Current Affairs

Treasury Ruling: Same Sex Marriage Recognized for All Federal Tax Purposes

Last Thursday, August 29, 2013, the Treasury Department issued Revenue Ruling 2013-17 which provides that for all federal tax purposes, the terms “spouse,” “husband and wife,” “husband,” and “wife” include an individual married to a person of the same sex if the individuals are lawfully married in a state (or foreign country) whose laws authorize… Read More

Princeton University’s Tax-Exempt Status is Challenged

A group of Princeton University’s neighbors think it should lose its tax exempt status under New Jersey law. In the law suit, Plaintiffs argue that Princeton University violates the provisions of its tax-exempt status because it is earning hundreds of millions of dollars in patent royalty income and is distributing some of that money to… Read More

Unconstitutionality of DOMA raises More Questions than it Answers

The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996, prevented same-sex couples whose marriages were recognized by their home state from receiving benefits available to other married couples under federal law. U.S. v. Windsor  is the Supreme Court Case that held last week that Section 3 of DOMA was… Read More

The Dirty Dozen for 2013 – Part 2

Last week we gave you the first six scams of the IRS’s “Dirty Dozen.” This week’s column presents the second half of 2013’s “Dirty Dozen”. Don’t fall prey to these schemes. Including income that was never earned, either as wages or as self-employment income in order to maximize refundable credits, is a popular scam. Claiming… Read More

The Dirty Dozen for 2013 – Part 1

On March 26 the IRS released its annual list of the worst 12 tax scams for the year. The IRS cautions taxpayers not to fall for any of these scams – often these scams are at their peak during the filing season as people prepare their tax returns. This week’s column presents one-half of the… Read More

Sequestration and What it Means to the People of Pennsylvania

Sequestration is a series of automatic, across-the-board cuts to government agencies, totaling $1.2 trillion over 10 years. The cuts are to be split 50-50 between defense and domestic discretionary spending. It started in 2011 with the standoff over the U.S. debt ceiling. Congress and the administration agreed to more than $2 trillion in spending cuts.… Read More

The New Pennsylvania Benefit Corporation

Pennsylvania has a new corporate form called a “Benefit Corporation”. It was signed into law October 24, 2012. Written by Philadelphia lawyers William Clark and Lizzie Babson, the new law has received wide bipartisan support across the country. Pennsylvania is the 12th state to adopt the legislation, joining California, Illinois, New York and other states.… Read More

Medicare to End Practice of Requiring Patients to Show Progress to Receive Nursing Coverage

Thank you to Elder Law Answers for this report: In a major change in Medicare policy, the Obama administration has provisionally agreed to end Medicare’s longstanding practice of requiring that beneficiaries with chronic conditions and disabilities show a likelihood of improvement in order to receive coverage of skilled care and therapy services. The policy shift… Read More