August 2022

Demystifying the Inflation Reduction Act: Part 1 — The Clean Vehicle Tax Credit

By Office Staff|2025-07-10T10:37:32-07:00August 26, 2022|Categories: Legislation, Tax Credits|Tags: Clean Vehicle Tax Credit, Inflation Reduction Act|0 Comments

Regardless of whether you approve of the most recent spending bill out of Washington D.C. or think that “Inflation Reduction Act” is a misnomer, now that it has been passed by Congress and signed by the President, it is law.

The best approach at this point for both individual and corporate taxpayers is to take advantage of the tax incentives that the legislation provides and identify the most effective ways to deal with new challenges presented by the legislation, such as the $80 million in additional funding for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

In this four-part series, “Demystifying the Inflation Reduction Act,” we highlight the key provisions in this bill that are likely to impact individuals, businesses, and corporations now and for years to come:

In this part, we cover the Clean Vehicle Credit for individual taxpayers.
In Part 2, we cover tax credits and rebates for offsetting the costs of making your home more energy efficient.
In Part 3, we focus our attention on various provisions in the bill that will impact businesses and corporations.
In Part 4, we cover other provisions in the bill, including tax incentives to help make healthcare more affordable and increased funding being allocated to the IRS.

Clean Vehicle Credit

The Act’s Clean Vehicle Credit replaces the current Qualified Plug-in Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Credit. It’s generally applicable to qualified electric vehicles, including plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) placed in service starting in 2023 through 2032. (PHEVs typically operate on electricity until the battery is depleted, at which point they run on gas. FCEVs are typically powered by hydrogen fuel cells.)

Key changes introduced in the Clean Vehicle Credit include but are not limited to the following: Continue reading… Continue reading… Continue reading…

Keeping Pace with California Tax Law: Part 3 — Property Tax Relief for the Elderly and Disabled

By Office Staff|2022-08-18T12:27:52-07:00August 18, 2022|Categories: Real Estate|Tags: Property Tax Assistance Program, Property Tax Postponement Program, Seniors|0 Comments

Welcome to the final part of our three-part series on keeping pace with California tax law. In Part 1 of this series, we covered Prop 19, which makes it more affordable for older California homeowners to relocate within the state. In Part 2, we explained changes to the parent-child exclusion, which enables children to inherit their parent’s property and parents to inherit their children’s property without a property tax increase, subject to certain qualifications and limitations.

In this part, we bring you up to speed on additional California state-sponsored property tax relief programs for helping senior citizens on limited income and those who are legally blind or disabled. Specifically, we’re going to cover the following:

The Property Tax Postponement Program, which is supported by the State of California Controller’s Office
The Property Tax Assistance Program, which is supported by the California State Franchise Tax Board (suspended for now due to lack of funds)

Pro Tip: The inserts mailed along with your annual tax bill contain details about any property tax relief programs currently available, so be sure to read those inserts carefully to determine whether you qualify for any currently available programs.

The Property Tax Postponement Program

The State of California’s Property Tax Postponement Program (PTP) allows homeowners who are seniors, are blind, or have a disability, to defer current-year property taxes on their principal residence if they meet certain criteria, including the following: Continue reading… Continue reading… Continue reading…

Keeping Pace with California Tax Law: Part 2 — The Parent-Child Exclusion

By Office Staff|2022-08-18T12:28:56-07:00August 9, 2022|Categories: Legislation|Tags: California Prop 19, Parent-Child Exclusion|3 Comments

This week, in Part 2 of our three-part series on keeping pace with California tax law, we bring you up to speed on the parent-child exclusion, which applies to any real property purchases or transfers between parents and children. In last week’s post, we covered Prop 19, which makes it more affordable for older homeowners to relocate in California.

In a nutshell, the parent-child exclusion enables children to inherit their parents’ property and parents to inherit their children’s property without a property tax increase, subject to certain qualifications and limitations. Prop 19 changed the way the parent-child exclusion works as of Feb. 16, 2021.

The Parent-Child Exclusion Before and After Prop 19

In California, real property, such as a home, is reassessed only upon a change in ownership, but when the change in ownership is within a family — specifically parent to child, child to parent, or grandparent to grandchildren — you can file for a reassessment exclusion to prevent a reassessment or reduce the reassessed value.

Before Prop 19 (effective Feb. 16, 2021), here’s how the parent-child exclusion worked:

Parents (transferor) could transfer their primary residence to their child/children (transferees) without a reassessment.
There was no limit on the value of the home that could be transferred.
The child/children could live in the home, use it as a vacation home, or rent it out.
Parents could transfer up to $1 million of California real property other than their primary residence to a child/children without reassessment. If the assessed value is more than $1 million, the first million dollars is transferred without change, and only the balance is reassessed.

Prop 19 changed the rules. For any property transfers occurring on or after Feb. 16, 2021, the parent-child exclusion works like this: Continue reading… Continue reading… Continue reading…