Posted in Business Law

People need an estate plan if they want to ensure that their intentions will be honored after death with respect to the distribution of their assets. If you have an estate plan in place, does it also include a trust (sometimes called a living trust or a revocable trust)? If your current estate plan only consists of a last will and testament, you may want to consider also creating a trust.

Posted in Business Law,IRS & Tax Information

The Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (“TFRP”) was created to encourage prompt payment of withheld income and employment taxes such as social security taxes, railroad retirement taxes, or collected excise taxes. Typically, the employee’s money is held “in trust” until the business owner or responsible party makes a tax deposit to the IRS for the amount owed, e.g. tax withheld on IRS Form 941 Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return.

Problems arise when a business owner or person responsible for collecting or paying withholds these taxes from employees but does not pay the same over to IRS. Some businesses may ignore payment because they are struggling to make ends meet or choose to spend the withheld money elsewhere. Other businesses are simply unaware of the tax obligation or the person responsible takes action contrary to what the business is aware of. Either way, the IRS will seek payment from the business and also look to apply personal liability for the TFRP to certain people who are responsible for payment and willfully do not make payment.

Posted in Estate & Personal Planning,IRS & Tax Information

Under Florida law, the personal representative of an estate (sometimes also called an executor) and the trustee of a trust are entitled to compensation, as are the attorneys who represent the personal representative and trustee.

Compensation of Personal Representative The personal representative is entitled to a commission from the estate assets, which can be calculated using a percentage of the inventory value of the probate estate assets and the income earned during administration. For a formal probate administration, the following table sets forth what amount is deemed to be reasonable compensation:

Posted in IRS & Tax Information,Real Estate Law

A legislative bill was recently enacted that may reduce the sales tax rate on commercial leases to 2%. The timing of the decrease depends on the economic recovery of the unemployment compensation trust fund. Once this balance has reached its pre-pandemic level, the sales tax rate will adjust. You may need to periodically consult with your accountant to determine the current tax rate since it is contingent upon the amount in the employment compensation trust fund.

Posted in Business Law

If you are looking to relocate your business to Florida, we suggest using a statutory conversion if this option is available. A statutory conversion transforms your state’s LLC or Corporation into a Florida LLC or Corporation, and the EIN, property deeds, and management structure generally remain the same. The conversion process is much simpler than forming a new entity and winding down the old entity. For this to be possible, both states must have laws permitting this type of conversion. For the conversion to occur, you file Articles of Conversion along with either Articles of Organization (for an LLC) or Articles of Incorporation (for a Corporation) with the Florida Department of State’s Division of Corporations (commonly referred to as Sunbiz). Additionally, Florida law requires that a Plan of Conversion be drafted and approved for proper corporate governance. Once the Articles of Conversion are accepted, you may need to dissolve your business entity in the previous state.

Posted in Asset Protection

If you have assets in Florida, you need to know the best way to avoid exposure and keep them protected from potential creditors. Tenants by Entireties (or Tenancy by the Entireties or “TBE”) is a great option for creditor protection for married couples because it is relatively simple to setup or form. In other words, there is little legal work or expense. By a married couple holding property as Tenants by Entireties, a creditor of one spouse alone cannot levy or invade a jointly owned Tenants by Entireties asset.

Posted in Estate & Personal Planning

Florida law requires the establishment of a guardianship for the person or property of a minor under certain circumstances. 

Person: A guardian of the person of the minor may be required when the minor’s natural guardians are unavailable or unable to serve as the custodian of the child (i.e., due to death, disability, or incarceration, etc.) and no appropriate alternative exists.

Posted in IRS & Tax Information

If you do not pay in full when you file your taxes, you will receive a bill notice from the IRS. This bill begins the collection process, which continues until your account is satisfied or until the IRS may no longer legally collect the tax, for example if the collection period has expired. The first notice you receive will be a bill that explains the balance due and demands payment in full. It will include the amount of the tax, plus any accrued penalties and interest, which will continue to accrue.