Reference no: EM133204745

Individual Tax Research and Planning Assignment - Accounting Deferred Compensation Paper

Deferred compensation is an arrangement in which a portion of an employee's income is paid out at a later date after which the income was earned. Examples of deferred compensation include pensions, retirement plans, and employee stock options. As the tax manager of a large corporation, you must understand and communicate the taxability of deferred compensation in order to be prepared to fully educate human resources on the implications to the company's employees.

Research the topic and write a paper in which you:

1. Research the U.S. Tax Code to determine how your 401(k) deferred compensation is taxed. Determine whether the treatment is reasonable. Provide support for your conclusions.

2. Assume that you have the authority to tax the current 401(k) contribution on the condition that you are not taxed upon distribution. Discuss the pros and cons of using this approach on both you and the federal government.

3. Propose an alternative to the taxation for the 401(k) deferred compensation that would be fair to all taxpayers and support the financial needs of the federal government. Indicate substantive ways in which your recommendation would achieve fairness to taxpayers and the United States Treasury.

4. Research recent IRS audit activities related to deferred compensation to determine the most frequent types of deferred compensation that would most likely trigger an IRS audit. Propose a strategy that you would use to defend a client facing an IRS challenge on deferred compensation.