Roben Hunter - Hunter Advisors, PLLC

The Minnesota State legislature has changed the estate tax exemption for 2017 and beyond.  The old law states that Minnesota estates that were valued at over $1.8 million dollars had to file an estate state tax return in Minnesota, with the potential payments to the State at an estate tax rate of 16%.  Under the…

Governor Mark Dayton recently signed tax legislation that retroactively conforms most state corporate and personal income tax provisions to the federal changes that have been enacted since December 31, 2014. Two provisions that did not change to the federal provisions, however, were bonus depreciation and IRC Section 179 depreciation.   There will continue to be differences…

Minnesota’s new statute governing limited liability companies (“LLC”) became effective August 1, 2015.  All LLCs that are organized after that date will fall under the new Chapter 322C of the Minnesota Statutes (“New Act”).  What does that mean?  How does it affect the LLCs already in existence? The old LLC statute, Chapter 322B, was formulated…

Minnesota has residents that consider themselves “snowbirds” – spending portions of their time (usually the long, cold, winter months) in a warmer climate and the summer months in Minnesota. Typically, by the time they are ready to retire, at least one of their advisors will tell them that for tax purposes, they would be better…

Minnesota has residents that consider themselves “snowbirds” – spending portions of their time (usually the long, cold, winter months) in a warmer climate and the summer months in Minnesota.  Typically, by the time they are ready to retire, at least one of their advisors will tell them that for tax purposes, they would be better…

In the 22 years of service I have provided as an advisor, I have not seen any year more complex that this one.  My suggestion is to get to your advisors, sooner rather than later, for 2012/2013 planning.  For example, unless something is done in Congress, the federal individual income tax rates themselves will increase…

None of us know what November will bring.  Congress, no matter who takes over, can’t seem to agree on anything except to blame the other side for things that can’t get done or go wrong.  As a CPA and attorney, I am quite tired of trying to plan an effective strategy with my clients with…

For many years the IRS has been scrutinizing the distinction between Independent Contractors and Employees for businesses.  Business owners would prefer the workers categorized as independent contractors.  Some of the reasons are as follows: Independent contractors are not covered by workers’ compensation or unemployment; Businesses do not need to withhold payroll tax on the earnings…

Although much of the tax returns look the same as last year, there are a few items that you should be aware of that will affect your 2012 tax planning.  The following tax provisions for individuals have been extended through 2012: Capital gain tax rate of 15% for both regular tax and alternative minimum tax…

There are new increases in Social Security that have been recently announced, both for the recipients and the employee/employers currently paying into the system.  For those of us paying into Social Security in 2012, the Social Security tax will be payable on the first $110,100 of income received per person in 2012, which is an…

At the end of 2010, the federal estate tax exemption amount was increased to $5 million, which means that up to $5 million dollars worth of assets can pass from an individual to others at death without incurring a federal estate tax.  Unfortunately, Minnesota did not adopt the federal exemption amount but instead has continue…

Today’s world is one of international investments. On February 23, 2011, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network amended the Federal Bank Secrecy Act and regulations governing the TD F 90-22.1, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (“FBAR”).  The FBAR is required to report a U.S. person’s financial interest in financial accounts located…

There are some recent cases regarding gifts of partnership interests that did not qualify for the gift tax annual exclusion or a charitable gift deduction where it seems fairly clear they should have been allowed. In the first case, the parents transferred limited partnership interests to each of their adult children over a five year…

If you are a small business employer that provides at least half of the insurance premiums for your employees, you may qualify for the Small Business Health Care Tax Credit that will be available this year.  This article discusses who is eligible and how the credit will be determined. The employer may have between 1…

Have you started to think about what will happen to your business when you decide to retire?  How will you exit your business, seamlessly, and have the money to retire with?  For many of us, the business that we have created may be our most significant asset.  How to move it from one generation to…

If you are planning to sell your business within the next five years, you may need to be more creative to achieve your desired results.  However, there is one thing that you should have and that, during these economic times, is more important than ever; that is: A PLAN It is my educated guess that…

Valuation of a business is more of an art form than it is a science.  Unless a business is “asset intensive”, the pricing of a business in a valuation is typically based upon the sales and the earnings of that business.  There are, however, other factors that enter into the process of valuing a business. …