The consolidated appropriations bill passed by Congress makes many changes to retirement plan rules, repeals health care taxes, extends expired tax provisions, and provides tax relief for disaster victims.
Advertisement
TOPICS
Individuals
Recent developments in individual taxation
This semiannual update of recent developments in the area of individual taxation includes cases on hobby losses, innocent-spouse relief, material participation in a business, discharge of indebtedness, and self-employment tax, as well as IRS guidance on charitable deductions, cryptocurrency, and other topics.
Private foundations and donor-advised funds: A new CPA best practice
An ‘outstanding practice’ combines personal financial planning with tax compliance to help clients maximize charitable deductions, provide solutions for difficult financial situations, avoid
capital gains tax, and create a family legacy.
Proposed regs. issued on meal and entertainment expense deductions
The IRS issued proposed rules clarifying that taxpayers may generally continue to deduct 50% of the food and beverage expenses associated with operating their trade or business, despite changes to the meal and entertainment expense deduction under Sec. 274.
No need to report some transactions in video game currency, IRS says
Gamers who, as part of a video game, transact in virtual currencies that do not leave the video game environment do not have to report the transactions on a tax return, the IRS made clear in a statement released on its website.
IRS proposes rules to update income tax withholding, revises Form W-4
The IRS proposed new regulations for withholding on individuals’ wages to reflect the statutory changes in the law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, including the elimination of the personal exemption.
IRS clarifies per-diem rules after TCJA changes
The IRS issued updated rules for substantiating the amount of ordinary and necessary business expenses paid or incurred while traveling using the per-diem rates.
IRS explains TCJA’s effect on standard mileage rate rules
The IRS updated rules concerning the use of standard mileage rates and to reflect the current suspension of miscellaneous itemized deductions and moving expense deductions.
Incorporating analytics into the tax curriculum
The growth of emerging technologies is forcing educators to consider how to implement training
in these vital tools across the accounting and business curriculum.
More taxpayers qualify for student loan COD relief
The IRS is expanding its relief from cancellation-of-debt income to students whose federal loans were discharged for certain legal reasons.
IRS issues 2020 standard mileage rates
On the last day of 2019, the IRS issued the standard mileage rates for 2020 for business, charitable, medical, or moving expense purposes, as well as other deduction amounts.
Prop. regs. address eliminating LIBOR, other interbank-offered rates
To facilitate the transition away from IBORs and minimize the resulting market disruption, the IRS
issued the proposed regulations with an aim of reducing associated tax uncertainty and taxpayer burden.
The business meal expense deduction after the TCJA
This article explores the competing perspectives and discusses the IRS’s interim guidance on the deductibility of business meals.
Guidance explains tax treatment of cryptocurrency airdrops and hard forks
The IRS ruled that a taxpayer does not have gross income as a result of a hard fork of a cryptocurrency if the taxpayer does not receive units of a new cryptocurrency, but does have gross income as a result of an airdrop of new cryptocurrency after a hard fork if the taxpayer receives units of the new cryptocurrency.
Final regulations permit casualty loss deductions in prior years
The IRS finalized regulations permitting taxpayers to deduct disaster losses in the prior tax year and removed the related temporary regulations that were issued in 2016.
Qualified opportunity zone regs. finalized
The IRS issued final regulations providing guidance on tax-favored investments in qualified opportunity zones (QOZs).
Year-end government spending bill contains many tax provisions
The consolidated appropriations bill passed by Congress makes many changes to retirement plan rules, repeals health care taxes, extends expired tax provisions, and provides tax relief for disaster victims.
5th Circuit invalidates health care law’s individual mandate
The Fifth Circuit held that the “individual mandate” under Sec. 5000A, which imposes a “shared responsibility payment” on taxpayers who do not obtain health insurance that provides at least minimum essential coverage, is unconstitutional now that the payment amount has been reduced to zero.
Opportunity zone managers and investors must act before year-end
The QOZ program will generally require year-end action on the part of the fund managers.
Guidance issued on payments to charitable organizations
The IRS issued additional rules on the treatment of deductions for charitable contributions in lieu of state and local taxes, an area in which it has already issued final regulations and other guidance.
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.
