by Mat Sorensen | Jan 15, 2019 | News
An IRA must report its fair market value to the IRS annually. Fair market value is reported to the IRS by your IRA custodian via IRS Form 5498. For standard IRAs holding stocks or mutual funds, those account values are automatically determined as they simply take the stock or fund price as of the close of the market on December 31st each year. They then use these amounts to set the year-end account fair market value. For self-directed accounts, such fair market values are not readily available, and it becomes the IRA account owner’s responsibility to obtain their self-directed investment values so that their custodian can properly report the account’s fair market value. The value of an account is important for a few reasons. First, the IRS requires it to be updated annually. Second, it is used to set required minimum distributions (RMDs) for those account holders over the age of 70 ½ with Traditional IRAs. Last, the account value is used when converting an entire account, or a particular investment or portion of the account, from a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.
What is “Fair Market Value?”
Fair market value of an investment has been broadly defined by the Court as:
“The price at which property would change hands between a hypothetical willing buyer and a hypothetical willing seller, neither being under any compulsion to buy or to sell, and both having reasonable knowledge of relevant facts.” U.S. v. Cartwright, 411 US 546 (1973).
Now here’s the hard part: Even though the IRS requires IRAs to update their fair market value on an annual basis, the Government Accountability Office noted in their recent report that:
“Current IRS guidance includes NO [emphasis added] guidance or advice to custodians or IRA owners regarding how to determine the FMV [fair market value]”. United States Government Accountability Office, GAO-17-02, Retirement Security Improved Guidance Could Help Account Owners Understand the Risks of Investing in Unconventional Assets. (Dec. 2016).
The absence of guidance, however, has not relieved IRA owners or their custodians from obtaining and reporting this information. While there is no specific fair market valuation guidance for IRAs, there are commonly accepted methods of reporting value used by professionals and companies within the self-directed IRA industry. Most of these methods have been adopted from law and regulations governing employer retirement plans or estates.
Methods to be used by Asset Type
The table below outlines preferred valuation methods that are commonly used in the industry for the most common self-directed IRA assets. As you will note, when the valuation is needed for a taxable event, such as a distribution or Roth conversion, greater detail and supporting information will be required as the valuation will result in tax being due.*
| Asset | Non-Taxable (Annual FMV) | Taxable (RMD, distribution or conversion) |
| Real Estate | Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) from a real estate professional is preferred. Some IRA custodians accept property tax assessor values or Zillow reports in non-taxable situations. | Real estate appraisal is preferred. Some IRA custodians accept a broker’s price opinion. |
| Promissory Note | Value of a note can be reported by calculating the principal due plus any accrued and unpaid interest. This is the valuation method used for calculating the value of a note for estate tax purposes. | Same as non-taxable, principal amount due plus accrued and un-paid interest. For notes in default, a third-party opinion as to value is typically required in order for the note to be written-down below face value. |
| Precious Metals | For bullion, use the spot value of the metal in question times the ounces owned. Spot value is widely reported on a daily basis on financial sites. For acceptable coins, use market data for the coin in question via the Grey Sheets available at www.bullionvalues.com. | Same as non-taxable. |
| LLC, LP, or Private Company Interest | Obtain a third party-opinion of value of the LLC interest. The opinion should rely on IRS Revenue Ruling 59-60. For asset holding companies, the valuation should focus on the value of the assets. For operating companies, the valuation should focus on earnings. | Similar requirement, but the detail of the opinion should be more significant. For example, for an asset holding company where the IRA’s interest is determined by the assets of the LLC. A CMA would be acceptable for calculating that assets value in the company in an annual valuation. However, an appraisal of the real estate to calculate in that asset would be required in a taxable situation. |
Since the valuation reporting policies of custodians vary, IRA owners should make sure that they understand their IRA custodian’s policies for valuations of the assets in question.
Our firm routinely assists clients with obtaining third-party opinions of value, and can assist IRA owners who need to produce a report or third party opinion as to an LLC or other investment interest held by an IRA. Call us at (888) 801-0010.
