Dirty (Half) Dozen: Watch for these red flags when choosing a tax preparer
The IRS reached the halfway point of its annual “Dirty Dozen” list of tax scams, advising that taxpayers be careful when choosing a preparer to handle their returns.
News
NFTs as collectibles: IRS issues guidance and seeks comments
Pending further guidance that it intends to issue on the treatment of nonfungible tokens as collectibles, the IRS said that it will use a lookthrough analysis for determining if an NFT is a collectible.
Taxpayer services should get more of that $80 billion, advocate says
National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins wrote in her blog post Thursday that Congress should allocate more money from the Inflation Reduction Act’s $80 billion budget infusion over 10 years for the IRS to taxpayer services and business systems modernization and less to enforcement and operations.
ERC claims on returns prepared by others raise questions for tax pros
The IRS Office of Professional Responsibility issued a bulletin that reviews the Circular 230 professional responsibilities that apply to claims for the employee retention credit.
Questions about software tracking and reporting for basis of digital assets
Tax practitioners have many questions about how to track and report the basis of digital assets, and no clear guidance exists. Here are tips from the AICPA Virtual Currency and Digital Assets Tax Task Force.
Senate approves Danny Werfel as IRS commissioner
The Senate voted 54–42 on Thursday to approve Werfel, a former acting IRS commissioner who has served under both Democratic and Republican administrations.
Digital scanning of tax documents to expand, will add Form 1040 soon
The IRS announced that it will soon be able to scan paper Forms 1040 and 941 instead of inputting them by hand. The acting commissioner describes the expansion as “another milestone” in the agency’s transformation.
IRS clarifies required minimum distribution reporting
New guidance on required minimum distributions reporting provides relief for financial institutions that due to a change to the RMD start date rules made by the SECURE 2.0 Act, may have incorrectly provided RMD statements to IRA owners who turn 72 in 2023.
In-person IRS tax forums scheduled for first time since pandemic start
The three-day forums, last held in person in 2019, are designed specifically for CPAs and other tax professionals.
Lookback period extended for refunds related to pandemic postponements
In determining the beginning of the lookback period for refund claims for returns with due dates postponed by Notice 2021-21 or Notice 2020-23, the IRS will disregard the periods from April 15, 2020, to July 15, 2020, and from April 15, 2021, to May 17, 2021. This change will align the lookback periods with the postponed return filing due dates.
Supreme Court holds FBAR penalty is imposed per report, not per account
The Supreme Court held that the $10,000 maximum penalty for the nonwillful failure to file a compliant report applies on a per-report, not a per-account, basis.
District Court holds IRS owes tax preparers partial refund of PTIN fees
A district court held that the PTIN fees charged by the IRS from 2011 to 2017 were excessive and ordered the IRS to determine an appropriate partial refund of the fees.
Taxpayers in disaster areas of 3 states have until Oct. 16 to file returns
Taxpayers in most of California and parts of Alabama and Georgia have had their tax filing and payment deadlines further extended to Oct. 16. The postponement covers a wide variety of returns and taxes.
Final regs. expand company e-filing requirements
Final regulations require certain companies to e-file returns for tax years ending on or after Dec. 31, 2023, and lower the e-filing requirement threshold to 10 returns.
AICPA recommends 12 digital asset FAQs for IRS to post online
The AICPA has suggested questions and answers the IRS could post to assist taxpayers and practitioners in answering the question about digital assets that appears on Form 1040.
Taxpayers can now submit information online in response to 9 IRS notices
The change could help over 500,000 filers annually who receive these notices, including those who receive credits such as the child tax credit, the IRS said.
IRS misses Friday deadline to turn over $80 billion spending plan
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen ordered the IRS to have the plan to her by Feb. 17. An IRS spokesman said the agency “expects to deliver the plan to the Secretary in coming weeks.”
AICPA makes 61 proposals to Congress for changes to the Internal Revenue Code
The 2023 AICPA Compendium of Tax Legislative Proposals — Simplification and Technical Proposals, which includes 61 proposals covering a wide variety of subjects, opens with a proposal to standardize definitions in the Internal Revenue Code so that terms have the same meaning throughout the Code.
Some corporate taxpayers eligible for IRS CAP pilot on prefiling feedback
The IRS announced on Monday a new pilot phase Compliance Assurance Process (CAP) program called Bridge Plus to provide prefiling return review to some large corporate taxpayers in the Bridge phase.
Taxpayers can exclude certain 2022 state payments from federal returns
Taxpayers who received certain general welfare or disaster relief payments or refunds in 2022 will not have to include them in income on their federal returns, the IRS announced on Friday.
