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Louis Vlahos

Louis Vlahos practices tax law and has extensive experience in corporate, individual and partnership income taxation, and in estate and gift taxation, including tax planning, ruling requests and tax controversy.

This is The End[i]  

I have dreaded the year end for as long as I can remember. As a teenager and then as a young adult I associated the final quarter of the year, and especially the period beginning on Thanksgiving and ending on New Year’s Eve, with completing final exams and papers.[ii] After graduating from law school, but being inexperienced with the business of business, I naively hoped that the blues and the anxiety that I had experienced every year during that time of year were finally behind me. Not so.Continue Reading Taxes and the 2024 Election: ‘Tis the Season to Plan and Act

Outmigration

The Office of the New York State Comptroller just released a new report that examines taxpayer migration trends during the pandemic.[i] The report, which builds on an earlier analysis of pre-pandemic taxpayer migration trends, reveals there was much more movement out of the State than was thought initially.

During that period, on a net basis, out-migration from New York skyrocketed, due largely to those leaving New York City; over one in every 100 resident filers left the State. By the end of the period, out-migration rates for families remained much higher than pre-pandemic levels, with married filers leaving at substantially higher rates. The total number of New York’s personal income tax filers declined for the first time since the Great Recession.Continue Reading New York Can Be Stingy Giving Credit – Resident Tax Credit, That Is

Mixing Holidays With Business

Hope you had a good Thanksgiving Holiday. Some of us probably feel we ate or drank either too much or not enough, watched too much or not enough football, or spent too much time discussing politics and the state of the Dis-Union with family or friends. Then there were some who, having overheard in the midst of the merrymaking how someone else had implemented what sounded like a wonderful tax-saving strategy, resolved to do the same themselves for 2024.[i]Continue Reading The Family Business – Compensating Family-Employees

Our Holiday

Thanksgiving has been a national holiday in the U.S. since 1870. During most of that period, at least until recently, it has also been a unifying force as immigrants to this country, eager to be assimilated to American society,[i] and recognizing the holiday’s universal message of gratitude,[ii] have adopted the day as their own.[iii]

In 1863, only months after the Battle of Gettysburg and the Siege of Vicksburg, and a few years before Thanksgiving officially became a national holiday, President Lincoln issued the following Proclamation:[iv]Continue Reading This Thanksgiving, Give Thanks for Taxes . . . or Not

NY Needs the Revenue

A couple of weeks ago, the Tax Foundation released its latest “State Business Tax Climate Index,”[i] which assesses a state’s tax system and compares it to that of other states. New York seems to be a perennial among the ten lowest-ranked states, at number 49.[ii]

According to another report recently issued by the Foundation, New York experienced the highest net loss of residents as a result of interstate migration as a share of its population.[iii]Continue Reading N.Y. Sales Tax – Responsible Person Liability

WTF

It appears that many of the country’s colleges and universities[i] believe they have not already contributed enough to the decline of American education and to the erosion of our society, generally.

These institutions of so-called higher learning are not satisfied with having introduced major studies in subjects that can only be described as laughable, diluted academic standards, misrepresented history, encouraged identity politics, adopted cancel culture, stifled free speech, vilified Judeo-Christian values, and demonized Western civilization.Continue Reading Activities Contrary to Public Policy – Revoking the Tax Exempt Status of Universities

It’s not enough for the founder of a closely held business to have successfully established the business. The business has to grow, not only to increase profits, but also to make it more competitive and to diversify its customer base. Such “smart” growth will attract talented employees to the business, facilitate borrowing, prepare the business to withstand economic downturns, and make it more attractive to potential buyers.Continue Reading Disclaiming to Save Taxes

Tax the Rich

For many weeks, we’ve been hearing about the IRS’s plans to use the funding provided under the Inflation Reduction Act[i] to increase and expand its compliance and enforcement efforts with respect to the wealthy, high-income earners, partnerships, and large corporations.

According to the IRS, not only will the agency add a significant number of new employees, especially examiners, it will also introduce the use of new technologies, including artificial intelligence, to identify persons who may be skirting their tax obligations.Continue Reading Hospitals and Community Benefit: Senators See a Shortfall

Uncertain Future

The Congressional Budget Office (“CBO”) recently released some data for the federal government’s 2023 fiscal year. According to the CBO, the federal budget deficit for the year was $1.7 trillion, or 28-percent larger than it was in 2022.[i]

The CBOs’ report attributed the increase to a combination of lower revenues and higher outlays. Can you guess which expenditure was among those most responsible for the increase? If you said payments of interest on the federal debt, you were right.Continue Reading Debtor Corp’s S Election: “Property” in Bankruptcy?

Last Week

Many of you, perhaps most, may have read about a case that will be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court during its current term.[i] The case, Moore v. United States, comes out of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.[ii] The Supreme Court recognized the national significance of the case and granted cert in March of this year.[iii] Within less than two weeks of the taxpayer’s having filed its brief with the Court,[iv] about 25 amicus briefs were filed in support.[v]Continue Reading Supreme Court to Decide: No Realization Means No Moore Income Tax?