T&K Tax Knowledge

T&K Diversity Spotlight: Women’s History Month/Emily Parker

Honoring Emily Parker

In honor of Women’s History Month, we are proud to highlight the accomplishments of Emily A. Parker, the Firm’s first female attorney and Partner.  Over the course of her career, Emily has excelled in industries and practice areas not traditionally associated with women, breaking through the glass ceiling with her litany of “firsts.” 
 
After graduating from Stephen F. Austin State University in 1970, Emily wanted a career beyond the traditional roles for women at the time. She joined Thompson & Knight as the Firm’s first female attorney in 1973 with a degree from SMU Dedman School of Law. She became the Firm’s first female Partner in 1979, and within her first 28 years of practice at Thompson & Knight as a tax lawyer, she became the first woman to serve as Practice Group Leader, Hiring Partner, and member of the Management Committee.  Emily briefly left the Firm from 2002-2004 to work for the IRS in Washington, D.C., and very quickly took on the role of Acting Chief Counsel and Deputy Chief Counsel. Thankfully, she returned to Dallas and rejoined Thompson & Knight. Following her return, she again served as a member of the Management Committee and served as the Firm’s first female Managing Partner.

Emily is considered one of the top tax litigators in the United States. Historically, tax controversy and oil and gas taxation have been dominated by men, and many of her clients, colleagues, and competitors have been men.  Her success, rising to the very pinnacle of her profession, is a testament to her intelligence, professional judgment, and leadership skills.  Among her accolades, she was the first woman to receive the “Outstanding Texas Tax Lawyer” award, the highest award given by the State Bar of Texas Tax Section, and in 2016 was selected to deliver the annual Griswold Lecture by the American College of Tax Counsel. She has also been honored by The Best Lawyers in America®, Chambers USA, The Legal 500 US, Texas Super Lawyers®, D Magazine, and as one of the “Most Influential Leaders in North Texas” in The Dallas 500 by D CEO.  Later this year, Emily will receive the ABA Section of Taxation “Distinguished Service Award,” which honors individuals with distinguished careers in tax law and who have provided an aspirational standard for all tax lawyers to emulate.

Emily leads not only through example—by being the first to step through so many previously closed doors and inspiring other female attorneys to achieve their own successes—but also by being a dedicated and effective mentor, teacher, coach, and advocate.  Emily’s successes made the way much easier for the women who have followed her – she opened doors by proving to be equal, or more than equal, to her male colleagues.  She has met the false stereotypes associated with women in the workplace head on and, by triumphing over them, has paved the way for other women to follow in her footsteps.

Proposed Regulations Liberalize Requirements for Hardship Distributions

Posted by Russell Gully, Sharon Fountain, and Jessica Morrison

               

Most 401(k) and 403(b) plans allow plan participants to take in-service hardship distributions. In response to various pieces of tax legislation, the Department of the Treasury and the Internal Revenue Service proposed new Treasury Regulations governing hardship distributions effective generally for plan years beginning after December 31, 2018.  Please see our client alert for more information. If you have any questions, please contact the T&K tax attorney with whom you regularly work or any of the T&K tax attorneys listed in the client alert.

2019 Cost-of-Living Adjustments Applicable to Employee Benefit Plans

Posted by Neely Munnerlyn

      

The Internal Revenue Service has announced the cost-of-living adjustments for limitations applicable to employee benefit plans qualified under the Internal Revenue Code.  See our client alert for more information.   If you have any questions, please contact the T&K tax attorney with whom you regularly work or any of the T&K tax attorneys listed in the client alert.

Bypass Trust Planning in a High Exemption Environment

Posted by Bill Mureiko and Sarah Woodberry

            

After President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act tax reform bill (the “Tax Bill”) into law at the end of 2017, many clients may have been lulled into thinking that no update to their existing estate plan is required, given the increased estate and gift tax exemption amount.  In fact, the Tax Bill introduces uncertainty that should be considered by virtually all those who have existing estate plans.  We have prepared a client alert that is relevant for clients with sizeable estates, but generally not estates in excess of $22 million for married couples.  If you have any questions, please contact the T&K tax attorney with whom you regularly work or any of the T&K tax attorneys listed in the client alert.

