TX-LW Firm Blogs
Given our diverse firms, we are constantly exploring new ideas and staying up to date on the latest trends and developments in our industries.
On this page, you’ll find a selection of blog posts written by our experts across a range of disciplines, including tax, probate, business, and other services. These posts cover a wide range of topics, from industry-specific news and analysis to advice on how to navigate complex challenges.
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Does IRS Guidance Have an Expiration Date?
Food goes bad. Medications, skincare products, and batteries all expire. But what about IRS’s written guidance? Can IRS guidance go bad? What if it is guidance for a particular taxpayer and about a specific transaction or seires of transactions? What happens when tax laws change after the IRS has issued its determination? Can businesses continue………
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When Can the IRS Levy Church Assets as “Nominee” Property?
Religious organizations and churches often own property and bank accounts that support their mission and operations. Sometimes, these assets are also used to benefit the organization’s leaders personally. This begs the question, can the IRS collect on the religious organization or church’s assets for the individuals tax debt? Can the IRS use the “nominee” rules………
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Probate Litigation Turns Loan Into Free Use of Loan Proceeds and Decades of Free Housing
When someone dies owing substantial debts, their passing doesn’t eliminate those obligations. Instead, the debts follow them into probate court. The creditors have to pursue collection through estate administration procedures. This is why and how probate courts handle far more than just will contests and asset distributions. They can be the final battleground for unresolved……
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Captive Insurance Tax Deductions Denied, No Risk Distribution
Insurance premiums go up and then they go up some more. The amounts can be substantial. This is particularly true for businesses that offer insurance to employees or that insure more types of risks. And many business owners note that while they pay substantial insurance premiums, the insurance companies often do not have high payouts.………
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Court Limits Equitable Tolling For Late Tax Court Petitions
We live in a fast-paced world where technology has made it possible to do more, see more, and accomplish everything else more efficiently. While some routines of life have not changed, most have been transformed by our increasingly connected environment. For better or worse, one thing that has not changed is the concept of deadlines,………
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Split-Dollar Insurance Failure: Income and No Tax Deduction
Business owners frequently seek ways to maximize tax deductions while providing benefits to key employees. Life insurance arrangements can play a part of this strategy. Life-insurance related strategies can be particularly useful if they come with significant tax advantages and help the parties meet their financial goals. However, the line between legitimate business expenses and………
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Texas Will Construction: When “For Her Natural Life” Doesn’t Mean What You Think
A married couple has five children and owns a family ranch for nearly seventy years. When the husband dies first, he wants his wife to be able to continue operating the ranch while also providing for their children’s eventual inheritance. His will uses the phrase “for her natural life” – language that seems to clearly……
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Tax Court Strikes IRS Timeline for Partnership Adjustments
The partnership audit regime rules are not all that new at this point. But what makes them new is that the IRS hasn’t fully implemented them, is often not following the new rules, and the disputes involving this have just started to trickle up to the courts. Practitioners are also at fault here. Many have………
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Business Advances in Revenue-Sharing Deals Not Deductible
Government agencies and non-profits often enter into business arrangements with private companies that, ultimately, are structured as a percentage of revenue. This approach frequently replaces traditional fixed payments like rent or management fees. The typical example involves a building that a business owns and leases to a government agency or non-profit. The business collects a………