*Please note that there are clearly differences of opinions on these matters, and since there is no specific legal guidance for IRA valuations, please keep in mind that the table above is based on my own industry experience and opinions. Seek a licensed professional in all instances for your specific situation.
by Mat Sorensen | Dec 11, 2018 | Investing
Roth IRAs can be established and funded for high-income earners by using what is known as the “back door” Roth IRA contribution method. Many high-income earners believe that they can’t contribute to a Roth IRA because they make too much money and/or because they participate in a company 401(k) plan. Fortunately, this isn’t true.
While direct contributions to a Roth IRA are limited to taxpayers with income in excess of $120,000 ($189,000 for married taxpayers), those whose income exceeds these amounts may make annual contributions to a non-deductible Traditional IRA and then convert those amounts over to a Roth IRA. Our IRA company – Directed IRA – can help those who want a self-directed “back door” Roth IRA, but the strategy can be done with almost anyone who wants a Roth IRA.
Examples
Here’s a few examples of earners who can establish and fund a Roth IRA:
- “I’m a high-income earner and work for a company who offers a company 401(k) plan. I contribute the maximum amount to that plan each year. Can I establish and fund a Roth IRA?” Yes, even though you are high-income, and even though you participate in a company 401(k) plan, you can establish and fund a Roth IRA. You just have to use the “back door” method.
- “I’m self-employed and earn over $200,000 a year; can I have a Roth IRA? Isn’t my income too high?” Yes, you can contribute to a Roth IRA despite having income that exceeds the Roth IRA income contribution limits of $189,000 for married taxpayers and $120,000 for single taxpayers. You just have to use the “back door” method.
The Process
The strategy used by high-income earners to make Roth IRA contributions involves the deposit of non-deductible contributions to a Traditional IRA, and then converting those funds in the non-deductible Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. This is often times referred to as a “back door” Roth IRA. In the end, you don’t get a tax deduction on the amounts contributed, but the funds are held in a Roth IRA and are tax-free upon retirement (just like a Roth IRA). Here’s how it works:
Step 1: Fund a new non-deductible Traditional IRA.
This IRA is “non-deductible” because high-income earners who participate in a company retirement plan (or who has a spouse who does) can’t also make “deductible” contributions to an IRA. However, the account can be funded by non-deductible amounts up to the IRA annual contribution amounts of $5,500 for 2018 ($6,000 for 2019 and forward). The non-deductible contributions mean you don’t get a tax deduction on the amounts contributed to the Traditional IRA. Don’t worry about having non-deductible contributions though, as you’re converting to a Roth IRA, so you don’t want a deduction for the funds contributed. If you did get a deduction for the contribution, you’d have to pay taxes on the amounts later converted to Roth. You’ll need to file IRS form 8606 for the tax year in which you made the non-deductible IRA contributions. The form can be found here.
If you’re a high-income earner and you don’t have a company-based retirement plan (or a spouse with one), then you simply establish a standard deductible Traditional IRA, as there is no high-income contribution limit on Traditional IRAs when you don’t participate in a company plan.
Step 2: Convert the non-deductible Traditional IRA funds to a Roth IRA.
In 2010, the limitations on Roth IRA conversions, which previously restricted Roth IRA conversions for high-income earners, was removed. As a result, all taxpayers are able to covert traditional IRA funds to Roth IRAs since 2010. It was in 2010 that this “back door” Roth IRA contribution strategy was first utilized as it relied on the ability to convert funds from Traditional to Roth. It has been used by tens of thousands of Americans since.
