provide ease and effectiveness in the most convoluted tax and legal areas.

Hire Wis & Receive:

  1. Professionally prepared tax returns.
  2. A personal tax plan, generated with my Tax Mastery(c) program.
  3. Considerate, personal estate plans, wills, and trusts.
  4. Representation before the Internal Revenue Service. 
  5. Representation before the Shelby County Probate Court,
  6. Seminars for your groups.
  7. My WealthWISe e-letter: updating you on fast moving laws.
  8. Win-win contracts negotiated by me that benefit both parties,
  9. A wealth of information in this website and in brochures:

Check out my Credentials and Testimonials

Curious? Contact me today and experience my services free with a *FREE 1/2 Hour Consultation*.  Bring me a tax return or legal documents and get a half hour of risk-free advice plus valuable materials covering your question.

Posted in Business Law, Business Tax, Estate Planning & Probate, Individual Tax, Real estate, investing, Representation before the IRS, Speaking, What's New? | Leave a comment

REAL ESTATE, INVESTMENTS WW2017_8

Posted on August 6, 2017 by
EASY AND EFFECTIVE TAX TIPS

Avoid gain on older stocks. One of my new clients, Serena Stockholder, is a Federal Express employee and loves to buy Federal Express stock. As a result, she has stock that has been purchased over a number of years.

One day as we sat and reviewed her tax return, which I was preparing, she bemoaned the fact that she needed to sell some of that stock but the older purchases had low costs so she figured she was going to have to pay some capital gains taxes. I tipped her off on two easy ways to lower that gain. Read more.

First, normally the first-acquired shares are treated as sold first. However, if you identify the shares sold, you can select the shares with the highest cost to minimize gain. For this to work, you must tell your broker and get confirmation of what shares to sell receive in writing. You may also issue a standing order to always sell the stock with the highest basis.

Second, under a little-known rule, if she contributed appreciated shares with a low basis to her favorite charity, she would be entitled to deduct the current value of the stock and would not have to pay any taxes on the gain.

My Advice: It is almost always a good time to make an appointment with me and do a little tax planning. Had Ms. Stockholder sold her stock without knowing what I told her, she would have paid way too many taxes. The best thing to do is to send me your most recent tax return and let me put Tax Mastery© to work. That way you can assure that you pay the least legal taxes in 2017. If you are considering any significant transactions, I can use my Proseries software to tell you exactly what your 2017 taxes will be and how we can reduce them. If you are not yet a tax client, you are entitled to a *Free 1/2 hour Consultation.*

Next Wealthwise: I will tell you how to avoid the passive activity loss (PAL) rules without being a real estate professional. Hint: most Airbnb hosts avoid PAL.
Posted in Real estate, investing, What's New?

INDIVIDUAL TAX TIPS WW 2017_8

Posted on August 6, 2017 by

Summer is no vacation for you or is it?

Tax season is never over. You have to be vigilant for tax benefits. For example, one of my favorite couples, Dr. and Mrs. Med, live in Nashville and they have three kids. Mom and Pop are employed as MD and pharmacist, so they must find something for the kiddies to do while the parents work. Summer camp is expensive. They typically owe taxes with their return. What can they do?

Here is how it works. If your child is age 12 or under and attends summer camp (not summer school) so you can work, you can take the dependent care credit. The credit is 20-35% of the cost on up to $6,000 with two or more children. The percentage drops as adjusted gross income increases over $15,000. So even in this case where the parents make good money, they get to take a $1,200 tax credit – that is a credit, which directly reduces their taxes.

Withholding trap. Let’s look at another TRAP faced by Dr. and Mrs. Med and many hardworking couples. They can’t trust their employers’ withholding. There are two traps:

First, where a couple is both employed, their combined incomes push their taxes up but each employer is not aware and doesn’t withhold enough leaving them owing a sizable amount on their tax returns.

Second, on the other hand, a taxpayer that is deducting sizable itemized deductions, like real estate taxes, mortgage interest, contributions and more, can end up with a large refund, which you could have used to increase your monthly checks.

Tax advice: Try my Tax Mastery© program. With it, I can show you how to lower your taxes with those deductions and adjust your withholding so it matches your taxes. Likewise, my Tax Mastery© program tells you what the average deductions are for your income so you can avoid an IRS audit.

Posted in Uncategorized

MIND YOUR BUSINESS WW 2017_8

Posted on August 6, 2017 by

MORE THAN JUST TAX SOLUTIONS

As a former in-house counsel for a 65 man company, I can help you with many tax and legal questions that your tax adviser cannot. For example, recently a client who owns a real estate business came to see me because he received a notice from the Tennessee Secretary of State saying that the State had revoked his LLC status. This loss causes a variety of disadvantages, including the inability to borrow or use the courts. What to do?

