September 2012

September 27, 2012

TIGTA Shines Light on Large Tax Delinquencies of Federal Government Agencies

TIGTA found that 70 federal agencies had unpaid employment taxes totaling $14 million, and 18 federal agencies were delinquent in filing 39 employment tax returns, as of Dec. 31, 2011.

September 26, 2012

Special Per Diem Rates Updated for 2012–2013

The IRS issued the annual update of special per diem rates for use in substantiating certain business expenses taxpayers incur when traveling away from home.

September 25, 2012

Tax Court Defines Gross Receipts for the Research Credit

The Tax Court clarified that nonsales income is included in gross receipts for purposes of the Sec. 41 research credit.

September 21, 2012

PTIN Information Release Concerns Aired

The AICPA has expressed concerns to the IRS about the IRS’s public release of information of CPAs and other federal tax return preparers the IRS collects as part of its PTIN registration requirement.

September 20, 2012

Draft Instructions to Form 706 Provide Guidance on Portability Election

Draft Form 706 instructions provide guidance for electing the portability of a deceased spouse’s unused estate tax exclusion amount and for the executor’s use of the check box to opt out of electing portability of the unused portion of the exclusion amount.

September 19, 2012

U.S. Attorneys Are Authorized to Fight Stolen Identity Refund Fraud

In an effort to better combat crimes involving stolen identities and tax refund fraud, the Justice Department is changing the procedures it uses to handle such cases.

September 17, 2012

Corporate Equity Reduction Transaction Guidance Issued

The IRS issued proposed regulations governing the availability of NOL deductions that are attributable to corporate equity reduction transactions.

September 14, 2012

IRS Proposes Changes to Circular 230 Rules Governing Written Tax Advice

The IRS released proposed regulations that would eliminate the complex rules in Circular 230 governing covered opinions.

September 13, 2012

AICPA Urges Congress to Quickly Fix Tax Cliff

In written and oral testimony, Jeffrey Porter, CPA, addressed the impact of tax uncertainty in several areas and made recommendations on behalf of the AICPA for alleviating some of that uncertainty.

September 12, 2012

Publicly Traded Property Defined for Determining Issue Price of Debt Instruments

The IRS issued final regulations defining “publicly traded property” to determine the issue price of a debt instrument.

September 11, 2012

Use of Wrong Delivery Service Results in Dismissal of Tax Court Petition

Taxpayers who chose the wrong type of FedEx delivery service did not get the benefit of the timely mailing/timely filing rule and as a result had their petition dismissed.

September 10, 2012

Guidance Issued on Employee Expense Reimbursement Arrangements

The IRS issued guidance on situations in which employers recharacterize wages as nontaxable reimbursements and whether they met the requirements to be treated as paid under an accountable plan.

September 7, 2012

Employee Health Insurance Safe Harbors Expanded

The IRS expanded and revised optional safe harbors on which applicable large employers may rely in complying with requirements starting in 2014 to provide health insurance coverage to their full-time employees.

September 5, 2012

Automatic Accounting Method Changes to Be Allowed in Corporate Reorganizations

The IRS announced a change in its policy on automatic accounting method changes in corporate reorganizations.

September 4, 2012

Taxpayer Advocate Service Changes Criteria for Accepting Cases

The Taxpayer Advocate Service changed its criteria for accepting individual taxpayer cases for assistance.

September 4, 2012

Proposed Regs. Issued on Allocating Sec. 263A Costs Under Simplified Methods

The IRS issued proposed regulations that affect taxpayers who produce or resell property and allocate costs under the simplified production method or simplified resale method.