Two significant changes were made to the Virginia recording tax statutes applicable to deeds of trusts during the 2012 session of the General Assembly. First, the exemption from recording taxes for deeds of trust whose purpose is to refinance an existing debt with the same lender was eliminated. Second, on deeds of trust securing debt in excess of the fair market value of the real estate, the recording tax now may be paid on the value of the property conveyed rather than the amount of the debt.
The IRS and Treasury recently proposed regulations that, if finalized, would permit an employer in bankruptcy to amend its defined benefit plan to eliminate certain optional forms of benefit, including lump sum payments.
The IRS issued proposed regulations providing a limited exception to the anti-cutback rules under Code section 411(d)(6) for a plan sponsor that is a debtor in a bankruptcy proceeding. The anti-cutback rules generally prohibit amendments to qualified retirement plans that reduce or eliminate accrued benefits, early retirement benefits, retirement-type subsidies or optional forms of benefits.
Generally, retirement plan benefits are excluded from a bankruptcy estate. However, if the retirement plan is not covered by Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), a separate exemption from the bankruptcy estate must be found. Some retirement plans are not covered by Title I of ERISA because they do not cover employees, which, for this purpose, excludes the sole owner of a business and the owner’s spouse. These types of plans are commonly referred to as “Keogh” plans.
The decision we've all been waiting for is in -- the U.S.
The two most recent decisions of the Supreme Court involving federal taxes illustrate how a conservative approach to statutory interpretation tends to prevail, but only with great effort, and changing constituencies.
Hall v. United States
On May 14, 2012, the Supreme Court decided Hall v. United States, No. 10-875, holding that a federal income tax liability resulting from the postpetition sale of an individual debtor's farm during the pendency of a Chapter 12 bankruptcy is not "incurred by the estate" within the meaning of 11 U.S.C. § 503(b)(B)(i) and therefore is not dischargeable in the bankruptcy.
The Supreme Court of the United States announced its decision in one case this morning:
Opposing lawyers for Jefferson County, the debtor in the largest Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy case ever filed, and the holders of its sewer warrants squared off last week in the ongoing fight over control of the County’s sewer system and the right to its revenues. (Expert witness
LTR 201214013 applies a 55 year old ruling to treat a subsidiary liquidation as a downstream D reorganization, thus preserving the basis in the liquidating subsidiary’s stock, which would not be the case if it had liquidated under section 332.
Facts. Holdco owns Parent, which owns Target Parent, which owns Target Sub. Holdco wants to wind up owning Target Sub directly, but evidently did not want to lose its basis in its Parent stock and wanted to maintain Parent in existence as an entity.