If you have other existing Traditional IRAs, then the tax treatment of your conversion to Roth becomes a little more complicated as you must take into account those existing IRA funds when undertaking a conversion (including SEP and SIMPLE IRAs). If the only IRA you have is the non-deductible IRA, then the conversion is easy because you convert the entire non-deductible IRA amount over to Roth with no tax on the conversion. Remember, you didn’t get a deduction into the non-deductible Traditional IRA so there is not tax to apply on conversions. On the other hand, if you have an existing IRA with $95,000, and you have $5,000 in non-deductible Traditional IRA contributions in another account that you wish to convert to Roth, then the IRS requires you to convert your IRA funds in equal parts deductible (the $95K bucket) and non-deductible amounts (the new $5k) based on the money you have in all Traditional IRAs. So, if you wanted to convert $10,000, then you’d have to convert $9,500 (95%) of your deductible bucket, which portion of conversion is subject to tax, and $500 of you non-deductible bucket, which isn’t subject to tax upon once converted. Consequently, the “back door” Roth IRA isn’t well suited when you have existing Traditional IRAs that contain deductible contributions and earnings from those sums.
There are two workarounds to this Roth IRA conversion problem, and both revolve around moving the existing Traditional IRA funds into a 401(k) or other employer-based plan as employer plan funds are not considered when determining what portions of the Traditional IRAs are subject to tax on conversion (the deductible and the non-deductible). If you participate in an existing company 401(k) plan, then you may rollover your Traditional IRA funds into that 401(k) plan. Most 401(k) plans allow for this rollover from IRA to 401(k), so long as you are still employed by that company. If you are self-employed, you may establish a Solo or owner-only 401(k) plan, and rollover your Traditional IRA into this 401(k). In the end though, if you can’t roll out existing Traditional IRA funds into a 401(k), then the “back door” Roth IRA is going to cause some tax repercussions, as you also have to convert a portion of the existing Traditional IRA funds, which will cause taxes upon conversion. Taxes on conversion aren’t “the end of the world” though, as all of the money that comes out of that Traditional IRA would be subject to tax at some point in time. The only issue is it causes a big tax bill, so plan carefully.
The bottom line is that Roth IRAs can be established and funded by high-income earners. Don’t consider yourself “left out” on one of the greatest tax strategies offered to Americans: The Roth IRA.
by Mat Sorensen | Oct 15, 2018 | News
Are you a U.S. citizen considering moving yourself or your money outside the USA? Before you or money leave the USA, first consider the tax and legal consequences as they are often misunderstood.
U.S. Citizens have numerous tax and reporting obligations that arise from their foreign assets, investments, and accounts. In essence, if you have foreign assets, investments, or bank accounts, then you have two obligations to the United States Government.
Disclosure
First, you must disclose any foreign bank account whose value is over $10,000 (all foreign accounts are combined to reach the $10,000 threshold) and you must report any foreign asset (e.g. foreign stock, company ownership, etc.) whose value is $50,000 or greater. The form required to be filed annually to disclose foreign bank accounts in excess of $10,000 is known as FinCEN Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR). The form filed annually to disclose foreign assets with a value in excess of $50,000, is IRS Form 8938, Statement of Specified Financial Assets. In sum, the first obligation U.S. citizens have to their home country is the disclosure of foreign bank accounts and foreign assets.
Taxes
Second, as a U.S. citizen you are required to pay U.S. federal income tax on the foreign income you receive as the U.S. taxes its citizens on income no matter whether it was earned in the U.S. or abroad. In other words, even if you make money outside the U.S., as a U.S. citizen, you are still required to pay federal tax on that income. If you paid foreign income taxes to the country where the income was derived and if that country has a tax treaty with the U.S., then you’ll typically receive a credit in the U.S. for the foreign taxes paid, which thereby reduces the amount of federal taxes owed in the U.S. Click here to see the list of countries with a foreign tax treaty with the U.S.
Some U.S. citizens presume that if they leave the U.S. that they are no longer subject to federal income tax in the U.S., but this is not the case. Even if you relocate to a foreign country and no longer earn income from the U.S., you are still subject to U.S. tax on your foreign income (and potential state income tax depending on your state of residence). The only way to entirely escape the tax jurisdiction of the United States is to renounce U.S. citizenship but this is a costly and expensive process with numerous tax repercussions. See the Expatriation Tax rules from the IRS for more information here.
Let’s run through a common example that demonstrates how the disclosure and income tax reporting requirements work. A U.S. citizen has a bank account in Switzerland with a balance of $100,000. That account generates income of $5,000 for the year. For example purposes, let’s say that the $5,000 in income resulted in taxes owed to Switzerland of $500 and that the U.S. citizen reported and paid the tax to Switzerland.
