IRS Practice & Procedure

TOPICS

May 1, 2016

Legislation Permanently Bans Internet Taxes, Increases Failure-to-File Penalty

Congress passed the Trade Facilitation and Trade Enforcement Act of 2015, making permanent the moratorium on states and
localities taxing Internet access.

May 1, 2016

IRS Introduces New Audit Procedures for LB&I

The new examination process uses an issues-based approach.

May 1, 2016

Specified Domestic Entities Must Now Report Under Sec. 6038D

The regulations require specified domestic entities to report specified foreign financial assets in which they have interests.

April 27, 2016

Final Regulations Clarify $10,000-Per-Day Material Adviser Penalty

The IRS issued final rules on how to apply the $10,000-per-day penalty under Sec. 6708 when a material adviser fails to provide the Service a list of advisees with respect to reportable transactions.

April 21, 2016

TIGTA Issues Preliminary Report on 2015 Tax Season

Just days after the end of the 2015 filing season, the TIGTA issued its preliminary report on what went well and what went badly for the IRS this year.

April 13, 2016

Ways to Make Tax Compliance Less of a Nightmare for Small Business

Troy Lewis, chair of the AICPA’s Tax Executive Committee, testified in favor or the Mobile Workforce State Income Tax Simplification Act.

April 12, 2016

List of Designated Private Delivery Services Updated Again

The IRS updated its list of designated private delivery services that qualify under the timely mailing/timely filing rule to include certain DHL services.

April 6, 2016

Taxpayers Can Now Pay Federal Tax at Participating Retail Stores

A new program allows individuals who owe federal income taxes to pay in cash at 7-Eleven stores in 34 states.

April 1, 2016

CDP Notice of Determination Valid If Actually Received

The Tax Court held that a notice of determination from a collection due process hearing is valid for purposes of starting the period in which a taxpayer must file a petition with the Tax Court if the notice is actually received by the taxpayer.

April 1, 2016

Streamlined Filing Procedures for Disclosing Foreign Assets and Income

Qualifying taxpayers who failed to report foreign-source income and can prove their conduct was not “willful” could enjoy significantly reduced penalties.

April 1, 2016

Recent Guidance Affecting Research Credit Carryforwards From Closed Years

The IRS recently promulgated final regulations that prohibit a taxpayer from increasing research credit carryforwards from closed years by electing the ASC method.

April 1, 2016

Change in Form 1099-B Cost Basis Reporting Can Result in Double-Counting of Income

Since the compensatory income is already included in the employee’s Form W-2, the failure to report it in the Form 1099-B cost basis results in double-counting the income unless an adjustment is entered on Form 8949.

April 1, 2016

PATH Brings Changes to Federal Penalty Computations

This item discusses the PATH legislation’s immediate impact on certain federal penalty computations.

April 1, 2016

Ramifications of Removing the Sec. 199 Benefits-and-Burdens Test

Manufacturers could be unduly disadvantaged by the removal of the ownership test from present regulations.

April 1, 2016

Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative

Many practitioners find that the IRS does not process their Form 2848 filings and returns them because the form was prepared or filed incorrectly.

March 24, 2016

New Form 3115 Is Required, IRS Announces

The IRS alerted the public that a new Form 3115, Application for Change in Accounting Method, has been issued with a revision date of December 2015, the first revision since 2009.

March 24, 2016

Changes in Tax Legislation in 2015: Lots of Them!

This column provides a summary of the bills enacted last year that included tax changes.

March 23, 2016

Exempt Organizations’ Applications Do Not Contain Protected Return Information

A federal appeals court ordered the IRS to comply with a lower court’s order that it hand over the names of organizations that had been on its “Be on the lookout” list when it was mishandling applications for tax-exempt status.

March 22, 2016

IRS Launching Competition Intended to Redesign Taxpayer Experience

Aimed at “reimagining the taxpayer experience of the future,” the IRS asked for participants to design a new way of presenting information to taxpayers that is understandable and useful to them.

March 8, 2016

Guidance Extends Certification Deadlines for Reinstated Work Opportunity Tax Credit

Because of the recent retroactive reinstatement of the work opportunity tax credit to the beginning of 2015 and the addition of the long-term unemployed to the list of qualified employees beginning Jan. 1, 2016, the IRS has extended the due date for required certifications.