Taxation for Universities and Colleges E-Book

Steve Hoffman

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Serie: Wiley Nonprofit Authority
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 249

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2013

Beschreibung

The "Tax Translator" offers much needed advice and guidance on tax compliance for institutions of higher learning

College and university officials often are unaware of their institutions' tax obligations. Especially for institutions without designated tax compliance officers, the consequences of such ignorance can devastating. Based on its author's decades of experiences as a tax manager at three universities, this handbook was written for all university staff involved with tax compliance—from the account clerk in the Accounts Payable Department, up through vice presidents, controllers, treasurers and directors. Steve Hoffman explains the core principles and practices that inform current tax policy and develops a framework for building a system for effective tax compliance, reporting and filing.

• Satisfies the urgent demand for timely, authoritative advice and guidance on a area of increasing concern for colleges and universities
• Sheds new light on the impact of current tax obligations for both four-year and community colleges, which are often left out of the discussion
• The Federal Government has recently stepped up its enforcement of tax law compliance for colleges and universities

Leseprobe

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Preface

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Chapter One: Awareness

Defining Tax Exempt

The Six Steps of Tax Compliance

The Five Things You Need to Do First

The Different Kinds of Tax

In Summary: Build Your Village

Chapter Two: Identification

Steps in Identifying Your Needs

Independent Contractors

Unrelated Business Income Tax (And What Does Macaroni Have to Do With It?)

The Three Tests for Ubit

Advertising Is Always Subject to UBIT

Things You Generally Don't Have to Worry About: Common Exceptions to UBIT

Go Ahead, Ask Around: The UBIT Questionnaire on Campus

Allowable Deductions from Ubit

Allocating Expenses: The IRS Hasn't Clarified

Sales Tax

Employment Tax and Fringe Benefits

Excise Tax

Overseas And International Tax

In Summary

Chapter Three: Compliance

Policies

Give Them the Right Tools for the Job

Centralize the Tax Responsibilities

Keep Tax at the Forefront of Your Mind

Fringe Benefits

Examples of Common Fringe Benefits

In Summary

Chapter Four: Reporting

Questions about Reporting Tax Obligations, Answered

When Reporting Begins

Payments to Human Research Subjects

Getting People Used to Thinking about Taxes

The Tax Calendar

In Summary

Chapter Five: Monitoring

Policies and Procedures

Simulated Audit

Your Tax Manager Position

In Summary

Chapter Six: Tax Nirvana

The Land of “Ahh…”

You Can Finally Rest

Passing the Baton to You

The Tax Pyramid Compliance Program Steps, Simplified

In Summary

Chapter Seven: Your Audit Defense

Building an Audit Defense

Setting the Tone

Types of Audits

Before the Audit

During the Audit

After an Audit

You Don't Have to Go It Alone

Getting Your Bearings

Concluding Remarks

Appendix

What a VP Wants From a Tax Manager

A Tax Translator Guide to Ubit Determination

Ubit Compliance Checklist

Unrelated Business Income

Foreign Activities

Other State Activities

Activities/Expenditures

University of Central Florida Ubit Questionnaire

University of Notre Dame Ubit Questionnaire

Index

Cover Design: Wiley

Cover Image: © David Evans/Getty Images

Copyright © 2013 by Steve Hoffman. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

ISBN 978-1-118-54152-4 (Hardcover);

ISBN 978-1-118-54142-5 (ebk);

ISBN 978-1-118-54143-2 (ebk)

To Blue, who showed me that we could do six impossible things before breakfast; who encouraged me to leap and let the net appear; that life is best lived outside the comfort zone.

And to all of my tax buddies around the United States that read my Tax Update Newsletter for Colleges and Universities. We like to talk tax. They are the special people who understand the difference between tax and accounting—that tax is about people and accounting is about numbers.

Preface

This book actually began about 20 years ago when I was working for the IRS. I worked out in the field—knocking on people's doors, visiting them in their offices and in their homes collecting past due taxes and securing unfiled returns. Yes, it was I who made seizures of houses and businesses and sold them for past due taxes. One day, after 12 years of this, I was driving back from an appointment with a taxpayer (that's what the IRS calls them) on a country road. Their office had been way out in the country and it was a beautiful day. This visit had not been an enjoyable one—for the taxpayer or for me. What most people don't know about the IRS (at least in my position with the IRS) is that the IRS most often will really try to keep the taxpayer in business. I found myself reviewing business plans, offering advice on where to cut expenses—all to keep them in business so they could pay their delinquent taxes and also stay current on their taxes. Not an easy job and sometimes I had to make tough decisions that affected the lives of people.

This visit ended with me concluding that this business was not viable, despite all the assistance I could offer. So, I was going to have to close it, to end someone's dream. I pulled over to the side of the road, got out of my car, and sat by a lovely stream. There I began to think, asking myself questions like, “What's the purpose of all this?”“Why am I doing this job?” and “Where did taxation come from anyway?” After all, no one grows up wanting to become a Revenue Officer with the IRS. In those days, all one had to do was to take a test—the Federal Service Entrance Examination—to be employed by the federal government. You were placed on a list depending upon your score on the test. For me, the IRS was the first agency that called me for employment—and I needed a job. I found others there who were in the same boat. I was surrounded by people who had degrees in biology or journalism, and they too needed jobs. My own undergraduate degree was even less specific than those. I have a bachelor of arts degree in general studies. How much more plain vanilla can you get? The requirements of this degree were to complete 12 upper-level courses in any subject area. Thus, I had courses in sociology, psychology, political science, history, and so on. The benefit to me of this degree is I found that each professor believed their subject area was the savior to the universe. What it demonstrated to me was how interwoven we are in all disciplines of study. I loved their passion for their teaching. And I found my passion in taxation.