Whitley Penn Tax Newsletter

June 2016

FBAR Deadline - June 30, 2016

Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN") Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts ("FBAR"), must be filed by any U.S. person that has a financial interest or signature authority in financial accounts whose aggregate value exceeds $10,000 USD at any time during a tax year. FinCEN utilizes the data provided on Form 114 as a measure to combat money laundering, terrorism financing, and other financial crimes.

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Estate Basis Reporting Requirement Deadline - June 30, 2016

In accordance with legislation passed in 2015, estate executors may now be required to implement additional IRS reporting requirements related to property distributed from an estate to its beneficiaries.

The new reporting requirement ensures consistency between the fair market value of property (FMV) reported on an estate tax return and the corresponding tax basis of that property used by beneficiaries in reporting gains and losses on their income tax returns.

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Tax-Efficient Expansion Outside the United States

When considering the expansion of your operations outside of the United States, a number of tax, business, legal, and regulatory issues should be addressed in advance in order to ensure that the overall objectives of the expansion are satisfied. The key considerations include:

The Company's commercial footprint in the new territory

Determine the activities, assets, and personnel that the Company will deploy outside the U.S. The range of activities may vary from a limited scope and duration to a full scale operation with long-term deployment of capital, plant and equipment, and local workforce. The scope of the operation will determine the impact of foreign income tax, sales or VAT tax, and transfer tax.

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Louisiana Enacts Broad Range of Tax Increases

The Louisiana Legislature addressed the State's $900 million budget deficit during the 2016 First Extraordinary Session which concluded March 9, 2016. During the special session, the legislature increased the state sales and use tax rate by 1 percent, temporarily suspended various exemptions and enacted click-through and affiliate nexus provisions that require remote sellers to collect tax in the state.

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U.S. Department of Labor Amends Final Rule on Overtime Wages

For 76 years, the Department of Labor ("DOL") has issued regulations covering exempt versus non-exempt employees and the payment of overtime wages. On May 18, the DOL announced new guidelines for its overtime rules that will go into effect on December 1, 2016. Before the issuance of these guidelines, the regulations have remained relatively constant since their last major update in 2004.

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