September 2014

September 30, 2014

Final Regs. Allow Deduction for Local Lodging Expenses

Regulations finalize rules the IRS put into effect in 2012 allowing employees to deduct certain expenses paid or incurred for local lodging as business expenses.

September 29, 2014

Vision, Dental, and Long-Term-Care Benefits Qualify as Limited Excepted Benefits Under New IRS Rules

Dental, vision, and long-term-care benefits will qualify as excepted benefits under final regulations issued by the IRS.

September 26, 2014

IRS Signals PPACA Compliance Issues for 2015

This month, the IRS made several updates to the Internal Revenue Manual that provide insight on the notices and enforcement methods the Service will use next tax season to ensure taxpayers comply with the health care law.

September 25, 2014

AICPA Identifies Problems with IRS’s Electronic Signature Rules

The AICPA raised concerns about the IRS’s recently issued guidance on electronic signatures, especially the standards that apply when a taxpayer does not appear in person before the tax return preparer to present a valid form of identification.

September 24, 2014

Doctors Lack Standing to Challenge Delay of Employer Mandate

The Seventh Circuit affirmed the dismissal of a suit objecting to the IRS’s decision to delay imposing the Sec. 4980H employer mandate penalty until 2015.

September 23, 2014

Details of Proposed Anti-Inversion Rules Are Revealed

The IRS followed up on the Treasury Department’s announcement that it is cracking down on corporate tax inversions by providing more detail on how the crackdown will work.

September 22, 2014

Treasury Moves to Curb Tax Inversions

The Treasury Department announced that it will take steps to curb corporate tax inversions, a growing tax minimization strategy that has been the subject of many headlines recently.

September 20, 2014

Dispositions of Property Get Automatic Accounting Method Change Procedures

The IRS issued procedures for taxpayers to obtain automatic consent to accounting method changes involving dispositions of tangible depreciable property.

September 19, 2014

Changes Proposed to Allocation Rules for Rollovers

The IRS provided rules on how to allocate pre- and after-tax amounts distributed from IRAs, including Roth IRAs, to multiple destinations.

September 19, 2014

Special Per Diem Rates Issued for 2014–2015 Travel Expenses

The IRS issued its annual update of special per diem rates for use in substantiating certain business expenses taxpayers incur when traveling away from home in 2014 and 2015.

September 19, 2014

IRS Announces Proposed Changes to Cafeteria Plan Elections and Lookback Period

Proposed changes to the rules for when a taxpayer can revoke health care coverage in a cafeteria plan and how to measure the lookback period for determining who is a full-time employee when an employee moves positions within the same employer group.

September 18, 2014

Regulations Update Hybrid Defined Benefit Plan Rules

The IRS released final and proposed regulations providing guidance on so-called hybrid defined benefit pension plans.

September 10, 2014

PFIC Reporting Rules Do Not Apply to Certain Marked-to-Market Stock

The IRS announced that it will amend the regulations governing the reporting requirements for U.S. persons who hold stock in passive foreign investment companies.

September 9, 2014

IRS Explains Power-of-Attorney Requirements for Corporate Taxpayers

The IRS issued a bulletin clarifying when corporate officers or employees must have a valid power of attorney in order to represent the company before the IRS.

September 8, 2014

CPA Practitioners Sue to Stop PTIN Fees

Two CPAs have filed suit in the federal district court, asking the court to stop the IRS from charging fees for issuing PTINs, to obtain refunds of fees paid in the past, and to enjoin the IRS from asking for more information than needed to issue PTINs.