February 2011

February 28, 2011

Tax-Exempt Bond Voluntary Closing Agreement Program Announced

The IRS announced a program to provide certain issuers that purchase and hold their own tax-exempt bonds relief from debt extinguishment.

February 24, 2011

FinCEN Amends BSA Regs on FBAR Filings

FinCEN amended the FBAR regulations to clarify when an account is foreign and therefore reportable as a foreign financial account and the definition of key terms like “signature or other authority.”

February 24, 2011

IRS Announces Changes to Lien Process

The IRS has announced a set of new policies designed to help taxpayers pay their back taxes and avoid liens.

February 23, 2011

IRS Delays 990 Filing Deadline for Tax-Exempt Hospitals

The IRS announced that certain tax-exempt hospitals will be granted an automatic three-month extension to file their 2010 Forms 990.

February 22, 2011

IRS Provides Transitional Relief for Some Stock Basis Reporting Requirements

The IRS provided transitional relief from the information reporting requirements that apply to issuers of stock regarding organizational actions that affect stock basis.

February 17, 2011

House Committee Sends 1099 Repeal to the Floor; Senate Passes Its Own Version of Repeal

The Ways and Means Committee voted to send a bill that would repeal the expanded Form 1099 reporting requirements to the full House of Representatives on February 17, and the Senate approved its own version of 1099 repeal.

February 15, 2011

IRS Starts Accepting Delayed Returns

The IRS on February 15 announced that it has started accepting returns that it could not accept before because it was updating forms and reprogramming its systems.

February 15, 2011

President Proposes 3-Year AMT Patch, Partial Relief on 1099s, Crackdown on Misclassification

President Barack Obama released his proposed budget for fiscal 2012, containing several tax proposals.

February 10, 2011

Overstatement of Basis Is Not Omission from Gross Income, Appeals Court Rules

A federal appeals court has handed the IRS another defeat on the issue of whether an overstatement of basis amounts to an omission from gross income for purposes of invoking the longer, six-year limitation period for assessing tax under Sec. 6501(e).

February 10, 2011

IRS Will Allow Costs of Breast Pumps as Deductible Medical Expenses

The IRS announced it will treat expenses for breast pumps and supplies that assist in lactation as deductible medical expenses.

February 8, 2011

IRS Announces Second Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program

The IRS announced that it is starting a new program designed to bring money held in foreign accounts back into the U.S. tax system and to help taxpayers with income from offshore accounts to comply with federal tax law.

February 8, 2011

Another Circuit Says Overstatement of Basis Is Not an Omission from Gross Income

The ongoing controversy over whether a taxpayer’s overstatement of basis triggers a six-year statute of limitation period continues as the Fourth Circuit has held that the extended period does not apply.

February 7, 2011

IRS Guidance on Court-Ordered Restitution

The IRS Office of Chief Counsel provided an outline of its understanding of the IRS’ new authority to assess and collect court-ordered restitution for failure to pay tax.

February 4, 2011

Final Regs Issued on Treating Musical Works as Capital Assets

The IRS issued final regulations governing how to elect to treat the sale or exchange of a musical work or copyright in a musical work as a sale or exchange of a capital asset.

February 3, 2011