My father once wrote the corporate questions on the Tennessee Bar Exam, and I learned from his experience. The rules for LLCs and corporations are very similar, and in my 35+ years, I have handled this revocation problem many times. First, I researched the Secretary of State website to find out the grounds for the revocation. I discovered that the LLC had failed to file two “Annual Reports.” This is grounds for revocation. Further research showed me that the LLC had failed to file some Franchise and Excise Tax returns, a second failure that would cause revocation. As a lawyer who used to work with government employees, I called the Secretary of State and asked their advice as to the easiest way to take care of these multiple problems. The person I dealt with instructed me to file the FAE returns first and then approach the Secretary of State. This simplified my tasks. It pays to have government experience!

Following the Secretary of State instructions, I first filed each missing Franchise and Excise Tax return for the LLC. Since I do tax preparation, I have Proseries Professional, Intuit’s flagship tax preparation software. With it, I can file tax returns in all fifty states for individuals, LLC’s, partnerships, corporations, trusts, and estates.

My Advice: Whether you are forming or buying or operating an LLC or corporation, use an experienced lawyer, not a non-lawyer or internet form.

Tax Tip: Add a little pleasure to your business travel. If most of your days are for business, you can deduct air fare. If your trip includes business activities on a Friday and the following Monday, the cost of the weekend is deductible even though you spend it on pleasure.

Posted in Uncategorized

ESTATE PLANNING – WW 2017_8

Posted on August 6, 2017 by

EASY AND EFFECTIVE?

I discussed in the last WealthWISe how my approach to estate planning is a quicker less stressful process. So there is no reason to put it off. In fact, if you have a will or a trust designed to save estate taxes prior to 2010, I should be able to greatly simplify your estate and reduce the cost. For example, if you have an insurance trust-run, don’t walk to my office.

For example, a client recently came in. I will call him Mr. Smart because he came in to review and update his estate plan. In 2005 he and his spouse obtained wills from a prominent estate planner. Because the Smarts’ estates were worth roughly $3,000,000, they expected to owe estate taxes upon their deaths. They wanted to use life insurance to pay the taxes, but unfortunately, the life insurance itself was estate taxable.

They were advised to use to form an irrevocable life insurance trust (ILIT) to own the life insurance to pay the estate taxes. That way the life insurance would not be included in the estate. Of course, they had to pay for the trust, and every year they had to pay for the Trustee, the life insurance, and so on.

Now that there is no Tennessee inheritance tax and the first $5,490,000 of your estate is not subject to federal estate taxes, this ILIT is expensive and unnecessary. I was able to terminate the trust and save the Smarts a lot of money.

My Advice: Review your estate planning, especially if it is older or your beneficiaries or property have changed.

If you are ready for estate planning, get started with ease. Download Wis’ Estate Package

Make a difference! Clients often fail to say what happens to their estate if they and their immediate family pass away.  Instead of giving your estate to distant relatives I suggest that you make a difference! Give your estate to a charity that means something to you! For maximum effect, work with an organization like the Community Foundation of Memphis.

Posted in Estate Planning & Probate, What's New? | Tagged ,

Accredited Estate Planner® Designation

Posted on July 20, 2017 by

The Accredited Estate Planner® (AEP®) designation truly embodies the core value of NAEPC, excellence in estate planning.

To Win the AEP designation a member of the NAEPC must be

  1.  designated and active as an attorney, CPA, insurance professional and financial planner , philanthropy, or trust officer.
  2. have a minimum of 5 years of experience in estate planning,
  3. Have reputation & character recognized by professional references;
  4. successfully complete 2 graduate courses from The American College or similar or a minimum of 15 years of experience in estate planning;
  5. abide by the NAEPC Code of Ethics;
  6. maintain Continuing Education of 30 hours in estate planning, every 24 months.
Posted in Uncategorized

Contact Wis

Posted on May 5, 2017 by

 

 

Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment

REAL ESTATE, INVESTMENTS WW2017_7

Posted on May 5, 2017 by

WHEN IS A DORMITORY A TAX SHELTER?

Let’s say that your “child” is a sophomore in college and you are tired of paying rent for his apartment. What can you do? If the ave you considered buying a place for him to stay? You could deduct mortgage interest and real estate taxes, but you can’t deduct other expenses of a property used by a relative if he is not paying market rent. What to do?

My advice: Create a little college tax shelter. Buy a rental property in which 3-4 students can stay and that is a likely good investment. Charge your son rent at market rates. Pay him a reasonable amount to manage the property or make gifts to him.

With your new tax shelter, the house will pay for itself and incur few taxes. You can deduct the typical costs of maintaining a rental property: maintenance, insurance, mortgage interest, utilities, and repairs. You can deduct depreciation on the cost of the building (not the land) roughly 3.6% per year. If the rental operation loses money you can write off losses to a limited extent. More about rental properties.

To satisfy the IRS, be business like. Set up a rental checking account. Record rental expenses. Your son should send checks to you for rent and they should be labeled as such.

Editorial: Proposed tax reform will double the “standard deduction,” so the mortgage deduction may not reduce the cost of home ownership. This could reduce real estate values. Make sure you are diversifying your investments.

Contact Wis for more information.

