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Craig Smalley

Craig W. Smalley, MST, EA, is the Founder and CEO of CWSEAPA, PLLC. He has been admitted to practice before the Internal Revenue Service as an Enrolled Agent and has a Master’s Certificate in Taxation from UCLA. In practice since 1994, Craig is well-versed in U.S Tax Law and U.S. Tax Court cases, and specializes in individual, partnership, and corporate taxation for high-net-worth clients; entity structuring and restructuring; and representation before the IRS regarding negotiations, audits and appeals. Craig is currently a columnist for CPA Practice Advisor and AccountingWEB and has had 12 books published. His articles have been featured in publications including the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Christian Science Monitor, and he has been interviewed and appeared as a featured guest on numerous radio shows and podcasts. Craig can be reached at craig@craigwsmalleyea.com.

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Charitable Remainder Trusts and Their Cousins: Real Tax Savings for High Net Worth Clients

There are many offshoots of a CRAT, such as a Charitable Remainder Uniform Trust (CRUT). In contrast to a CRAT, the payout provided to the noncharitable beneficiary from a CRUT can be either a fixed amount or a percentage of the FMV of the trust ...

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As If It Couldn’t Get Any Better for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS)

REITs were already a good thing for real estate investments. Now with Rev. Proc. 2017-45, they are even better.

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Tax Planning

Estate Planning Part III – Bypass Trusts

In the final part of my estate planning series, I would like to tackle more complicated themes that build on the first two parts. The first thing that I would like to discuss in this article is a trust that was once used frequently before portability.

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Tax Planning

Estate Planning Part II – When You’re Not Subject to Estate Tax

Just because you don’t have a taxable estate doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do estate planning. If you die without an estate plan, then you die testate, meaning your assets will be divided up according to state law. Everyone needs some sort of an ...

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Tax Planning

Estate Planning Part I - Passing Along Your Business to Your Children

Most business owners want the same thing; they want to pass on their business to their kids. Others may want to sell the business, and some just want to give it away. However, all these options have unique tax concerns that must be considered.

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Income Tax

Don’t Miss Out on IRC §1202 Stock

First of all, to qualify as IRC §1202 Stock, the stock must be in a domestic C-Corporation. The stock cannot be held by an S-Corporation or a limited liability company (LLC). Another caveat is that the corporation may not have more than $50 million in ...

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Taxes

The Whistleblower Award – IRS Dysfunction at its Best

On paper, it sounds good. As a concerned citizen, you see something that isn’t right and you do your American duty and blow the whistle. All government agencies have a Whistleblower Program, but none quite as dysfunctional as the IRS’.

Small Business

June 2017 Small Business Channel

Another important disadvantage of an S-Corporation concerns ownership. An S-Corporation limits the type of shareholders allowed, the number of shareholders, and the type of ownership interest shareholders may have.

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June 2017 Tax Channel

One of my clients is a doctor and the company he works for is split into two different entities. For one, he receives a W-2 and for the other he receives a K-1 form. Both companies are interrelated. What happened is that a number of doctors came ...

The Tax Advice That We Give to Our Clients

We can all take a lesson from the case of Whitsett v. Commissioner, TC Memo 2017-100. First of all, I have been in practice for 23 years. Some of my clients have been with me for that amount of time. This was a troubling case when I read it and I ...

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Transfer to Limited Partnership Included in Taxable Estate

The point of transferring assets to a limited partnership or a family limited partnership concerning estate tax is to remove the assets from the taxable estate and then PASS THEM to the next generation - not hold 99% interest in the limited partnership.

May 2017 Tax Channel

I have a client, a husband and wife, and about fifteen years ago the wife went to prison for embezzling money from her employer. In 2007, when she began serving her sentence, her retirement accounts and everything else were liquidated to pay ...