Tennessee Estate Planning Law : Tennessee Estate Planning Lawyer & Attorney : Bryan Howard : Howard & Mobley Law Firm : Nashville, Chattanooga, Memphis

A lot of my clients recently received a Franchise and Excise Tax Annual Exemption Renewal Form from the Tennessee Department of Revenue. This form applies to Limited Liability Companies and Limited Partnerships that claim an exemption from Tennessee Franchise and Excise Taxes.

The three most common exemptions that apply to my clients are the obligated member entity (“OME”) exemption, the family-owned non-corporate entity (“FONCE”) exemption, and the farm exemption. If your company qualifies for one of these exemptions, you need to fill out the renewal form with the help of your CPA and send it to the Department of Revenue no later than April 15, 2010. If your company qualifies for an exemption and you have not received the form, you can get the form at http://tennessee.gov/revenue/forms/fae/fae183.pdf, or you can call the Department of Revenue at (615) 253-0600.

If you do not file the form by April 15, 2010, you will lose your exemption for 2009. The Department has the discretion to allow a late filing. If they allow a late filing, they will charge you a $1,000 penalty.
 

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Tennessee imposes Franchise and Excise Tax on limited partnerships and limited liability companies unless they qualify for an exemption. Due to a law change enacted earlier this year, numerous entities converted from the family owned non-corporate entity (“FONCE”) exemption to the obligated member entity (“OME”) exemption.

The OME exemption requires the entity’s owners to assume personal responsibility for liabilities of the entity. Most entities that switched to the OME exemption own commercial real estate.

In order to qualify for the OME exemption for 2009, appropriate documentation had to be filed with the Tennessee Secretary of State by October 1, 2009. On November 10, 2009, the Department of Revenue imposed an additional requirement to qualify for the OME exemption for 2009.

Each entity that switched to the OME exemption must file a new Application for Exemption with the Department of Revenue on or before November 30, 2009. If the entity does not file an Application for Exemption by November 30, 2009, it will not be exempt for 2009.

The Department of Revenue has discretion to allow a late filing of the application. However, if they permit the late filing, they must charge a $1,000 penalty.

If the entity failed to convert to an OME prior to October 1, 2009, it has the option of converting to an OME prior to December 31, 2009 if the entity wants to be exempt from franchise and excise taxes for 2010 and future years.

If you are an owner of an OME and are concerned about your potential exposure to liabilities of the entity, you should consider transferring a portion of your assets to an asset protection trust.
 

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