History
This landmark act in 1909 introduced the concept of taxing corporate profits and set the stage for the modern tax landscape.
What is the Revenue Act of 1909? (The beginning of corporate taxation!)
To qualify for this coveted status, an organization must primarily operate for charitable, religious, or educational purposes.
What is 501(c)(3)?
When corporations find themselves at odds with the IRS, they often turn to this specialized court known for its focus on tax disputes.
What is the U.S. Tax Court?
This federal law, often abbreviated as ERISA, was designed to protect the rights of employees in pension and health plans.
What is the Employee Retirement Income Security Act?
This quirky tax was enacted during World War I and was designed to fund the war effort, but it’s still on the books today, leading to some amusing situations.
What is the “luxury tax” on certain high-end items, like yachts and private jets?
Known for its sweeping changes, this 2017 legislation slashed the corporate tax rate and sent shockwaves through the business world.
What is the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act?
To maintain tax-exempt status, organizations must file this annual report, providing transparency about their operations and finances.
What is Form 990?
This legal term describes the process corporations undergo to challenge tax assessments, often involving high-stakes negotiations.
What is "tax litigation"?
This core principle of ERISA ensures that employees are informed about their benefits, often summarized in a handy document.
What is a Summary Plan Description (SPD)?
This famous American company once faced a tax bill so large that it reportedly considered relocating to avoid it, demonstrating the influence of tax policy on corporate decisions.
What is General Electric?
This pivotal Supreme Court case in 1911 confirmed the constitutionality of the corporate income tax, solidifying the government’s power to tax corporate profits.
What is Pollock v. Farmers' Loan & Trust Co.?
This concept defines the amount of time a tax-exempt organization must operate in its exempt purpose to avoid losing its tax-exempt status, typically referred to as the "operational test."
What is the "substantially all" test?
In tax disputes, the IRS carries this burden of proof, a crucial concept in determining the outcome of many cases.
What is "preponderance of the evidence"?
This type of non-qualified deferred compensation plan allows executives to defer income taxes on a portion of their earnings, often involving complex tax implications and regulations.
What is a Section 409A deferred compensation plan?
The U.S. tax code is so extensive that if printed out, it could fill this many volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica, showcasing its complexity and breadth.
What is 12 (or more)?
Before the recent tax reforms, this was the highest corporate tax rate on the books, a daunting figure for many businesses.
What is 35%
This legal challenge, often faced by tax-exempt organizations, involves proving that their primary activities further their exempt purpose, especially when engaging in advocacy or lobbying.
What is the "primary purpose" doctrine?
This infamous tax case involved a corporation's creative deductions for a tax shelter scheme, leading to a landmark decision.
What is the "Klein v. Commissioner" case?
Under the Affordable Care Act, employers with 50 or more full-time employees must comply with this requirement, which mandates the provision of health insurance or face penalties.
What is the Employer Shared Responsibility Payment?
This unusual tax exemption allows certain organizations to avoid taxation on income derived from specific activities, even if those activities are highly profitable.
What is the exemption for income from "related" business activities of 501(c)(3) organizations? (Where charity meets entrepreneurship!)
This 1969 act introduced the alternative minimum tax for corporations, ensuring that even the most creative tax planners couldn’t escape taxation entirely.
What is the Tax Reform Act of 1969?
This intricately designed plan allows churches and certain religious organizations to maintain tax-exempt status while also providing employees with tax-free housing allowances, subject to specific IRS guidelines.
What is the parsonage allowance?
The IRS’s practice of auditing corporate tax returns is known as this, a term that strikes fear into the hearts of many CFOs.
What is "examination"?
The "top-heavy" rules under this code section require certain retirement plans to provide minimum benefits to non-key employees if a significant portion of the plan's assets is held by key employees.
What is Section 416 of the Internal Revenue Code?
In a bizarre twist, this country once taxed the number of windows in a building, leading to some creative architectural solutions as people sought to minimize their tax burden.
What is the United Kingdom? (The infamous window tax of the 1690s that changed skylines!)