Posted in Real estate, investing, What's New? | Tagged , ,

MIND YOUR BUSINESS WW 2017_5

Posted on May 5, 2017 by

THE MOST IMPORTANT PROFESSIONAL FOR A BUSINESS

The problem is that as your business increases, it is exciting but everything happens at once. You wish that your vendors and customers acted like partners instead of adversaries. You are excited with your business earnings but not with your tax bill. You lawyer, if you have one, will negotiate contracts but does not recognize tax problems or opportunities. As your business expands your accountant produces financial statements, but he can’t seem to handle your new tax questions. He almost seems to be on the side of the IRS. “You can’t do this. You can’t do that. How can you save taxes? What can you do?

The best professional for your business is the one that can deliver services you need.

As a former IRS tax attorney, with over thirty-five years in private practice, Wis knows about saving taxes. Wis subscribes to daily tax and estate updates from Bloomberg Law, Kiplinger and other sources and reports them to you in his e-letter, WealthWISe.

For example: Did you know that under a recent Tax Court case, an employer could reimburse its managers for attending Business School courses helpful to the employer’s business, and the reimbursement was tax-free to the managers.

Wis spend six years as a corporate counsel for a national software company. There he negotiated with much stronger parties, such as corporate partner IBM and customers like Wells Fargo and the Federal Reserve Bank. Wis was an admirer of Steven Covey (author of “7 Habits of Effective People” and win-win negotiating). Wis used Covey’s teachings to negotiate win-win contracts with these large corporations. He learned to listen to the other side and discover how to give them what they wanted without costing his company an arm and a leg. Wis secured residual revenues of millions of dollars per year.

My advice: Wis can deliver both tax and legal services for small businesses, so for most small businesses, Wis is the most important professional because Wis can be there one stop source of tax, legal and estate advice.

See Contact Wis to make an appointment

Posted in Business Law, Business Tax

INDIVIDUAL TAX PLANNING WW 2017_5

Posted on May 5, 2017 by

THE NUMBER ONE TAX TIP

Tax season is NOT over. If you have filed your 2016 tax return, now is not the time to forget about taxes.  There are things to do right now for 2017! If you have filed an extension and you have not filed your 2016 tax return you really don’t have more time. Here you have a chance to consult with a professional and save taxes in 2016 that you should not pass up. So what should you do?  Contact me for *FREE 1/2 Hour Consultation:*

If you are reading this WealthWISe the number one tax tip I can give you is to use a tax professional. Don’t use an amateur. There are millions of words in the Internal Revenue Code. Most seasonal preparers and CPA’s are far from being experts. If you have not filed 2016 it is not too late to pay less for 2016! Furthermore, every day that you delay filing 2016 is costing you interest and penalties. Find out how much you can save by getting a free ½ hour consultation with Wis It is FREE. You cannot lose. Wis has the unbeatable advantage of Tax Mastery© software and he will prove it to you. And knowing Wis’s advice you can save even more in 2017.

This year Wis met new tax return clients, the “Smiths.” They didn’t worry about taxes until November when suddenly they realized their business was going to have a big year. (It could have been a big gain in the stock market or a big bonus declared by their employers). In December they were tearing around trying to buy equipment and find cash to do it and clean out their closets for Goodwill or whatever. If they had met with Wis their Tax Mastery© plan would have mapped out the actions they needed to take and they would have had months to do it. They could have taken the time to select the best piece of equipment for their business. They could have arranged the best financing.

My Advice A meeting with Wis and a Tax Mastery© analysis early in the year is the best way to start your tax planning. Tax mastery© fights taxes like nothing else. A tax client of Wis gets Tax Mastery© and so the next year’s planning with his return

Contact Wis for a FREE 1/2 hour consultation and get a taste of Tax Mastery©.

Posted in Individual Tax

ESTATE PLANNING – WW 2017_5

Posted on May 5, 2017 by

Are you one of the people who delay when it comes to estate planning, seeing it as too complicated and presenting unrealistic goals. It doesn’t have to be that way! If you have estate planning documents drafted prior to 2012, it is truly dangerous to rely on them. You may have a will or trust that leaves the surviving spouse with the inconveniences of dealing with court expenses and trustees. This common arrangement is both tedious and unnecessary for a vast majority of the population.

Your estate plan does not have to be complicated.

With over 35 years helping clients, Wis can show you easy and effective ways to achieve your goals for your loved ones. For example, Wis recently consulted with clients who just wanted to leave their home to their natural heirs.  He showed them how to do it without a will or other fancy documentation. Working with Wis, you can enjoy a personal experience with an experienced professional.

If you have a will or trust drafted prior to 2012 it may be a time bomb waiting to go off. Wis can show you how to defuse it. If you have an estate planned will or trust that was drafted prior to 2012 the will or trust probably divides the deceased person’s estate into pieces and places them in trust supposedly to lower the estate taxes. This process can leave the surviving spouse with the expense and inconvenience of dealing with unnecessary trusts and trustees. This arrangement is generally no longer necessary now that more than $5,490,000 is exempt from estate tax. Furthermore, Tax Reform aims to eliminate the estate tax altogether. So who do you need? Trust busters!

Don’t leave your family with a mess. To get started with your estate planning !!RLT Email Package  read on.

Or simply Contact Wis as follows:

 

Posted in Estate Planning & Probate, What's New?