Opportunities and Traps in the Tax Treatment of Transaction Costs and Intangible Asset Costs


Book Description

Companies buying or selling businesses incur billions of dollars in transaction costs every year. Unlike typical business expenses, there are rules that prevent taxpayers from currently deducting transaction costs and, in some cases, ever deducting these costs. To clarify this area, in 2003 Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service issued final regulations under §263.3 Reg. §1.263(a)-4 and Reg. §1.263(a)-54 provide comprehensive rules about the treatment of costs related to intangible assets, including transaction costs incurred in mergers and acquisitions and certain real estate transactions. The IRS has also issued guidance for success-based fees (or contingent transaction costs) and for milestone payments. However, it appears the safe harbor provisions for success-based fees exclude sellers' costs in asset sales. The phrase ''transaction costs'' includes direct and indirect costs. Specifically, costs incurred in facilitating the acquisition or disposition of a trade or business, a change in capital structure, formation of legal entities, borrowings, and other similar transactions. Costs incurred in other transactions, such as construction of real estate and the purchase of machinery also are subject to capitalization. The focus of this article is transactions described in Reg. §1.263(a)-4 and Reg. §1.263(a)-5 with a focus on opportunities and pitfalls.




The Transfer Pricing of Intangibles


Book Description

Transactions involving intellectual property play an increasingly significant role in economic activity at every level from global to local, with particular challenges for taxation and revenue authorities. Moreover, the manifold complexities associated with identifying, valuing and transferring intangibles make this an issue requiring a creative review of existing transfer pricing methodologies and techniques. In this ground-breaking new study, Michelle Markham offers an in-depth examination of attitudes at the forefront of this rapidly evolving area of taxation law, focusing her work on a comparative analysis of the US, OECD, and Australian perspectives on the transfer pricing of intangible assets. The Transfer Pricing of Intangibles not only highlights the current problems encountered in inter-affiliate transactions of intangible property, but also attempts to offer a variety of solutions to these problems. Among the issues explored are the following: how the tax treatment of intangible in the context of transfer pricing has become a major international tax concern;definitional issues which are vital to an understanding of transfer pricing;application of the arm's length principle to intangible asset transactions;determination of legal and economic ownership of group intangible assets;intangible asset valuation and transfer;transfer pricing methodologies;global formulary apportionment;transfer pricing documentation requirements;penalties for non-compliance;resolution of transfer pricing disputes; and,advance pricing agreements Revenue authorities, multinational enterprise executives, and tax practitioners around the world will greatly appreciate the recommendations and solutions proposed in this knowledgeable and thoughtful book. Its acute sense of the opportunities and pitfalls of an ever-more-complex area of economic activity place it in a category of its own, of inestimable benefit to interested parties.




Capitalism without Capital


Book Description

Early in the twenty-first century, a quiet revolution occurred. For the first time, the major developed economies began to invest more in intangible assets, like design, branding, and software, than in tangible assets, like machinery, buildings, and computers. For all sorts of businesses, the ability to deploy assets that one can neither see nor touch is increasingly the main source of long-term success. But this is not just a familiar story of the so-called new economy. Capitalism without Capital shows that the growing importance of intangible assets has also played a role in some of the larger economic changes of the past decade, including the growth in economic inequality and the stagnation of productivity. Jonathan Haskel and Stian Westlake explore the unusual economic characteristics of intangible investment and discuss how an economy rich in intangibles is fundamentally different from one based on tangibles. Capitalism without Capital concludes by outlining how managers, investors, and policymakers can exploit the characteristics of an intangible age to grow their businesses, portfolios, and economies.




Research Handbook on International Taxation


Book Description

Capturing the core challenges faced by the international tax regime, this timely Research Handbook assesses the impacts of these challenges on a range of stakeholders, evaluating various paths to reform at a time when international tax policy is a topic high on politicians’ agendas.




Boardroom Reports


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News for Taxpayers


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U.S. Master Bank Tax Guide (2009)


Book Description

Formerly titled, the Bank Tax Guide, the new U.S. Master Bank Tax Guide (2009) by noted bank tax expert, Ronald W. Blasi, J.D., LL.M., is a comprehensive desktop reference that covers all the tax rules for financial institutions and is the only book of its kind that is completely updated each year to reflect the latest changes through press time. This is the authoritative must-have guide for professionals charged with tax compliance for financial institutions. It features special planning sections in each chapter, detailed discussions that are meticulously referenced to authority for additional research, potential IRS audit activities, and numerous practical examples that illustrate the rules and principles. The volume provides informative discussions on points of law where the courts and the IRS may not see eye-to-eye.




The Guide to Making Opportunity Zones Work


Book Description

Understand the role each stakeholder plays in the Opportunity Zone ecosystem - one that can drive new investment, development, and job creation in left-behind communities across America.The 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) brought to life the first new community development tax incentive in decades. Opportunity Zones (OZs) were created to spur economic development and job creation in distressed communities by offering tax incentives to those who provide new capital investments in these areas.As a growing marketplace takes shape around OZs, there's far more unknown than known about how they can and should be implemented. The rules released by the IRS over the course of 2018 and 2019 are complex and number in the hundreds of pages."The Guide to Making Opportunity Zones Work," co-edited by leading Opportunity Zone advisors Ira Weinstein, who oversees advisory, assurance and tax for stakeholders across the OZ landscape, and Steve Glickman, who helped architect the legislation behind the initiative.Inside you'll find: - Plain-English breakdowns of the various terms, tests, and other rules specific to the world of OZs (with graphics and examples)- Individual chapters offering insights for specific OZ stakeholderso Investorso Fund managerso Real estate developerso Entrepreneurs and business ownerso OZ community leaders- Plus, insights on how these groups fit together, and how they can collaborate to best drive new economic activity in struggling communities across America.Think of this guide as a tutorial that covers the nuts and bolts of OZ investing - one that provides advice and information for each of the key participant groups needed to create and support a healthy OZ ecosystem.