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How the New One-a-Year IRA Rollover Rule Applies

The IRS clarified how the change in the way it interprets the statutory one-rollover-per-year rule for individual retirement arrangements affected 2014 rollovers and how the rules apply in 2015.

Assignment of Rights in Lawsuit Results in Capital Gain

The Eleventh Circuit held that a taxpayer’s assignment of his rights in an ongoing lawsuit over a land sales contract was the sale of a right to purchase the land subject to the contract, not the sale of the land, and resulted in long-term capital gains to the taxpayer.

Congress Enacts Last-Minute Extenders for 2014

The Senate passed a bill to retroactively extend more than 50 expired tax provisions through 2014, by a vote of 76-16 on the evening of Dec. 16. The extender bill passed the House of Representatives on Dec. 3, and was signed by President Barack Obama on Dec. 19.

Guidance on Health Care Law Is Issued

The IRS released a package of guidance on 2010’s health care reform legislation, finalizing proposed regulations on minimum essential coverage, identifying the hardship exemptions from the Sec. 5000A individual shared-responsibility penalty for which individuals are not required to provide exemption certificates, and providing indexing adjustments for certain calculations under the Sec. 36B premium tax credit and Sec. 5000A

IRS Updates Its Rules for Qualified Transportation Fringe Benefits

In response to changes in the availability of electronic payment media on transit systems, the IRS announced that, beginning after Dec. 31, 2015, employers will no longer be permitted to provide qualified transportation fringe benefits in the form of cash reimbursement in geographic areas where terminal-restricted debit cards are readily available. After that date, the IRS will no longer permit employers to use cash reimbursement if the only available voucher or similar item exchangeable for a transit pass is a terminal-restricted debit card.

2015 Inflation Adjustments Announced

The IRS issued the annual inflation adjustments for 2015 for more than 40 tax provisions as well as the 2015 tax rate tables for individuals and estates and trusts.

IRS Finalizes Regulations on Use of QLACs

New IRS rules provide that longevity annuity payments will not be required to begin prematurely, thus adding flexibility to retirement planning and helping to protect individuals from outliving their savings.