- FBAR. In addition to compliance with Switzerland law, the U.S. citizen would need to file FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR) to disclose the foreign bank account. The FBAR form filing is due by April 15th for the prior year’s accounts. This was changed effective 2017 as the deadline used to be by June 30th for the prior year. A 6-month automatic extension has currently been offered.
- Statement of Foreign Asset. The U.S. Citizen would also need to file IRS Form 8938, since the account was over $50,000. Form 8938 is due with the filing of the U.S. citizen’s federal tax return.
- Foreign and U.S. Tax Reporting. In addition to the two disclosure forms that are filed in the U.S., the $5,000 of income from the Switzerland account must be reported as taxable income on the income tax return (form 1040) of the U.S. citizen. The $500 paid in tax to Switzerland will be credited to the taxpayer in computing the tax owed to the U.S. because the U.S. and Switzerland have a tax treaty.
In sum, a $100,000 foreign bank account resulted in two disclosure form filings to the U.S. and inclusion of the income on the U.S. citizen’s federal tax return. These are just the basics and every country has their own nuances. In addition, there are many special rules and there are numerous exceptions to the filing discussed herein and as a result a U.S. citizen leaving the U.S. or sending money outside the U.S. should seek out experienced professionals to assist them in their U.S. tax and disclosure reporting obligations.
by Mat Sorensen | May 15, 2018 | News, Uncategorized
Are you growing your business? Adding new products or services? New locations? Adding partners or owners? If so, these are all instances when you should consider setting up a subsidiary or other new entity for your existing company. While you can run multiple streams of business through one entity, there are tax, asset protection, and partnership reasons why you may want to open up a new subsidiary entity for your new activity.
Let’s run through a few common situations when it makes sense to open up a subsidiary entity. And by subsidiary, I mean “a new entity which is owned wholly or partly by your primary business entity or by a common holding company.” Your new subsidiary could result in a parent and child relationship where your primary entity (parent) owns the new subsidiary entity (child), or it could be a brother and sister type structure where the primary business is a separate entity (brother) to the new entity (sister) and the two are only connected by you or your holding company that owns each separately and distinctly. (See the diagrams below to view the differences.)
I. Adding a New Product or Service
You may want a new entity to separate and differentiate services or products for liability purposes. For example, let’s say you are a real estate broker providing services of buying and selling properties and you decide to start providing property management services. Because the property management service entails more liability risk, a new entity owned wholly by your existing business could be utilized. The benefit of the new subsidiary is that if anything occurs in the new property management business, then that liability is contained in the new subsidiary and does not go down and affect your existing purchase and sale business. On the other hand, if you ran the property management services directly from the existing company without a new subsidiary and a liability arose, then your purchase and sale business that is running through the same entity would be effected and subject to the liability.
For tax purposes, in this instance, the income from the new subsidiary entity (child) will flow down to the parent entity without a federal tax return, and as a result, there is no benefit or disadvantage from a tax planning standpoint.
II. Opening a New Location
What if you’re establishing a new retail or office location for your business? Let’s say you are a restaurant opening up your second location. For asset protection purposes, you should consider setting up a second entity for the new location. This can limit your risk on the lease (don’t sign a personal guarantee) for the new location or for any liability that may occur at the new location. In this instance, if one location fails or has liability, it won’t affect the other location as they are held in separate entities. The saying goes, “don’t put all your eggs in one basket.” In this case, the basket is the same entity and the locations are your eggs. In the multiple location scenario, you should consider the brother-sister subsidiary structure such that each location is owned in a brother-sister relationship (e.g. neither owns the other) and their common connection is simply the underlying company (or person) who owns each entity for each location. Because both locations have risk it is useful for each to have their own entity and not to own each other (as can occur in the parent-child subsidiary). When structured in a brother-sister relationship, the liability for each location is contained in each subsidiary entity and cannot run over into the other subsidiary entity (the sibling entity) or down to the owner (which may be you personally or your operational holding company).
