Archive for the ‘Architects’ Category

A recent decision by the GSA to not enforce the 19% fee it imposed on Designers looking to upgrade some of the Government’s 9,600 buildings and obtain the 179D Energy Policy Act Tax Benefit for Designers will now allow Designers to actively assist the government to upgrade the public buildings to become more energy efficient.

For further information on the GSA’s decision or recent media concerning the Fee, please view the following links.

http://www.accountingtoday.com/news/GSA-Asked-Energy-Tax-Break-Kickback-62559-1.html

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2012/05/03/gsa-tax-troubles-too/?mod=google_news_blo

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j7fwo29AQnvGatAkAs7oA_Ez6Cgw?docId=30a698afcf1a41298a9ba117746682d5

This is the latest video from ETS, helping you become the Green Energy Tax Hero.

Click on the small arrow to play.

If you are looking for further information on the Energy Tax Benefits, click here.  If you would like to register to attend one of our free webinars on 179D Energy Tax or 179D Energy Tax with a lighting focus.  Visit our Facebook Events page.    Questions are also answered by contacting one of our directors on 800.236.6519

By Don McDougall

We all travel for business, and I had one boss who was robbed once a year.  He used to say he had bad luck.  But since he is an ex-boss, I can share that he caused most of his own luck (or rather caused his own bad luck) and that you can learn from his mistakes.

Lesson 1.            Valet your car if you cannot find a well-lit and public parking spot. This sounds so obvious, but at night you don’t want to be walking the streets looking for your car.  If you do have to park on the street, park your car in a well-lighted public area, or find somewhere else to eat.

Lesson 2. Don’t look like a business person on an expense account. Leave the $8,000 Rolex in the room, don’t wear a suit to a local joint, and do try to blend in.  Business travelers don’t come back to help the police with line-ups and rarely will even show up for a trail.  Guess what – the criminals know this.  The criminal knows that robbing a traveling business person has a low rate of prosecution.

Lesson 3. Don’t flash cash If you carrying a pocket of cash (I use to travel with $500 in cash) don’t flash a big role of dollars.  Leave most of it in your room, or divide it up between two pockets.  Try NOT to look like a good target to be robbed.

Lesson 4. If you’re going drinking, take a cab or better yet, do so in your hotel. I suppose this one should go without saying.  If you do go out, bring ONE credit card and minimal ID and cash.  Don’t make yourself a tempting target.

Lesson 5. Don’t wonder off on foot in a city you don’t know, late at night.

Remember that boss I mentioned above, one night around 2am he could not sleep, so he went for a walk, off Bourbon St. in New Orleans … to get some air.  He put on his suit, and the $8,000 Rolex, put a couple hundred in his pockets and wondered off.

Cost him the watch, his wallet with the credit cards and all his spare cash.    –  Yeah we never quite bought that “went for a walk excuse” either.  But it was still an expensive walk around the block.

The “book” on self-protection suggests you keep looking around, assess your danger zones and keep an exit strategy in mind.  All good ideas, but you will never learn them in a 1000 word article. Don’t be stupid or flashy, avoid placing yourself at risk.  Take a cab when you can.  They pick you up in a well-lit doorway and drop you off in one, when you are done.

Ladies – That $900 coach purse is $100 at a pawnshop to anyone who can steal it, not counting what is in side. If you can spend $900 on a purse you probably have something in the purse worth stealing. Carry a small clutch, or something less obtrusive is you are going to be in a vulnerable spot.

Here is yet another story for traveler beware… This last story has so many lessons, but the key one is “she is probably not a college girl down on her luck.”

We had a new employee coming in to get started, his 1st day of work. Picks up his new Dell super-duper PC, corporate Amex-Card; and has the 1st night on his own, we will all meet for training and orientation on Tuesday.

That night, he meets a girl in the bar, she is a “college girl” he father told her that her boyfriend was no good. She moved in anyway, and ….. well the BF was caught sleeping with her best friend. She feel embarrassed, stupid, HOW could she be so gullible. She cannot face her father, he is Miami on business till Friday. She is alone and trapped and has no friends and no place to spend the night or stay until her family is back in town.

