Income Tax - Everyday Issues for General Practitioners

Overview:

CPAs in public practice who assist clients with income tax compliance and plans find that even routine matters can have complexities, alternatives, and uncertainties. This course identifies income tax matters that practitioners frequently encounter and demonstrates how income tax rules apply in everyday situations.

The simplest matters can involve various issues and ambiguities, even in the field of accounting. Those who assist clients with income tax compliance and plans find that routine matters can entail complexities, alternatives, and uncertainties.

This course provides an opportunity for practitioners, who routinely deal with income tax, to focus on issues they frequently encounter. In order to enhance the practicality of the course, the course presents topics as practical issues rather than technical details. After providing general background information for each issue, the course emphasizes opportunities, problems, suggestions, and plans for each topic. Many participants take this seminar on an annual basis because the content relates directly to client situations, and timely topics are added each year.

Course Content:

In this course, you will gain knowledge about the following topics:

• Taxation for select sources of income — including active business income, small business deduction, employees vs. contractors, personal services businesses, and investment income
• Remuneration issues — including salary vs. dividends, bonuses payable, and family member income splitting
• Expenses and assets with personal and business elements — including meals and entertainment, automobiles, and taxable benefits
• Shareholder benefits and loans issues — including debit balances
• Timely and topical practical matters
• Newsworthy and notable information — including recent developments
• Challenging ethical situations encountered in tax practice

Learning Objectives:

Upon completing this course, you should be able to:

• Evaluate and characterize sources of income and develop remuneration strategies
• Recognize, assess and advise on shareholder benefit and loan problems
• Identify best practices for expenses/assets with personal and business elements
• Discover new and notable income tax developments
• Analyze ethical considerations related to providing tax services to clients

Who Will Benefit: 

While all tax professionals, whether seasoned or new, will gain new insights from this course, this course particularly targets practitioners who deal with small and medium-sized owner-managed businesses. Practitioners, transitioning to take on more owner-manager planning responsibilities, will find the course to be a valuable training resource.