The following is a summary of the most important tax developments that have occurred in the past three months that may affect you, your family, your investments, and your livelihood. Please contact us for more information about any of these developments and what steps you should implement to take advantage of favorable developments and to minimize the impact of those that are unfavorable.

On April 5, the Senate by a vote of 87-12 approved H.R. 4, the “Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act of 2011.” The measure, which retroactively repeals expanded Form 1099 information reporting rules added by recent legislation, was passed by the House on March 3 by a vote of 314-112. Thus, H.R. 4 (the Act) is cleared for the President's expected signature.

For payments made after Dec. 31, 2011, the Act repeals the provisions that impose a reporting requirement for payments to corporations and payments for goods or other property, and for payments made after Dec. 31, 2010, the Act also repeals application of the information reporting requirements to recipients of rental income from real estate who are not otherwise considered to be engaged in the trade or business of renting property.

Please contact us , if you have any questions.

The tax laws enacted in the last couple of years contain important income tax and information reporting provisions that are effective for the first time in 2011. To inform you of what's new in the tax rules, here's a summary of the key tax changes for 2011, broken down into three categories: Personal Income Taxes, Retirement Plan Changes, and Tax Changes for Businesses and Investors.

Before the new law, there was no estate tax for 2010, but some beneficiaries could have faced higher taxes because there were less favorable income tax basis rules. Also, under the prior law, estate and other transfer taxes were scheduled to rise substantially for post-2010 transfers.

While the new law tax changes in the bipartisan legislation that was enacted in late 2010 were the most significant developments in the fourth quarter of 2010, many other tax developments may affect you, your family, and your livelihood. These other key developments in the fourth quarter of 2010 are summarized below. Please contact us for more information about any of these developments and what steps you should implement to take advantage of favorable developments and to minimize the impact of those that are unfavorable.

Provisions in the recently enacted “Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010,” make several important changes to the child tax credit, which is an up-to-$1,000 credit (i.e., dollar-for-dollar reduction in tax) for each qualifying child under the age of 17 that taxpayers with incomes below certain levels can take against their federal tax liability.