Well… Our boy has an idea, she can stay with him. At first she says no, but then after a while suggest that IF they were to go on a date that night, and IF they liked each other.. well.. she would stay with him for the week and then MAYBE see each other when he is in town since his corporate office is there anyway. They get back to his hotel at 2am, after dinner and a night on the town. He wanted to … well guess.. she is just too tired, but she will be “his” in the morning and every time he wants, until he has to leave her. She PROMISES… She was lost and he saved her, he was her hero.

He called the office about 10am that morning, turns out his PC has been stolen, he thinks when he checked in, SOMEONE must have reached in and taken it. Turns out he was also missing, all his cash, his credit cards, his briefcase and his suite case.. and.. ALL of his cloth. He was buck ass naked in a hotel room 1,100 miles from home on his 2nd day at work.

We found out when we got a fraud report from American Express that morning, he had put the dinner and his date with the girl on his corporate card. She has added $400 in jewelry. (Would have been more but we had a spending limit on all new employees.)

I’m not sure where to start on the mistakes he made, and we advanced him a month’s salary and a quick trip to Target to get some cloth. He turned out to be a great employee, and a VERY cautious man after that when he traveled.

In addition to being an expert on EPAct, Don McDougall teaches Personal Protection in the Home and the Refuse, on don’t be a victim course, for the NRA.  From experience, Don has provided us this article on personal protection.

Don McDougall can be contacted at dmcdougall@engineeredtaxservices.com or on 213.280.2266. Don is a Director with Engineered Tax Services, seasoned traveler and based in California.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

1300 Guadalupe,​ Roof Deck Lounge, Austin TX

Green By Design Event Flyer2.2

Learn about the impact in cost savings of the local Austin energy tax incentives. Kimberly Merrill, Engineered Tax Service, will be providing an informative presentation on key objectives on how to benefit from the recently extended 179D federal tax benefit. This is a cocktail party followed by a presentation. For registration details info@burtwatts.com

Annual Spring Symposium and Professional Development Seminar

Tuesday April 17, 2012 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
Owego Treadway Inn, 1100 State Route 17C, Owego, New York

Join Michele Pino and Peter Scalise at the ASHRAE Seminar, where, as speaker, Michele and Peter will present “Energy Tax Benefits for HVAC Contractors”. This is also an opportunity to learn how ETS can assist you with specialty tax benefits to increase the ROI in you and your client’s business.  Specialty tax benefits include Green Energy Tax Deduction, Research and Development Tax Credit, Repairs and Maintenance Studies, Cost Segregation Studies, Energy Star Benchmarking and Certification and more.  For details click here to visit the registration website.

One page flyer Click Here

The AIA has produced a brochure to assist Architects and Designers understand a little more about the 179D Energy Policy Act and the 179D Energy Tax Deduction and how designers and government entities benefit from this government initiative.

“In 2008, the AIA helped pass legislation to extend the life of the deduction so that it covers property placed in service by December 31, 2013. That same year, at the AIA’s urging, the IRS issued guidance on how the deduction could be allocated to the designer”.

“The guidance established that a designer, for purposes of this section, included an “architect, engineer, contractor, environmental consultant, or energy services provider who creates the technical specifications for a new building or an addition to an existing building that incorporates energy efficient commercial building property.” This definition did not include someone that merely installs, repairs, or maintains the property”.

The Brochure is available to view as follows

179D-Summary – AIA

Or visit the AIA website

http://www.aia.org/aiaucmp/groups/aia/documents/pdf/aiab092566.pdf

Considering ways to make your building energy efficient, or have a client who needs to reduce operational costs, this is the perfect webinar to learn how to take advantage of the Energy Tax Deduction available and what is required to make your building energy efficient.  Thinking of building a new building, this is the perfect webinar to attend, during the planning stage.  CPE Credit available.  March 15, 4pm (est).  Clink on link to register  https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/684437824.

If you are unable to attend this webinar, visit our listings of other 179D webinars throughout the year.  Click this link to view webinar dates

Almost every Company implements R&D in their everyday business, yet very few take advantage of the R&D tax credit.  Join us for this complementary webinar and learn how it can benefit your company or your client’s company.  CPE Credits  available.  March 14, 2012, 4pm est.  Click link to register. https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/998301744.

If you cannot make this webinar, click this link for a list of our regular R&D webinars. Click Here For Webinar Listing.