President of Mexico Passes Decree Including Tax Amendments

Posted by Mario Barrera

     

On June 1, 2018, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto published a decree in the Federal Register amending several provisions of different statutes, including the Federal Fiscal Code (Código Fiscal de la Federación).  The most relevant amendments to the Code are the following:

Lee Meyercord Quoted on New Partnership Audit Rules

Posted by Lee Meyercord and Mary McNulty

          

Lee Meyercord was on several panels last week regarding the new partnership audit rules at the Federal Tax Workshop in Dallas. The panels discussed calculating and modifying the imputed underpayment, the push-out election (including the proposed regulations issued last December that allow the push-out election through tiers), and various other procedural issues.

IRS Extends Effective Period of 2017 Forms W-4

Posted by Neely Munnerlyn

In Notice 2018-14, the IRS extended the effective period of Forms W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, for 2017 until February 28, 2018.  A Form W-4 that claims an exemption from withholding for a year typically expires on February 15 of the following year, but this period has been extended for 2017 Forms W-4 since the 2018 Form W-4 has not yet been released.  Notice 2018-14 also temporarily permits employees to claim exemption from withholding for 2018 by using the 2017 Form W-4 and temporarily suspends the requirement for an employee to provide a new Form W-4 to his or her employer within 10 days of a change in status that reduces the employee’s permissible withholding allowances.  In addition, Notice 2018-14 provides that the optional withholding rate on supplemental wage payments is 22% for 2018 through 2025.  The IRS has also released a new version of Publication 15 (Circular E), Employer’s Tax Guide for 2018 which provides additional information regarding an employer’s tax withholding obligations.   Click here for Notice 2018-14 and here for the new version of Publication 15 (Circular E).  Please contact the above author or the Thompson & Knight attorney with whom you regularly work if you have any questions regarding these developments.

IRS Updates Withholding Tables for 2018

Posted by Neely Munnerlyn

 
 

The Internal Revenue Service recently released Notice 1036, which updates the income tax withholding tables for 2018 to reflect changes made by the tax reform legislation enacted last month. The updated tables reflect the increased standard deduction, repeal of personal exemptions and adjusted tax rates included in the new tax law. Employers should begin using the new withholding tables as soon as possible but no later than February 15, 2018. The IRS also published a list of Frequently Asked Questions to provide additional guidance to employers. Click here for Notice 1036 and here for the list of Frequently Asked Questions. Please contact the above author or the Thompson & Knight attorney with whom you regularly work if you would like to discuss the new tables.

New Tax Law Includes Significant Changes Affecting Tax-Exempt Organizations

Posted by David Rosenberg, Tyree Collier, Lee Meyercord, Katie Gerber, and Jackson Oliver

     

The new tax bill enacted in December (the “Tax Bill”) includes many changes affecting tax-exempt organizations, including changes to excise taxes imposed on private foundations and universities, the charitable donations deduction, tax-exempt bonds, and the treatment of unrelated business taxable income (“UBTI”). The changes are effective January 1, 2018. The following summarizes the key changes in the Tax Bill for tax-exempt organizations.

Foreign Financial Institutions Receive Some Relief from FATCA TIN Reporting Requirement

Posted by Joe Rudberg, John Cohn, and Jana Benson

                   

On September 25, 2017, the IRS released Notice 2017-46 providing much anticipated official relief to foreign financial institutions (FFIs) facing requirements to obtain and report taxpayer identification numbers (TINs).  Earlier this year, regulations were released under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) that require certain FFIs to report TINs to the IRS for foreign financial accounts held by U.S. taxpayers and foreign entities with U.S. owners.  Under the regulations, each FFI was required to report this information to its taxing authority, which then must exchange the information with the IRS.  Beginning with the 2017 tax year, the regulations stated that a FFI that did not include a reportable person’s TIN would be considered in significant non-compliance with FATCA and trigger a notice to the foreign taxing authority concerning such non-compliance.  If the FFI did not remedy the lack of a TIN after such notice, the U.S. could treat the FFI as a “nonparticipating FFI” subject to 30% withholding under FATCA.