Posts by Dan Madden, CFP®

April’s husband Jay died 5 years ago when their home was worth $600,000. Due to the soft real estate market, April kept the house until the housing market recovered. She finally sold the home this year for $950,000. What is the amount of April’s taxable gain or loss if she bought the home jointly with…

William found someone to buy his rental property in Maine. Which of the following properties that William would like to purchase as rental property would allow him to complete a like-kind exchange? A golf course rental property in Arizona that William identified 30 days after selling his Maine property. A beach rental house at the Cape that William identified 60 days after selling his Maine property. An apartment building in California that William identified 90 days after selling his Maine property. A ski cabin in Denver…

Which of the following expenses can Vicki expense entirely under Section 179 expense assuming she meets all other requirements? $10,000 for a new coat of paint in the lobby and office. $20,000 for a new roof on the warehouse $30,000 for vacation $25,000 for new computers CLICK TO REVEAL ANSWER Expand D is the answer.…

Bill Farmer bought 1,000 acres of farmland for $300,000. When his oldest son married, Bill gave him 400 acres for a farm. When Bill died this year, the remaining 600 acres were divided in Bill’s will between his two younger sons. The 600 acres had a fair market value at Bill’s death of $600,000. Which…

Assume that, of the 100 employees eligible for participation in G Company’s qualified pension plan, 20 are highly compensated employees and all 20 participate. What is the minimum number of G Company’s non-highly compensated employees that must participate in G Company’s qualified pension plan to meet the ratio percentage test? 20 50 56 70 CLICK…

Laura is concerned she will develop Alzheimer’s disease later in life similar to her mother. Which of the following documents should Laura execute to make sure her son is able to handle her financial affairs in the event she does develop Alzheimer’s disease? Durable springing power of attorney Nondurable springing power of attorney Durable nonspringing…

In which of the following situations would the grantor of a trust not be considered the owner? The grantor has a reversionary interest in the trust, of which the grantor’s son is the sole beneficiary, but the grantor cannot exercise this power until eight years after transfer of property to the trust. The grantor retains…

A client received an annual salary from his employment of $40,000. He was a 50% owner of both a C Corporation and an S Corporation. The C Corporation had net profits of $20,000, and the S Corporation had income of $10,000. Neither corporation made a distribution. The client’s revocable trust had income of $5,000 but…

Which of the following statements concerning the various actuarial assumptions used in estimating an employer’s contributions to a defined-benefit pension plan is correct? The higher the assumed rate of investment income, the larger the employer’s assumed contribution rate. The higher the employee turnover or termination rate, the larger should be the employer’s assumed contribution rate.…

Tom gave his son, David, a birthday present of Big M stock with a fair market value of $50,000. Tom paid gift tax of $11,700 as Tom had previously given David earlier this year a cash gift equal to the annual gift tax exclusion amount. Tom’s adjusted basis in the stock on the date of…