More taxpayers qualify for student loan COD relief
The IRS is expanding its relief from cancellation-of-debt income to students whose federal loans were discharged for certain legal reasons.
News
IRS issues 2020 standard mileage rates
On the last day of 2019, the IRS issued the standard mileage rates for 2020 for business, charitable, medical, or moving expense purposes, as well as other deduction amounts.
Qualified opportunity zone regs. finalized
The IRS issued final regulations providing guidance on tax-favored investments in qualified opportunity zones (QOZs).
Year-end government spending bill contains many tax provisions
The consolidated appropriations bill passed by Congress makes many changes to retirement plan rules, repeals health care taxes, extends expired tax provisions, and provides tax relief for disaster victims.
5th Circuit invalidates health care law’s individual mandate
The Fifth Circuit held that the “individual mandate” under Sec. 5000A, which imposes a “shared responsibility payment” on taxpayers who do not obtain health insurance that provides at least minimum essential coverage, is unconstitutional now that the payment amount has been reduced to zero.
New FASB standard aims to simplify accounting for income taxes
FASB issued a standard that is designed to reduce cost and complexity in accounting for income taxes.
Proposed regs. would govern Sec. 162(m) executive compensation limits
The IRS issued proposed regulations on the Sec. 162(m) $1 million limit on executive compensation paid by certain publicly held corporations.
Final regs. issued on foreign tax credits
The IRS officially released final regulations providing guidance on determining foreign tax credits. The regulations include changes necessitated by the law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Guidance issued on payments to charitable organizations
The IRS issued additional rules on the treatment of deductions for charitable contributions in lieu of state and local taxes, an area in which it has already issued final regulations and other guidance.
Partnership capital reporting requirements postponed until 2020
The IRS is postponing the requirement to report partners’ shares of partnership capital on the tax-basis method for 2019 (for partnership tax years beginning in calendar 2019) until 2020 (for partnership tax years that begin on or after Jan. 1, 2020).
BEAT regs. are finalized, new regs. are proposed
The IRS issued detailed guidance on the Sec. 59A base-erosion and anti-abuse tax (BEAT), which was added to the Code by the law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Deadline for health care information statements extended
As it does every year, the IRS extended the due date to furnish certain health care information statements to individual taxpayers to March 2, 2020.
Per-diem method clarified in light of TCJA changes
The IRS issued updated rules for substantiating the amount of ordinary and necessary business expenses paid or incurred while traveling away from home using the per-diem rates.
Final regs. eliminate estate and gift tax clawback
The IRS issued final regulations that reconcile the current higher exclusion for the estate and gift tax unified credit amount in effect under the law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act with the lower unified credit, which is scheduled to go into effect in 2026, eliminating a possible future clawback of the higher exclusion amount.
Use of standard mileage rate, other rules are updated for TCJA
The IRS updated its rules concerning the use of standard mileage rates and to reflect the current suspension of miscellaneous itemized deductions and moving expense deductions.
IRS commissioner seeks to enhance taxpayer contacts, target enforcement
Speaking to the AICPA National Tax Conference in Washington, IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig discussed possible IRS restructuring, more-targeted enforcement efforts and IRS use of data analytics.
Automatic accounting method change procedures updated
The IRS released its updated procedures for automatic accounting method changes, which are accounting method changes that can be made without the IRS’s consent.
IRS posts 2020 inflation adjustments and tax tables
The IRS released the 2020 tax tables for individuals and estates and trusts, as well as the inflation adjustments for over 60 tax provisions for 2020 tax returns.
Retirement plan contribution limits increase for 2020
Annual contribution limits for 401(k) plans will increase from $19,000 in 2019 to $19,500 in 2020, and most other limits are increasing as well.
TIGTA outlines IRS challenges for 2020
The memorandum lists 10 challenges in order of importance, ranging from data security to achieving operational efficiencies.