The Research and Development Tax Credit is not a widely used tax credit, however many companies can benefit from this credit and many companies already undertake business activities to allow them to increase their ROI by implementing this credit.  View this video to learn a little more about this tax credit.  You can also attend one of ETS’s regular free webinars or contact a staff member for further information.

Video link Click here

R&D Tax Webinar – Click here

Call an R&D Tax Credit Professional - 800.236.6519

Email an R&D question – info@engineeredtaxservices.com

Property owners with multiple properties that would generally be considered a passive investment, can group their assets, turning a passive investment into an active investment.  This allows the passing through of depreciation and other deductions directly to the property owner.

How do you group your properties?

Under Reg. Section 1.469-4(c) if the business and rental properties can be considered an economic unit then the income and losses can be combined and considered active.

The IRS is kind enough to summarize this for you;

If related businesses form an appropriate economic unit, entities may be grouped as a single activity, making it easier to meet the 500-hour test. The taxpayer needs to show he materially participates in the grouped activity as a whole. A sole proprietorship (Schedule C or F), C or S Corporation, partnership or LLC may be grouped into one single activity if the businesses form an appropriate economic unit. See Reg. § 1.469-4.

An “activity” is not constrained by entity lines.  If the taxpayer spends 500 hours among the grouped businesses, even though in different entities, he materially participates in all.  The entire 500+ hours could be spent all in one business entity or could be spread among several related entities.

It is important to note that Reg. § 1.469-4(a) only provides for grouping of businesses (or rentals).  Businesses generally may not be grouped with rentals.  Land or buildings held for investment may not be grouped.  And, of course, no personal activity or portfolio activity belongs in the grouping.

It is possible that several different activities may exist within a single entity.  Example: two unrelated businesses or a business and a rental activity within a single partnership.

http://www.irs.gov/irb/2008-31_IRB/ar11.html

So this is a mouth full, what is means in non-accounting English is that the losses related to a property may be passed through to the owner of the property, and that individually owned properties may be brought together as if they were one group.  You need to discuss this with your tax professional prior to embarking on a grouping; these are specific rules and guidelines that must be followed.

Grouping  turns a passive tax investment into an active tax investment, meaning that any losses or excess depreciation may be passed through to the owners of the property.

So how do you find additional depreciation and deductions that you can have passed through to you?

Cost Segregation and EPAct

A cost segregation study is a federal income tax tool that increases your near term cash flow, in the form of a deferral, by utilizing shorter recovery periods to accelerate the return on capital from your investment in property. Whether newly constructed, purchased or renovated, the components of your building may be properly classified, through a cost segregation study, into shorter recovery periods for computing depreciation deductions. The study carves

out, into 5, 7 and 15 year lives, certain qualifying portions of your building that are normally buried in 39 or 27½ year categories.

Case Example:

A three million dollar office building will provide significant passed through benefits to the property owner(s).

The benefit of accumulated benefits (over five years) is $162,000, all of which can be passed through to the owners of the property.

EPAct Tax Deductions, these deductions ranges between $.60/ft2 and $1.80/ft2. We have provided thousands of the highest quality energy tax certifications since 2005. Handling over 400 certifications every month, we have perfected the process by working closely with the IRS on a regular basis. Our LEED AP designation strengthens and adds depth to the ETS experience and qualifications under EPACT while supporting energy efficiencies under LEED. We offer a measurable dynamic to increase your return on investment and improve efficiencies – all with the goal of reducing operating expenses and obtaining additional tax deductions or credits.

Case Examples:

A 100,000 square foot office building that is retrofit with a new lighting and HVAC will generate $120,000 in tax deductions for the property owner.  You gain tax deduction for upgrading your property, in addition these tax deductions are passed through to the owners of the property and are not subject to AMT. (Alternative Minimum Tax.)

Summary:

A property owner can convert their passive investments into active investments, and pass through deprecation and deduction to the property owners. The property owners can use Cost Segregation and EPAct tax deduction to benefit themselves by passing through these deduction and benefits.

If you have a question about this article or would like to discuss your Cost Segregation options, please contact the Author, Don McDougall.

Don McDougall is a Director with Engineered Tax Services, a firm specializing in capturing tax incentives available through EPAct 2005.  Don can be reached on PH:213.280.2266 or email: dmcdougall@engineeredtaxservices.com