Tax News - The Tax Adviser

August 17, 2018

D.C. Circuit upholds IRS unenrolled tax preparer program

The Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit held that the AICPA had standing to challenge the IRS’s Annual Filing Season Program for unenrolled tax preparers but further held that the program did not violate the Administrative Procedure Act.

August 8, 2018

Qualified business income deduction regs. proposed

The IRS issued guidance on the new Sec. 199A deduction for qualified business income in the form of proposed regulations and a separate notice on how to calculate W-2 wages for those purposes.

August 7, 2018

Final regs. govern who can be a partnership representative

The IRS finalized proposed regulations under Sec. 6223 on the procedures for designating a partnership representative and the authority of the partnership representative under the centralized partnership audit regime.

August 7, 2018

Ninth Circuit withdraws Altera opinion

The order announcing the withdrawal says it is being done “to allow time for the reconstituted panel to confer on this appeal.”

August 6, 2018

IRS issues proposed regs. on 100% bonus depreciation

The IRS issued proposed regulations providing guidance on the new tax law’s amendments to Sec. 168(k), which increased bonus depreciation for qualifying property from 50% to 100%, generally effective for property acquired and placed in service after Sept. 27, 2017.

August 1, 2018

Proposed regs. address several transition tax issues

The IRS issued proposed regulations on the Sec. 965 transition tax that requires U.S. shareholders of deferred foreign income corporations to pay tax on post-1986 deferred income.

July 30, 2018

Final rules govern adequate substantiation for charitable contributions

Final regulations address how taxpayers can comply with the requirements for adequate substantiation of charitable contributions of money or property.

July 25, 2018

Stock-based compensation cost-sharing regs. valid

The Ninth Circuit reversed a Tax Court decision invalidating a cost-sharing regulation that requires allocation of stock-based compensation costs between related parties.

July 17, 2018

States sue over state and local tax deduction cap

Four states have sued in U.S. district court, asking to invalidate the $10,000 limit on the deduction for state and local taxes enacted as part of last year’s tax overhaul.

July 17, 2018

Many tax-exempt organizations no longer need to list donor information

News IRS procedures eliminate the requirement for many exempt organizations to list certain substantial donors’ names and addresses on some forms.

July 12, 2018

AICPA: 2019 Form W-4 needs to be simplified

The AICPA’s Tax Executive Committee sent a letter to the IRS, urging the Service to simplify the proposed draft 2019 Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate.

July 10, 2018

Tax practitioners are warned to safeguard client data

The IRS warned that it is increasingly difficult for it to recognize fraudulent tax returns as cybercriminals succeed in getting more and more accurate information.

June 27, 2018

Form 1040 to be shorter but with more schedules

The IRS is working on a draft version of the 2018 Form 1040, U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, that reduces the size of the form to two half-pages in length and eliminates more than 50 lines.

June 21, 2018

Supreme Court overturns Quill’s physical presence requirement

The U.S. Supreme Court held that states can assert nexus for sales and use tax purposes without requiring a seller’s physical presence in the state.

June 18, 2018

Disguised-sale partnership regs. withdrawn

The IRS announced that it was withdrawing temporary regulations on the treatment of partnership liabilities for disguised-sale purposes and proposing to reinstate the old rules.

June 15, 2018

AICPA advocates for IRS tax guidance priorities

The AICPA sent a letter to the IRS with recommendations for items of tax guidance that should be priorities for the Service to issue from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019.

June 8, 2018

Draft 2019 Form W-4 and instructions posted

The IRS released a draft Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, and its instructions, for individual taxpayers to use to determine their income tax withholding for 2019.

June 5, 2018

Sec. 965 transition tax penalty relief issued

The IRS announced relief from late-payment penalties and that it will allow late elections for taxpayers subject to the new Sec. 965 transition tax on deemed repatriated foreign earnings.

May 30, 2018

AICPA recommends IRS FAQs on virtual currency taxation

The comments were prompted by new questions that have emerged about how the tax rules apply to virtual currency transactions since the AICPA first submitted comments.

May 25, 2018