Bella Amigud, CPA, MST

Tax Partner

Bella delivers compliance and tax planning solutions for privately-held companies in a variety of industries, including life sciences, health tech, high tech, software, green tech, clean tech, retail, and private equity. She specializes in advising clients on international, federal, and multi-state taxation.

Bella advises multi-national clients on the implications of cross-border transactions, including: initiation of U.S. or foreign operations, income tax nexus, filing options, tax credit rules, global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) and foreign-derived intangible income (FDII) implications, and reporting of foreign financial assets & foreign bank accounts. She advises U.S. multi-state clients on nexus issues & state apportionment, tax exposure in relation to ASC 740 financial reporting, and mergers, acquisitions, expansions, and relocations. Bella monitors changes to US and state tax codes, such as the monumental Tax Cuts & Jobs Act, and keeps clients informed as appropriate. She has also been proactive in advising clients on COVID-19 federal & state economic stimulus initiatives, including the CARES Act and the SBA’s Paycheck Protection Program loans, to ensure clients remain in compliance while maximizing their opportunity for debt forgiveness.

Bella advises corporations, S corporations, partnerships, and limited liability companies on issues affecting tax liability. This includes monitoring and forecasting of income and operations in order to avoid year-end surprises, and opportunities to maximize federal and state tax credits. She consults on corporate reorganizations and strategic planning, providing deep tax expertise to ensure AAFCPAs’ clients are not only in compliance with all tax laws, but also able to make decisions quickly in order to fully leverage all opportunities to optimize tax.

Bella is respected by colleagues for her mentorship of other professionals and leadership in workplace initiatives and improvements. She was a participant in the firm’s 2018 Innovation Lab Changemaker Challenge, and is responsible for introducing VGo, a.k.a. Robbie, the first robot in the AAFCPAs family.

Education

Bentley University, McCallum Graduation School of Business – Masters of Science, Taxation
Bentley University – Bachelor of Science, Accounting, cum laude

Professional and Civic Associations

American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants
Leading Women of Massachusetts

Service

Marion E. Zeh Elementary School – Treasurer, Parent Teacher Organization

Contributed Insights

Tax Strategies Shaping Life Science Innovation

Life science companies, particularly those in the start-up or growth phase, are challenged with balancing their core mission, e.g., advancing scientific discovery, with the complex financial and tax issues that arise in the process. While pursuing breakthroughs in areas like cancer treatments or novel drugs, companies need to also ensure they retain enough capital to […]

R&D Expenditures for Early Stage and Life Science Start-ups

Could your startup benefit from research and development (R&D) tax credits? Have you explored whether or not you qualify? Are you prepared to navigate tax strategies that could ease financial pressures on innovation? For early-stage and life science startups, R&D drives progress and lays the foundation for growth. However, recent changes to tax law—specifically Section […]

Top Takeaways From Our 2024 Business Tax Planning Webinar

In this article: Tax planning is an essential part of business strategy, especially as we approach year-end. During AAFCPAs’ recent Business Tax Planning webinar (October 2024), speakers discussed topics that affect U.S. privately held businesses across federal, state, and international tax landscapes. This session highlighted credits, deductions, compliance challenges, and strategies that could benefit businesses […]