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.
News
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Regulations Update Hybrid Defined Benefit Plan Rules
The IRS released final and proposed regulations providing guidance on so-called hybrid defined benefit pension plans.
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.
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.
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.
Capital Gain, Not Amount Realized, Determines Application of Six-Year Collection Statute
The Tax Court held that gross income for purposes of Sec. 6501(e) statute of limitation calculations includes only the gain from the sale of investments and not the amount realized from their sale.
Final Rules Clarify When Issuer’s Obligation Under a Debt Instrument Is Part of a Straddle
The IRS provided guidance on when an issuer’s obligation under a debt instrument may be a position in actively traded personal property, in which case it can be part of a straddle.
New IRS Appeals Process Starts Sept. 2
The IRS Office of Appeals is changing the way it handles appeals to examination decisions.
Final Rules Clarify Retailers’ Treatment of Vendor Discounts in Inventory Valuation
Final regulations restate and clarify retailers’ computation of ending inventory value, including the application of common vendor discounts.
Regs. Govern Dispositions of Depreciable Property
The IRS issued final regulations providing rules for how to determine gain or loss when property subject to depreciation is disposed of, how to determine the asset disposed of, and how to account for partial dispositions of depreciated property.
Whistleblower Final Rules Expand Definition of Collected Proceeds
Comprehensive final regulations provide rules for whistleblower awards under Secs. 7623(a) and (b), as well as rules governing the disclosure of return information under Sec. 6103(h) to pursue these claims.
Regulations Provide Guidance on Sec. 6707 Material Adviser Penalty
The IRS issued final regulations under Sec. 6707, which imposes a large penalty on any material adviser who fails to file a return required under Sec. 6111(a) disclosing a reportable transaction or who files a false or incomplete return.
IRS Issues Guidance on Health Insurance Premium Tax Credits
The IRS issued regulations and revenue procedures addressing how to calculate the Sec. 36B premium tax credit.
TAX PRACTICE MANAGEMENT
2025 tax software survey
AICPA members in tax practice assess how their return preparation software performed during tax season and offer insights into their procedures.
