Business Tax Planning
The professionals at Campbell Taylor Washburn are meticulous in their approach to helping our business clients navigate their taxes. You will enjoy working with a team dedicated to a thorough understanding of the latest updates to tax codes and regulations. We make use of business tax planning strategies tailored to companies with complex tax profiles. Learn more about these strategies and services below.
Cost Segregation
If you or your company has constructed, purchased, expanded or remodeled real estate (whether owned or leased), it should consider performing a cost segregation study.
Such studies are designed to defer taxes by assigning the costs associated with the real estate to shorter depreciable lives. CTW tax professionals are well-versed on this subject and can assist you with your cost segregation needs.
Research & Experimentation Studies
If your company makes efforts to design, develop or improve a product or process through a process of experimentation, you may qualify for federal and/or state tax credits with respect to certain costs incurred in such efforts – whether the effort is successful or not. Such credits can be highly significant if the activity involved substantial wages, outside contractor costs and/or supplies consumed in the experimentation process.
To claim such credits, your company would need to:
- Identify the experiments which occurred in all open tax years
- Document why each such experiment met the requirements for taking the credits
- File the appropriate tax forms to claim such credit amounts.
It is important that the company maintain such documentation in its records in the event of an audit of any such claim. CTW can put you on the right path to secure these credits where available.
Employment Tax Incentives
There are a number of federal and state credits available to companies that hire employees who are members of certain targeted groups.
Examples of these credits include:
- The federal work opportunity tax credit
- The federal empowerment zone employment credit
- The California competes credit
- California employment training panel funds
- The California new employment credit.
To claim such credits, your company would need advance preparation and coordination, including the filing of forms, the filing of an application and, in some cases, the negotiation of credit amounts. CTW can put you on the right path to secure the credits where available.
Choice of Entity
Whether you are organizing a new business or continuing a current business operation, a review of your choice of tax entity may be one of the most important exercises you could undertake to minimize taxes over the life cycle of your business.
Alternative legal entities are taxed much differently, giving rise to significantly different tax costs. This is especially true in connection with:
- Operating income and losses
- The taking of profit distributions from the business
- Establishment of estate tax planning with respect to your interest in the business
- Sale of the business
CTW tax professionals have deep experience in evaluating the pros and cons of each entity type so that you can be sure you are operating in the optimal entity form to minimize taxes.
Section 199A Consultation
Individuals reporting business income that is directly earned or “passed through” from a partnership or S corporation investment may in some circumstances be entitled to permanently exclude 20% of this business income from income taxes.
CTW tax professionals assist clients in identifying their varying business income streams, evaluating whether such streams qualify for the 20% deduction, determining whether certain limitations apply, and whether the benefit could be enhanced by aggregating different business activities in computing the deduction amount.
Income Tax Accounting Methods
Tax accounting methods determine the tax period to which revenue and expense items are assigned. Optional tax accounting methods available to businesses offer an opportunity for businesses to assign revenue to later tax periods and expense to earlier tax periods. This way, businesses succeed in deferring income taxes and create interest-free working capital to be deployed in their businesses. The CTW team can work with you to review your business' accounting methods to be certain you're using the optimal tax accounting methods.
State Tax Planning
If like most of our business clients, you sell into or have business operations in multiple states, you likely recognize that state taxes are often as material as federal income taxes, if not more so.
The CTW standard tax services model revisits all state tax nexus decisions annually for all business clients. This allows us to:
- Proactively identify state tax exposures
- Evaluate the availability of federal protections from state taxation
- Remediate any exposures
- Advise you on approaches to eliminate or defer state tax obligations
Interest-Charge Domestic International Sales Corporations
Businesses with IC-DISCs established before 2018 may have lost tax benefits following recent rate compressions. Some businesses still enjoy significant tax savings from these older strategies. That said, you could benefit greatly from re-evaluating your IC-DISCs.
The professionals at CTW have a deep competency in IC-DISC issues. We'll work with you to find alternate solutions for your business.
Exclusion of Foreign Derived Intangibles Income
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Maximize your FDII exclusion amount
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Comply with detailed documentation requirements
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Understand all applicable regulations
Outbound Tax Structuring
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The local tax regime that applies to in-country operations
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Withholding taxes that apply to outbound payments
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Timing considerations in the United States
Inbound Tax Structuring
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Select the appropriate operating entity in the United States
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Select foreign intermediate holding companies
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Capitalize debt vs equity in your U.S. business
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Advise on the receipt of transfer pricing services and documentation
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Minimize withholding taxes
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Determine the applicability of treaty provisions
Opportunity Zones
Complex Tax Matters Affecting Nonprofits
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Working with you on your initial applications for exemption
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Representation before tax authorities
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Performing exempt status health checks
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Supporting financial reporting personal with disclosures on any uncertain tax positions
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Evaluating and managing exposures to unrelated business income tax
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Advising on the impact of group restructurings, if applicable
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Advising on inter-group transfers and transfer pricing
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Advising on prohibited transaction issues
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Advising on private inurement issues
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Examining the applicability of intermediate sanction provisions
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Advising on asset protection matters under the exempt fold of the organization
Real Estate Tax Planning Services
Our team excels at serving businesses that own significant real estate holdings, real estate investors, developers, brokers, syndicators, funds, and owners/operators.
Our real estate services include advising on:
- Like-kind exchanges
- Involuntary conversions
- Leases
- Joint ventures between landowners and developers
- Joint ventures between developers and home builders
- Syndications of real property ownership
- Partnership/LLC formation
- Partnership/LLC recapitalization
- Partnership/LLC mergers and divisions
- Cost segregation of real estate purchases
- Leveraged distributions
- The positioning of real property for avoidance of income and estate taxes
Representation Before Tax Authorities
This service includes:
- Responding to information requests
- Interfacing with examiners
- Advising on responses to proposed adjustments
- Drafting responses to proposed adjustments
- Drafting appeals
- Representing you before the U.S. Tax Court
We can also assist with:
- Offers in compromise
- Voluntary disclosure agreements
- Tax disclosures for uncertain tax positions
- Tax disclosures of listed transactions
- Transactions of interest