Ken Berry, JD

October 4, 2015 

With income tax planning now on the minds of many taxpayers and tax professionals, our year-end tax planning series looks at several methods to lower tax liability in the current year.

Ken Berry, JD

July 19, 2015 

National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson has released a report on the state of affairs at the IRS. There was plenty to complain about during the first half of 2015, but it remains to be seen how much the IRS can improve.

Ken Berry, JD

July 16, 2015 

The tax law provides some "tax insurance” for gambling activities. Generally, you can deduct the amount of your losses up to the amount of your winnings if you keep the proper records. But you can’t deduct an overall loss or related business expense.

Ken Berry, JD

July 16, 2015 

One of the groups working on tax reform for the Senate Finance Committee (SFC) has just recommended that the two higher education credits and the tuition deduction be combined into a single credit. But significant tax reform is still in its infancy.

Ken Berry, JD

July 7, 2015 

Effective midway through this year -- July 1, 2015, to be exact – certain employers that pay the health insurance premiums of its employees will be assessed hefty fines for their generosity.

Ken Berry, JD

July 7, 2015 

The provision for so-called Cadillac plans doesn’t take effect until January 1, 2018. But employers are already exploring the available options or at least they should be. Reason: If a plan exceeds certain limits, it is subject to a stiff penalty in ...

Ken Berry, JD

July 1, 2015 

The tax break for “net unrealized appreciation” (NUA) is one of the biggest tax breaks on the books for retirement-savers, but it is often overlooked.

Ken Berry, JD

July 1, 2015 

Practically every Roth IRA owner knows that you can take qualified distributions from the account without paying any tax on the withdrawals. That’s why many of your clients set up the Roth in the first place. But it’s not as well-known that ...

Ken Berry, JD

July 1, 2015 

For many years, self-employed individuals shied away from 401(k) plans. It was usually too costly and cumbersome to administer such a plan for just a single participant. But now the “solo 401(k)” is a more viable alternative for this segment of the ...

Ken Berry, JD

July 1, 2015 

According to a new report by the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC), the IRS has made significant strides on the electronic frontier, but the mission is far from complete.

Ken Berry, JD

June 30, 2015 

The 2015 IRS Nationwide Tax Forums offers seminars over three days featuring up-to-date information from the IRS and professional experts in the areas of tax law, compliance and ethics. It also provides continuing education credits to ...

Ken Berry, JD

June 29, 2015 

Three specialized groups were established with members from the IRS, states and private industry co-chairing and serving on each team. During the past 12 weeks, the three teams focused on developing ways to validate the authenticity of taxpayers ...

Ken Berry, JD