Category: Florida BAR article
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Creating a Florida Irrevocable Homestead Trust for Ad Valorem, Income, and Transfer Tax Purposes
Parents can help their kids buy a home by transferring the home or money to an irrevocable trust. This can help the child avoid taxes and protect the home in case of divorce. The trust needs to be set up in a certain way to work properly. Here are some sample provisions for the trust.…
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Records, Estimates, and Sampling, Oh My! Understanding the Limits of Statutory Authority for Florida Tax Audit Estimates and Sampling
A tax audit by the Florida Department of Revenue can be scary. They have the power to estimate how much tax you owe, even if it’s not accurate, and they can sample your records instead of looking at all of them. It’s important that they use these powers correctly so you don’t get stuck with…
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Charitable Giving in a Global Environment
In recent years, there has been a big increase in charitable giving across borders, with people in the United States donating a lot of money to help people in other countries. This has made it important for professionals like lawyers and accountants to understand the complicated laws around giving money internationally. It’s not just about…
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Estate Planning During an Election Year: Will It Be 2012 All Over Again?
2020 might be a very busy year for estate planning attorneys because the current laws that give people a big tax break on what they can leave to their family and friends when they die could change soon. The laws are set to expire in 2025, but some people think they might change even sooner,…
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IRA Accounts and Possible Stretch Reduction
In 1974, Congress created IRAs to help people save for retirement without having to pay immediate taxes on their contributions and investment gains. This is known as a traditional IRA. You can get a tax deduction for the money you put into your IRA, but only until you turn 70 and a half. You can…
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Redefining Retirement in the 21st Century for the Small Employer and America
People are living longer, so we need to save more for retirement. The trend has been to save less, which could cause problems for social programs like Medicaid. Longevity also affects alimony laws, which may need to change. In the past, people had to rely on their kids for support in old age, but after…
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Passport Revocation for Seriously Delinquent Tax Debt
The IRS can tell the government to take away or limit your passport if you owe a lot of taxes. This law was passed in 2015 but didn’t start being enforced until 2018. This can affect anyone, not just lawyers, so it’s important to know about it. If you owe more than $50,000 in federal…
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Allocation of the Purchase Price in Sales Transactions
As a lawyer, I deal with a lot of important tax and non-tax issues for my clients in business transactions. Some of these issues include things like warranties, indemnification, and restrictive covenants. One important issue that often gets overlooked is the allocation of the purchase price in a transaction, which is required by the tax…
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South Dakota v. Wayfair: The Case That Changes Everything
Before, online retailers didn’t have to charge tax because of a court case from 1992. This gave them an advantage over regular stores. States had a hard time making people pay the tax themselves. But now, a new court decision means that online retailers might have to charge tax, just like regular stores do. In…
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Rethinking the Application of Contingency Risk Multipliers in Fee Awards Should Florida Courts Recede from Quanstrom?
Basically, a legal firm is representing a person who got hurt in a car accident. The person who caused the accident has insurance, but the firm is trying to get more money from them. The legal firm is asking the insurance company to pay more to cover the person’s medical bills and other expenses. The…
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9/11 and Agricultural Security
After the September 11 attacks, Congress became more focused on protecting American agriculture from terrorism. This is because agriculture is important for the economy and stability of the country. During the Cold War, the US and Soviet Union researched ways to harm each other’s agriculture. This threat still exists today, so policymakers are working on…
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Supervising Your Lawyers and Staff: Avoiding Serious Ramifications
In a law firm, lawyers have to oversee and take responsibility for the work of their non-lawyer staff. They need to make sure that their staff follows the rules and ethical standards of the legal profession. This includes things like how they talk to clients, how they handle important documents, and how they contact people…
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Arbitration and Attorneys’ Fees: A Pandora’s Box
Arbitration is a way to solve legal disputes without going to court. It’s favored by businesses because it’s private, saves time, and costs less. It’s used in education, employment, health care, sports, and other areas. But lawyers don’t like it because it limits legal arguments and doesn’t have as much oversight as the court system.…
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How to Guarantee Enforcement of a Guaranty Agreement
If someone borrows money and can’t pay it back, a guarantor is someone else who promises to pay it instead. There are different types of promises to pay, called guaranties. A “general” guaranty can be used by anyone it’s given to, while a “special” guaranty is only for a specific person or company. An “absolute”…
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Moransais v. Heathman and Its Aftermath
The decision in Moransais v. Heathman in 1999 changed the way design professionals can be held accountable for their mistakes in construction projects. Before this decision, it was difficult for people to sue architects and engineers for economic damages caused by their negligence. But now, the Florida Supreme Court has allowed these lawsuits to move…
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Subcontractors/Suppliers Beware: Form Over Substance
Recently, Florida courts have been prioritizing following the rules exactly, rather than understanding the reason behind them. This is important for people in the construction industry to pay attention to. The issue is with F.S. §713.06, which says that subcontractors and suppliers who don’t have a direct contract with the owner of a property have…
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1998 Changes to Public Works Bonds and Construction Lien Law
Florida’s Construction Lien Law was changed in 1998 to address issues with construction liens and payment bonds for public works. The changes reflect compromises between different groups in the construction industry, but there may still be questions about the language used. Confusing parts of the law are usually fixed in the next year. The law…
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Arbitration and Attorneys’ Fees Issues: An Attorney’s and Arbitrator’s Viewpoint
Our court system is crowded, so people are turning to arbitration to solve their problems instead. It can be faster and cheaper, and it’s easier to enforce decisions in other countries. But there are still some issues that need to be worked out, like who pays the lawyers’ fees in arbitration. This article will explain…
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The Art of Licensure
As a lawyer, I can help you navigate the licensing process for your career. If you have a past criminal conviction or other issues, it can make getting a license more difficult. I can advise you on how to present your case in the best light and help you respond if you receive a denial…
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Tax Considerations for Contingent Interest and Convertible Debt in Cross-Border Lending Transactions
When it comes to paying interest on debt and converting debt into shares, there are different tax rules that can apply. These rules can get pretty complicated and may have different meanings, depending on the situation. For example, there are special tax rules for debt that makes payments that depend on certain conditions. There are…
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Pre-Immigration Planning with the Foreign Trust: The Intersection of Income and Estate Tax
If someone from another country puts money into a trust in their home country and the trust makes money, the U.S. only taxes the money from the U.S. The trust can also be set up to benefit people in the U.S., but they only pay taxes on the money they get from the trust. If…
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The Cashless Real Estate Deal: Beware of Phantom Withholding on Foreign Partners’ Income
When the real estate market goes down, it can result in more transactions where people can’t pay their debts. This can lead to something called cancellation of indebtedness income (COD income). In Florida, the commercial real estate market has been hit hard by hurricanes, causing insurance rates to go up a lot. This means that…
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Foreign Grantor Trust Planning: A Flexible Planning Structure for U.S. Income Tax
Tax specialists help families with members in multiple countries set up special trusts to avoid certain U.S. taxes and keep tax advantages. This can be really useful for families where a parent is not from the U.S. and has kids and grandkids who are. The trust helps the family save money on taxes and deal…
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Corporate Transparency Act Reporting Rules Finalized, But Will Access Issues Cause Delay?
A new law called the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) is going to start on January 1, 2024. The government released rules for banks to access a database with information about the owners of companies. But the banks and state bankersâ associations think the rules are not good. They said that the rules would make it…