Planning Potpourri

■ S corporation Charades: So your CPA recommended an S corp. instead of an LLC
to save payroll taxes. Slick move dude. Like the IRS wouldn’t suspect that.
Right? Take a peek at “Report to the Committee on Finance, U.S. Senate TAX GAP Actions
Needed to Address Noncompliance with S Corporation Tax Rules.” http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d10195.pdf.
Check out this pearl of an excerpt: “Even though a majority of S corporations
used paid preparers, 71 percent of those that did were noncompliant.” Got your
attention? Now try this one out for size: “Some S corporations also failed to
pay adequate wages to shareholders for their labor for the corporation, which
led to underpaying employment taxes.”

So what’s the real
deal? Determining how much can be distributed from a business without being
subject to payroll taxes should be based on an intelligent analysis of the
facts. One approach might be to independently determine a reasonable return on
the capital in the business and separately to determine a reasonable
compensation for the services rendered to the business (considering industry
data, comparable prices for others providing similar services, and adjusting
for the differences of your particular business).  Subtract these from profits. If there’s a
difference evaluate a reasonable method to allocate that difference against
your estimates for compensation and/or return on capital. You could just take
the easy, smart but more costly approach, and hire an appraiser to document the
figures. There is a wealth of tax law that can provide guidance as to the
factors to consider in any analysis. Reasonable compensation is a permitted
deduction under Code Section 162(a)(1). The determination should be based on
the facts and circumstances of each case. Treas. Reg. 1.162-7(b)(3). Factors
might include:  ◙ The employee’s role and contribution. ◙ How the employee’s
compensation compares with similar employees of other businesses. ◙ The nature and
financial condition of the corporation. ◙  Dividend
payment history of the corporation. ◙ Compensation to other employees relative to their
work load and responsibility and the
internal consistency of the compensation for the employee in question. Mayson
Mfg. Co. v. Commr., 38 AFTR 1028 (178 F.2d 115), 11/17/1949.

The one thing that you really shouldn’t do is
simply set up your business as an S corporation and assume, as your CPA may
have told you, that you can just treat some modest amount as wages, and take
the bulk out as an S corporation distribution not subject to payroll taxes.
Superficial assumptions might lead to not so superficial penalties!