Posted in Asset Protection,Business & Corporate Law,Tax Law & IRS Defense

Calendaring important IRS and tax authority deadlines can save you a lot of headaches at tax time.  To avoid paying penalties and other tax consequences, keep a calendar and review tax deadlines with your Accountant, CPA, Enrolled Agent, or Tax Attorney.  Jackson Law Group has tax attorneys that can assist you with IRS or other tax problems.  The below items are a few examples of important dates:
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Posted in Asset Protection,Probate & Trust Administration,Tax Law & IRS Defense,Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning

1. Not Understanding the Purpose of Asset Protection: Asset protection will not make you “judgment proof.” Someone can still obtain a judgment against you.  You must distinguish obtaining a judgment and collecting on a judgment, which is typically only done after a judgment is rendered.
2. Waiting Too Long To Begin Planning: Preventative planning is both most effective and least expensive before you have legal problems.
3. Believing That It Is Too Late To Protect Assets: It’s never too late to improve protection. Anything is better than doing nothing.
4. Thinking Creditors are Lazy or Not Smart: Don’t underestimate the skill and intelligence of your adversaries. Creditors and their attorneys are not lazy or thoughtless.  The court system can be a slow process.
5. Failure to Comprehend Vulnerability of Your Business: The shares of stock or membership interests you own are vulnerable to creditor attack.
6. Fraudulent Transfers and Conveyances: You cannot protect assets by giving them to family members.
7. Misunderstanding Salary Exemption: Salary exemptions can be complicated. Don’t be trapped into misunderstanding these concepts, especially for business owners.
8. Confusing Estate Planning With Asset Protection: Asset protection is oftentimes part of estate planning, but a living trust or will does nothing to protect your assets from creditors.
9. Confusing Bankruptcy Law and Asset Protection Law: The new bankruptcy law does not affect Florida’s unlimited homestead exemption and other exemptions outside bankruptcy court.
10. Giving Up Control Over Your Assets: The easiest asset protection plan is to give someone else control over your assets. This is all too often a poor solution.

If you own assets and are concerned about protecting them, avoid making the mistakes mentioned above.  For more information on developing an asset protection plan that is thorough and unique to your particular situation, we encourage you to contact a qualified, licensed attorney.

Posted in Asset Protection,Real Estate Law,Tax Law & IRS Defense,Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning

In a previous blog (click here), we posted about the Mortgage Forgiveness Debt Relief Act (“MFDRA”) and how it had yet to be extended by Congress to cover mortgage debts forgiven in 2014.  MFDRA prevents homeowners who went through a short sale, foreclosure sale, a principal reduction, or some other type of waiver of a deficiency regarding their primary residence from being taxed on the amount of mortgage debt cancelled or forgiven.
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Posted in Tax Law & IRS Defense

The Internal Revenue Service has made a change to a policy that was rejected in 2010.  Based on the proven health benefits of breastfeeding for women and their children, the IRS will now allow mothers to count the costs of breast pumps and other supplies as a medical deduction on their taxes.  Breastfeeding women can spend as much as $1,000 each year on nursing supplies, thanks to the efforts of the American Academy of Pediatrics and other breastfeeding advocates that fought in recent years to advance this proposal.
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Posted in Real Estate Law,Tax Law & IRS Defense

The Firm is republishing a September 2013 blog post regarding the ability of Florida property owners to contest or appeal the assessed value of their property.  The republished blog, below, includes updated information for 2014.
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Posted in Asset Protection,Real Estate Law,Tax Law & IRS Defense,Wills, Trusts & Estate Planning

The Florida Department of Revenue is authorized to levy a documentary stamp tax on deeds, bonds, promissory notes, written obligations to pay money, mortgages, liens, and other evidences of indebtedness.  Florida law authorizes different taxation rates depending on the type of transaction.  The documentary stamp tax is typically $0.70 per every $100.00 of consideration for instruments conveying an interest in real property including, but not limited to, deeds, easements, and contracts or agreements for deed.[1]  Alternatively, the documentary stamp tax for bonds, mortgages, liens, promissory notes, and other written obligations to pay money is generally $0.35 per every $100.00 of consideration.[2]  The documentary stamp tax for promissory notes or other written obligations to pay money typically may not exceed $2,450.[3]
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Posted in Asset Protection,Business & Corporate Law,Tax Law & IRS Defense

Whether filling out your new hire paperwork or preparing your tax returns, the IRS has guidelines for who may be claimed as a dependent for income tax purposes.

There are typically two types of dependents for federal income tax purposes:

1. A qualifying child; and
2. A qualifying relative.
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Posted in Asset Protection,Business & Corporate Law,Tax Law & IRS Defense

The FDCPA was developed in part to help prevent abusive practices in debt collection and to allow consumers the opportunity to dispute the validity of a debt.  The FDCPA applies when a debt collector attempts to communicate with a consumer debtor.  While the initial communications may not violate the Act, generally, the Act prohibits further communication when the debtor notifies the debt collector that he or she is requesting more information on the debt or disputes the debt.  The Act will typically apply to communications the collector may have regarding the location of the debtor and communications between third parties or the debtor regarding the debt collection.  The debts subject to this Act are generally those incurred by a consumer primarily for personal, family, or household purposes, whether or not such obligation has been reduced to judgment.  Florida adopted the Consumer Collection Practices Act (“FCCPA”) which acts to supplement the FDCPA.  The FCCPA also protects debtors from a debt collector’s abusive collection practices but, unlike the FDCPA, the FCCPA also applies to the original creditor.  As always, you should consult with a Florida licensed attorney who may be able to help protect you from improper collection efforts.

See 15 U.S.C. §1692 (a)-(p); see also, §§559.55-559.785, Fla. Stat.