College planning

A top Senate Democrat is looking to end tax breaks for college donations that parents may be making to universities in an attempt to get their children admitted.

Harvard University’s $39.2 billion endowment has reached a record value. So did Yale. And Brown. And Dartmouth.

Americans are divided over whether U.S. college endowments should have to pay a new federal tax, according to a national survey on higher education.

House Ways and Means Committee chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, plans to introduce legislation next week to make permanent the individual and small business tax breaks from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

As we enter into the tax planning stage of the year, the focus shifts to helping clients understand the impact of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and optimize their tax positions.

Tuition refunds, expanded uses for 529 funds, and rollovers are highlighted.

A New York Republican introduced legislation in the House that would waive the new tax on about 30 wealthy college endowments if they spend 25 percent of their annual investment earnings on reducing the cost for middle-income students.

Private colleges facing a new endowment tax may “behave strategically” to avoid paying it, according to a study published Thursday by a senior researcher at the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.

About one-third of Americans are postponing a major life decision, such as getting married or having children, for financial reasons.

A House bill to repeal the four-month-old U.S. college endowment tax has gained sponsors on both sides of the political aisle.

A tax on wealthy university endowments isn’t set to be collected for more than a year, yet schools are working behind the scenes to roll it back.

Congress is giving finance officials at America’s colleges and universities even more to worry about.

For more than 30 years, colleges and universities have leaned on an obscure tax rule that allows sports boosters to make tax-deductible contributions to their teams. Athletic fundraisers around the country say that’s an advantage that generates millions in annual revenue—and one that’s threatened by Republican tax legislation.

The Senate version of the Republican tax bill would tax wealthy private college endowments at 1.4 percent of net investment income, the same levy as the House proposal introduced last week.

In the aftermath of Donald Trump’s election, the American Institute of CPAs has drawn up a list of tax reform priorities for the incoming administration.

In the latter part of the year we begin conducting year-end planning meetings with clients. For the ones with children or grandchildren, invariably part of the meeting focuses on planning and saving for college and possibly graduate school expenses.

Assets in college savings plans named for an obscure section of the Internal Revenue Service code hit a new record this summer, totaling $266.2 billion. That’s up 5.1 percent from a year ago, when assets in the accounts stood at $253.2 billion.

Our weekly roundup of tax-related investment strategies and news your clients may be thinking about.

It’s back to school for university endowments and U.S. lawmakers.

With the start of school just around the corner, taxpayers should be aware of the following tax breaks and deductions available for qualifying expenses, according to the audit defense service TaxAudit.com.