IRS Practice & Procedure

TOPICS

April 1, 2018

Practitioners are being asked for personal information by IRS

The IRS is now asking taxpayer representatives who call the agency to provide their Social Security number and date of birth to confirm their identity.

March 23, 2018

Federal spending bill includes tax provisions

The $1.3 trillion spending bill passed by Congress includes IRS funding and tax-related technical corrections, including changes to the centralized partnership audit regime.

March 21, 2018

Supreme Court: Obstruction requires knowledge of investigation

The U.S. Supreme Court held that to obtain a conviction for obstructing or impeding the administration of the Internal Revenue Code, the government was required to prove that the defendant knew of a pending tax-related proceeding or could reasonably foresee the commencement of such a proceeding.

March 20, 2018

Phone scams and phishing featured in 2018’s Dirty Dozen tax scams

The IRS completed its annual list of the top tax scams for this filing season, with brazen phishing and phone scams still prominent on the list.

March 14, 2018

Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program to end in September

The IRS announced that it is closing the 2014 Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program (OVDP) on Sept. 28, 2018.

March 13, 2018

Businesses affected by winter storms get extra time to file for extensions

The extension to March 20 applies to business taxpayers affected by the two recent winter storms, Quinn and Skylar, that primarily hit the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic United States.

March 5, 2018

IRS issues new tax rate tables, inflation adjustments for 2018

The IRS announced the new lower tax brackets for 2018 and a number of other new items affected by P.L. 115-97, known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

March 1, 2018

IRS releases updated withholding calculator and 2018 Form W-4

The IRS has completed updating its online withholding calculator that individual taxpayers can use to determine how many withholding allowances they should claim for 2018.

March 1, 2018

Six-year limitation period does not apply to years before Sec. 6038D’s enactment

The six-year limitation period applies only to tax
years in which the Sec. 6038D reporting requirement was in effect.

March 1, 2018

Strategies for minimizing estimated tax payments

Taxpayers can use various techniques to minimize estimated tax payments throughout the year while also avoiding underpayment penalties.

March 1, 2018

Potential pitfalls in the timing of filing refund claims

This item discusses two cases that highlight nuances of the refund claim limitation provisions.

February 13, 2018

IRS proposes to remove 298 regulations

The IRS is proposing to remove 298 regulations that have no current or future application to the Internal Revenue Code.

February 8, 2018

Charles Rettig to be nominated new IRS commissioner

President Donald Trump announced that he will nominate Charles Rettig, a tax attorney from California, to be the new Commissioner of the IRS.

February 6, 2018

OPR implements greater transparency in disciplinary investigations

The IRS’s Office of Professional Responsibility has implemented a new process for informing practitioners that they are under investigation for violations of Circular 230.

February 1, 2018