section update
Tax Law Section Update
By Julian A. Fortuna
The Saylor Law Firm LLP
A
s part of its ongoing CLE Series, the Tax Law Section
held two “Hot Topic” CLE Breakfast Meetings at The
Buckhead Club during the Fall 2012 season.
The first “Hot Topic” breakfast meeting was held on
Wednesday, October 17, 2012. The speaker for this
meeting was Matthew R. Crow, ASA, CFA, President of
Mercer Capital, a Tax Law Section Sponsor. The topic for
this session was: "Tips, Tricks and Secrets of the Business
Appraisal World: What Every Attorney Needs to Know When
Employing A Business Valuation Expert".
Mr. Crow’s presentation discussed the following points:
• How to make sense of the alphabet soup of valuation
credentials - What IRS penalties for appraisers mean
for you and your clients
• Does that appraiser have twenty years of experience,
or one year of experience twenty times? Learn how to
discern the answer
• Industry expertise or valuation expertise? Which is
most important when vetting appraisers?
• Should the IRS DLOM Job Aid change how you use
appraisers?
• If IRS audits are increasing, what should you be doing
to protect your clients?
• Testifying expert or expert testifier? and why it's
important
• Is success in defending appraisal work anything to
be proud of?
• You love case law precedent. How does your business
appraiser regard it?
• Questions to ask your appraiser to make sure you
understand the valuation
The second “Hot Topic” breakfast meeting was held on
Wednesday, November 28, 2012. The speaker for this
meeting was Matthew J. Howard, JD, LL.M, Senior Partner,
Corporate, Tax and Estate Planning Department at the firm
of Moore Ingram Johnson & Steele, LLP who discussed the
topic: “Using Small Captive Insurance Companies to Reduce
Taxes and Lower Premiums”.
The primary focus of Mr. Howard’s presentation was Section
831(b) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, which allows
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THE ATLANTA LAWYER
December 2012
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a small property and casualty insurance company to
elect to have its premium income excluded from taxable
income. This tax &V