In The Black
Whitley Penn's Blog
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Whitley Penn's Thania Gonzalez and Jessica Merriman to Serve as Experienced Industry Resources to the AICPA's Enhanced Oversite Program
Brian Starr Named to the Tellepsen Family Downtown YMCA Board of Directors
Stephanie Braislin Brandt Named to the
Dallas Business Journal's 40 Under 40 List
Anne Slattery Joins Whitley Penn as Risk Advisory Services Senior Manager
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DFW Public Sector CPE
April 27th
Houston Public Sector CPE
April 29th
Houston Cybersecurity Seminar
May 10th
Save the Date for the 19th Annual Whitley Penn Employee Benefit Plan Conference!
June 9 - Fort Worth
June 23 - Dallas
June 30 - Houston
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The Research Credit is Back for Good
New law permanently extends tax break
Like Arnold Schwarzenegger's character in The Terminator, the research credit is back. This valuable tax break, which had officially expired and been restored more than a dozen times in the past, was extended again by the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act, retroactive to the beginning of 2015. What's more, the credit has been made permanent, with certain modifications, by the new PATH Act.
Background: The research credit is generally equal to 20% of the amount of qualified research expenses for the year exceeding a base amount. The base amount is a fixed-base percentage (not to exceed 16%) of average annual receipts for the prior four years. In no case, however, can it amount to less than 50% of the annual qualified research expenses.
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Four Basic Baskets of Interest Expenses
Are interest expenses deductible? The answer is a complicated "yes and no." Essentially, it depends on the type of interest expense incurred. Although there are technically other types, interest expenses can be lumped into four main baskets for tax purposes.
1. Personal interest: If an interest expense does not fall into one of the other three categories, it is generally treated as personal interest. Simply put, personal interest is nondeductible. However, there is a key exception for interest paid on student loans. In brief, you can claim a limited deduction for interest paid for qualified higher education expenses-such as tuition, room and board, and books and fees-if the loan is in your name. The maximum deduction of $2,500 is phased out for high-income taxpayers.
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Adding Instant Value to Your Internal Audit Function
In a recent
survey performed by the Institute of Internal Auditors ("IIA"), it was found that 56% of North American companies used third party firms to conduct all or part of their Internal Audit function. With such a high percentage of companies already using external firms and the percentage vastly increasing, the IIA asked five questions and received 14,518 responses from 166 countries at the Chief Audit Executive ("CAE"), Director, Manager, and Staff levels.
Who uses third parties for internal audit activities?
- According to the survey, financial sector, publicly traded organizations, and not-for-profit organizations were more likely to use third parties than public sector and privately held organizations.
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DALLAS FORT WORTH HOUSTON
whitleypenn.com
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