Tax and Finance Management

New Guidance: Calculation of Non-deductible Parking Expenses

From OMA Connections Partner, Bricker & Eckler: “The Internal Revenue Service recently issued Notice 2018-99 to address changes in the Internal Revenue Code included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Notice 2018-99 provides interim guidance on the calculation of expenses incurred by employers to provide their employees with parking as a qualified transportation fringe benefit (QTF).

“As a result, this Notice impacts the calculation of non-deductible expenses for taxable employers and the calculation of unrelated business taxable income (UBTI) for tax-exempt employers.”

Read more from Bricker about this. 12/17/2018

Leased Employee Case Decided

On December 12, 2018, the Supreme Court of Ohio issued a much-anticipated decision in the case of Seaton Corp. v. Testa, 2018 WL 6628481, 2018-Ohio-4911, which interprets the definition of “employment services” for Ohio sales and use tax purposes.

This case offers critical insight to manufacturers when structuring a new leased-employee arrangement.

You can read about the decision in this short case summary from OMA Tax Counsel Justin Cook at Bricker & Eckler. 12/20/2018

Complying with New Revenue Recognition Accounting Standards

Under the new revenue recognition accounting standards (ASU 2014-09), all companies will recognize revenue from customer contracts using a five-step model.

This series of short videos from OMA Connections Partner Clark Schaefer Hackett will help define and explain each of the five steps in detail. 12/13/2018

IRS Issues Proposed Regs on Business Interest Expense Deductions

From OMA Connections Partner Clark Schaefer Hackett (CSH): “In April 2018, the IRS released temporary guidance on the amended limit on deductions for business interest expense for tax years beginning in 2018. Taxpayers were allowed to rely on that guidance while waiting for regulations. The IRS has now published proposed regulations that taxpayers can rely on until final regs are released.”

Read more from CSH about the changing deduction limit and the new definition of interest.12/7/2018

Ready for Overhaul of Revenue Recognition Accounting Standards?

From OMA Connections Partner Clark Schaefer Hackett: “The effective dates for the new revenue recognition standards are drawing near, so it’s critical that you understand the guidelines and potential impact on your business. Under the new standard, all companies need to recognize revenue from customer contracts using a five-step model.”

CSH has produced a series of short videos to explain the changes. The newest video takes an in-depth look at Step 4: Allocate the Transaction Price to the Performance Obligations in the Contract. 11/29/2018

Senates Holds 2nd Hearing on MegaJobs Tax Credit Bill

This week the Senate Ways and Means Committee held proponent testimony on Senate Bill 309, a bill designed to lure large scale megaprojects such as Amazon H2Q and Foxconn.

The bill would increase tax incentives exponentially for the operators and certain suppliers of a “megaproject,” i.e., a development project that includes $1 billion in investment or creates at least $50 million in Ohio payroll.

Supporters of the bill that testified this week included economic development organizations Columbus 2020 and the Greater Cleveland Partnership.

The OMA Tax Committee reviewed the bill and highlighted many concerns with the tax credits, including who can qualify and how the bill potentially puts manufacturers who have operated in Ohio for years at a competitive disadvantage with respect to new companies that may receive the credits. 11/15/2018

Tax Expenditure Review Committee Releases Report – Leaves Manufacturing Exemption Intact

This week the Tax Expenditure Review Committee released its long awaited report. The report did not recommend eliminating any of the expenditures it heard testimony about over the previous year. Instead the committee laid out a schedule to review remaining expenditures over the next several General Assemblies.

The OMA had testified to the committee about the importance of the manufacturing sales and use tax exemption for Ohio’s manufacturing competitiveness.

The committee wisely decided to leave the manufacturing sales and use tax exemption intact in Ohio’s tax laws. 11/15/2018

Guidance on New Revenue Recognition Standards

Under the new revenue recognition accounting standards (ASU 2014-09), all companies will recognize revenue from customer contracts using a five-step model.

This series of videos from OMA Connections Partner Clark Schaefer Hackett will help define and explain each of the five steps in detail. Here are short videos that provide an overview and the first three of the five steps. The remaining steps will be addressed in future videos. 11/3/2018

Ohio Virtual Tax Academy up on November 14

The Ohio Department of Taxation continues its series of the Ohio Virtual Tax Academy on Wednesday, November 14. The quarterly webinars are free.

The next session will cover: Updates for Personal & School District Income and Employer Withholding Taxes; Allocating Compensation – Stock Options, Commissions, Base Salary and Capital Gains; and, Internet Retail & the Sales and Use Taxes.

The program will run from 8:20 a.m. – 12:00 noon. Register here. 10/30/2018

Take Advantage of Tax Credit by Adopting Paid Leave Policy Before Year End

From OMA Connections Partner Calfee: “The IRS recently issued guidance on the new employer paid leave tax credit (codified as Code Section 45S), which was included in the tax reform law passed late last year. Employers that implement written policies complying with the new IRS guidance (including administration of those policies) by year-end may take advantage of the tax credit for the 2018 tax year.

“The credit available to employers under the tax code can total between 12.5% and 25% of the qualifying wages paid for those qualifying leaves (depending on the percentage of pay provided to employees during leave). …”

Read more from Calfee about how to qualify for the tax credit. 10/23/2018