As an estate planning attorney, I know that one of the most important things to do as you get older is to give someone you trust power of attorney. Even simple financial tasks can become rather complicated with age (and the limited mobility that comes with it). Typically our elderly clients will name one their kids as their agent to let the child help manage their finances for them. We draft these as broad as possible, so as to not tie the hands of someone trying to help, and they include author...
I recently saw a fascinating preprint of a paper testing GPT-3.5, currently the best public large language model, against the bar exam, the two-day test required to become a lawyer in the United States. As someone who has passed the bar exam and who is very interesting in programming, this intrigued me. I knew language processing had come a long way, but the bar exam requires months of study after years of law school to pass. Surely many seeing the rapid progress of GPT envision AI reaching th...
The purpose of blockchains is to establish unchangeable records of digital assets without any trusted party. "Unchangeable" sounds good to prevent fraud, so some county recorders who seem to understand nothing about the law or technology, like Cook County's Karen Yarbrough, who thought blockchain made sense for government deed records, try to force blockchains onto physical property. But even on its face, this application of blockchains makes zero sense and only exists to appeal to the unwitti...
Pastors and other clergy members are a key part of churches and communities, however they sadly have below-average pay typically. While living off of the charity of their congregations may demonstrate and strengthen their faith, it does necessitate gifts. Often congregants feel other missions are more important than an increase in standard-of-living for the pastor, so gifts specifically designated for the pastor are sure to be appreciated. However, this is something the United States tax law d...
Landscaping is a good job that many people do either full-time or on the side. However, people aren't always willing to pay you for providing them your services after the work's been done. Many landscapers are small enterprises that may not have a great process to ensure payment and may not know what their rights are under the law.
One idea is the possibility of filing a mechanic's lien. These allow people get a security interest in the property for certain work they do on a property. Typicall...
Who Qualifies for the §199A Deduction?
February 15, 2022The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act added 26 USC § 199A, which gives a 20% deduction for taxpayers' "qualified business income." This was intended to give small business owners a deduction to match the corporate tax cut. However, it does not apply to all small business owners, and reading the law and determining who qualifies can be quite confusing.
There are many nuances with this law involving earnings caps, business types, and other random things that you should go over with your accountant and/or...