For tax purposes, the brother and sister subsidiary income (usually single member LLCs) flows down to the parent or primary entity where a tax return is filed (usually an S-Corp). (See the diagram below for an illustration.)
III. Adding a New Partner
Maybe you’re starting a new business or operation where you have a new partner involved. If this partner isn’t involved in your other business activities or your existing company, it is critical that a new entity be established to operate the new partnership business. If you have an existing entity where you run business operational income (e.g., an S-Corporation), then this entity may own your share of the new partnership entity (e.g., an LLC) with your new partner. Your share of the new partnership income flows through the partnership to your existing business entity where you will recognize the income and pay yourself. In this instance, your existing entity is the parent and the new partnership is a partial-child subsidiary. The new partnership entity will typically file a partnership tax return.
IV. California Caveat
Because of gross receipts taxes in California, you may use a Q-Sub entity model where the subsidiary entity is actually another S-Corporation and is called a Q-Sub. This is available only when the parent entity is an S-Corporation and can avoid double gross receipts tax at the subsidiary and parent entity level.
Make sure you speak to your tax attorney for specific planning considerations as there are asset protection and tax considerations unique to each business and subsidiary structure.
by Mat Sorensen | Mar 28, 2017 | News
You have until April 18th, 2017 to make 2016 IRA contributions for Roth and Traditional IRAs. If you’re self-employed and are using a SEP, your deadline is determined by your company’s tax filing deadline (e.g. s-corp, partnership, or sole prop). So, if you were an s-corp or partnership in 2016, then your filing deadline was March 15th, 2017. II you are a sole prop, then the deadline is April 18th, 2017. If you extended your company return, that extension will also apply to your SEP IRA contributions. The table below breaks down the deadlines and extension options for Traditional, Roth and SEP IRAs.
| Type of IRA | Contribution Type | Deadline Details |
| Traditional IRA | Traditional, Deductible | April 18th, 2017: Due Date for Individual Tax Return Filing (not including extensions). IRC § 219(f)(3); You can file your return claiming a contribution before the contribution is actually made. Rev. Rul. 84-18. |
| Roth IRA | Roth, Not Deductible | April 18th, 2017: Due Date for Individual Tax Return Filing (not including extensions). IRC § 408A(c)(7). |
| SEP IRA | Employee, Deductible | N/A: Employee contributions cannot be made to a SEP IRA plan. |
| Employer Contribution, Deductible | March 15/April 15th: Due Date for Company Tax Return Filing (including extensions). IRC § 404(h)(1)(B). |
| | |
As outlined above, you have until the 2016 individual tax return deadline of April 18th, 2017 to make 2016 Traditional and Roth IRA contributions. The deadline for Traditional and Roth IRAs, however, does not include extensions. So, even if you extend your 2016 tax return, your 2016 Traditional and Roth IRA contributions are still due on April 18th, 2017.
SEP IRA contribution deadlines are based on the company tax return deadline, which could be March 15th if the company is taxed as a corporation (“c” or “s”) or partnership, and April 15th if it is a sole proprietorship. Keep in mind that this deadline includes extensions, so if you extend your company tax return filing, you will extend the time period to make 2016 SEP IRA contributions.
An IRA must report its fair market value to the IRS annually. Fair market value is reported to the IRS by your IRA custodian via IRS Form 5498. For standard IRAs holding stocks or mutual funds, those account values are automatically determined as they simply take the stock or fund price as of the close of the market on December 31st each year. They then use these amounts to set the year-end account fair market value. For self-directed accounts, such fair market values are not readily available, and it becomes the IRA account owner’s responsibility to obtain their self-directed investment values so that their custodian can properly report the account’s fair market value. The value of an account is important for a few reasons. First, the IRS requires it to be updated annually. Second, it is used to set required minimum distributions (RMDs) for those account holders over the age of 70 ½ with Traditional IRAs. Last, the account value is used when converting an entire account, or a particular investment or portion of the account, from a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA.
