1、中文 3623 字 外 文 翻 译 原文： The Tax Forecast Moving into the year-end tax planning season, tax practitioners are faced with a considerable degree of uncertainty caused by congressional indecision. As this column goes to press, uncertainty surrounds whether a long list of extenders and small business tax b
2、reaks will in fact apply retroactively to Jan. 1, 2010. Equally uncertain is whether the massive 2001 tax cuts, due to expire at the end of 2010, will be extended into 2011. The focus of this article is strategies to prepare for a probable change in the 2010 tax rate structure for 2011.The outcome h
3、ere is somewhat more predictable than the fate of the extenders and small business relief, and it may take more preparation for clients to make plans to meet the challenges of changing tax rates. Current intelligence from Capitol Hill anticipates that Congress will keep rates for 2011 at 2010 levels
4、 for taxpayers now in the 10% through 28% brackets. Those with taxable income within the two highest brackets, however, are likely to see their rates jump from 33% and 35% to 36% and 39.6%, respectively. The maximum capital gains rate, likewise, will remain the same except for those in new .36% and
5、39.6% brackets； they will be expected to pay capital gains tax at a maximum 20% rate. The dollar brackets to which the 2011 rates will apply are anticipated to track the 2010 amounts, adjusted upward for information as is done every year, with one exception. The threshold for the resurrected 36% rat
6、e would start at a higher dollar level: $200,000 for single filers and $250,000 for joint returns (rather than at what would have been the inflation-adjusted bracket levels of $176,000 and $314,250, respectively). Following suit, the higher 20% maximum capital gains rate would also start at those le
7、vels. Dividends likewise may share that 20% rate or may revenue to being treated as ordinary income. PERSONAL TAX PLANNING Generally, many of the traditional tax techniques that have applied to individuals expecting to be in a higher tax bracket in a future year because of higher income levels apply
8、 equally well to planning for the projected increase in the 33% and 35% rates to 36% and 39.6%. Techniques that involve the shifting of income and expenses between one tax year and the next remain viable. However, in anticipating the rate and bracket amount changes likely to apply to higher-income t
9、axpayers in 2011, planning should not just follow the traditional rule that income and deductions generally should be evenly balanced between years. Under a revised paradigm, the goal is for tax liability to remain relatively constant, with no one years taxable income falling into a higher marginal
10、tax bracket. The prospects for higher income tax and capital gains rates now require attention not only to taxable income for both years, but also to each years bottom-line tax liability. Higher rates for 2011 should place more value on two approaches that are the reverse of typical year-end tax str
11、ategies for clients otherwise not anticipating much change in their overall tax profile: accelerating more income in 2010 and deferring more expenses into 2011. Right now, we are comfortable examining the income acceleration aspect of tax planning. When Congress finally decides what expense-related
12、deductions will be extended in 2010 and/or 2011, we will feel free to tackle that pare of the strategy. APPRECIATED ASSETS Accelerating gains on stock and other appreciated assets into 2010 by engaging in taxable sales this year is a powerful strategy for taking advantage of a lower current tax-rate
13、 structure. Selling an asset for the gain is not prohibited per se. The wash sale rule applies to the sale of stock or securities in which losses are realized, but not recognized, because the seller acquires substantially identical stock or securities 30 days before or after the sale. Non-recognized
14、 applies only to those losses； gains are recognized in full. Likewise, only losses on sales to related parties are specifically barred under the Tax Code. Nevertheless, the IRS may question the recognized of gain under the bona fide sale doctrine. If the transaction is a sham and simply used to acce
15、lerate gain without transferring underlying ownership and user rights, its treatment as a sale will de ignored. Deferring the recognized of certain capital losses in 2010 can also fit into an overall strategy of maximizing the 15% rate on capital gains while it lasts. Capital loss transactions defer
16、red into 2011 can offset capital gains realized and taxed in 2011 at the anticipated 20% rate. Of course, the assumption here is that a sale of this loss asset in 2010 would have been used in 2010 to offset net capital gains otherwise taxed at 15%. PUSHING FORWARD Under the doctrines of constructive
17、 receipt and economic benefit, compensation is included in income in the first year it is constructively received, or is see aside for the employees exclusive economic benefit, and is not subject to a substantial risk of forfeiture. Manipulating year-end compensation to push income into 2010, howeve
18、r, must be done with added concern over close adherence to the rules. With the current 1RS and SEC focus on executive compensation in general, special care muse be taken in navigating these navigating these relatively complex waters. Non-qualified deferred compensation plans. Once salary is deferred
19、 under the non-qualified deferred compensation rules of Code Sec. 409A, it generally may not be accelerated. Nonqualified deferred compensation already agreed to in 2010 generally is locked in and can no longer be amended. Code Sec. 409A provides that, in the case of any performance-based compensati
20、on of services carried out over a period of at lease 12 months, an election to defer income may be made no later than six months before the end of the period. A non-qualified deferred compensation plan governed by Code Sec. 409A cannot permit the acceleration of the time or schedule of any payment under the plan. Limited exceptions exist, such as for a disability or unforeseen emergency that are outside of the taxpayers control in implementing within an income acceleration strategy. Violation of 409As distribution rules triggers significant interest and
