Weekly IRS Roundup November 13 – November 17, 2023

Check out our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of November 13, 2023 – November 17, 2023.

November 13, 2023: The IRS released Internal Revenue Bulletin 2023-46, which includes the following:

  • Proposed regulations that would update the requirements a plan sponsor of a single-employer defined benefit plan must meet to obtain IRS approval to use mortality tables specific to the plan when calculating the present value for minimum funding purposes (as a substitute for the generally applicable mortality tables). Comments and requests for a public hearing must be received by December 19, 2023.
  • Final regulations that prescribe mortality tables for certain defined benefit pension plans.
  • Announcement 2023-31, which revokes § 501(c)(3) determinations for certain organizations and stipulates that contributions made to the organizations by individual donors are no longer deductible under § 170(b)(1)(A).

November 13, 2023: The IRS reminded taxpayers of the important steps they can take now to help them “get ready” to file their 2023 federal tax return for the 2024 filing season.

November 13, 2023: The IRS released FS-2023-26, updating question nine to reflect that wrongfully incarcerated US service members cannot exclude certain payments from gross income.

November 13, 2023: The IRS reminded people to stay vigilant in protecting personal and financial information from scam artists and tax schemes in light of International Fraud Awareness Week.

November 13, 2023: The IRS provided instructions for tax professionals to become an authorized e-file provider, which is mandatory for tax professionals to be able to file their clients’ federal tax returns electronically.

November 14, 2023: The IRS announced that it will hold a free webinar on November 16, 2023, to update employers, tax professionals and others on the most recent developments concerning e-file requirements for information returns that take effect on January 1, 2024.

November 14, 2023: The IRS released Notice 2023-76, which updates the corporate bond monthly yield curve and corresponding spot segment rates for November 2023 used under § 417(e)(3)(D), the 24-month average segment rates for November 2023 and the 30-year Treasury rates, as reflected by the application of § 430(h)(2)(C)(iv).

November 15, 2023: The IRS announced that Rajiv Uppal has been selected as the next Chief Information Officer.

November 15, 2023: The IRS announced that taxpayers can now claim tax credits for new and used clean vehicles they buy during the tax year, and starting January 1, 2024, they can transfer those tax credits to the dealer in exchange for a financial benefit.

November 15, 2023: The IRS released Revenue Ruling 2023-21, which provides various prescribed rates for federal income tax purposes for December 2023.

November 16, 2023: The IRS reminded individual retirement arrangement owners age 70½ or [...]

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Weekly IRS Roundup November 6 – November 10, 2023

Check out our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of November 6, 2023 – November 10, 2023.

November 6, 2023: The IRS released Internal Revenue Bulletin 2023-45, which includes the following:

  • Final regulations that increase the user fees for new and renewal enrollment of enrolled actuaries to $680, up from $250.
  • Notice 2023-70 provides that $3.22 is the adjusted applicable dollar amount for determining the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund fee for policy years and plan years ending on or after October 1, 2023, and before October 1, 2024.
  • Notice 2023-72 updates the corporate bond monthly yield curve and the corresponding spot segment rates for October 2023 used under § 417(e)(3)(D), the 24-month average segment rates for October 2023 and the 30-year Treasury rates, as reflected by the application of § 430(h)(2)(C)(iv).
  • Notice 2023-73 specifies a mortality table for determining the minimum present value under § 417(e)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and Section 205(g)(3) of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 for distributions with annuity starting dates that occur during stability periods beginning in the 2024 calendar year.
  • Announcement 2023-30 revokes § 501(c)(3) determination(s) for certain organization(s) and stipulates that contributions made to the organization(s) by individual donors are no longer deductible under § 170(b)(1)(A).
  • Revenue Ruling 2023-20 provides the November 2023 applicable federal rates.

November 6, 2023: The IRS published Tax Tip 2023-120, which notes that volunteers are needed to fill a variety of roles in two IRS volunteer programs.

November 7, 2023: The IRS released FS-2023-25, announcing that taxpayers are now able to digitally submit all correspondence and responses to notices. New updates to the “Where’s My Refund?” tool will launch during the 2024 filing season.

November 7, 2023: The IRS announced that the telephonic-only public hearing on digital asset transactions has been rescheduled for November 13, 2023.

November 8, 2023: The IRS reminded dealers and sellers of clean vehicles to register their organizations immediately via the Energy Credits Online tool. The IRS urges registration by December 1, 2023, to ensure benefits are available by January 1, 2024.

November 9, 2023: The IRS Advisory Council issued its annual report for 2023, which includes recommendations for the IRS regarding new and continuing issues in tax administration.

November 9, 2023: The IRS announced the annual inflation adjustments for more than 60 tax provisions for tax year 2024, including the tax rate schedules and other tax changes. Further annual adjustment details may be found in Revenue Procedure 2023-34.

November 9, 2023: The IRS issued its fiscal year 2023 Financial Report.

November 9, 2023: The IRS published Tax [...]

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Employers Be Forewarned and Forearmed: Recent IRS Announcements Require Action on ERTC Claims

Promoters and tax advisors have extensively marketed the Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC) as a way for employers to reclaim Federal Insurance Contributions Act payroll taxes paid during the first two years of COVID-19. The rules governing ERTC claims are complex and nuanced, however, resulting in increased scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Asserting that many employers have improperly claimed these heavily marketed ERTC refunds, the IRS released two announcements, one on September 14, 2023, and the other on October 19, 2023, that address ERTC claims. In conjunction with these announcements, the IRS has already named fraudulent ERTC claims as number one on its “Dirty Dozen” list for 2023.

Specifically, the IRS will now target erroneous ERTC claims with penalties and interest. If a case is deemed fraudulent, the IRS will investigate and may impose civil and criminal penalties. The IRS has also suspended ERTC refund claims and provided a new withdrawal process for potentially fraudulent claims.




Weekly IRS Roundup October 30 – November 3, 2023

Check out our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of October 30, 2023 – November 3, 2023.

October 30, 2023: The IRS released Internal Revenue Bulletin 2023-44, which includes the following:

  • Proposed regulations that would update the rules governing the IRS’s sale of taxpayer property that was seized by levy.
  • Proposed regulations addressing so-called “Killer B” transactions. These transactions, at a high level, are structured to repatriate foreign subsidiary earnings through triangular reorganizations. The proposed regulations would formalize and modify guidance set forth in Notices 2014-32 and 2016-73.
  • Final regulations that provide rules for prohibitions on certain contributions to Type I and Type III supporting organizations, as well as rules for qualifying as functionally integrated and non-functionally integrated Type III supporting organizations.
  • Notice 2023-71, which extends all tax filing and payment deadlines from October 7, 2023, to October 7, 2024, for taxpayers affected by the recent terrorist attacks in Israel.

October 30, 2023: The IRS extended its policy for accepting digital signatures for certain tax forms until October 31, 2025. The IRS updated the Internal Revenue Manual to be consistent with this extension.

October 31, 2023: The IRS reminded taxpayers to remain vigilant against potential online threats and highlighted certain practices to help protect against cybersecurity attacks.

November 1, 2023: The IRS announced that clean vehicle sellers can now register for time-of-sale reporting and dealer advance payments for the clean vehicle credit using the new Energy Credits Online tool.

November 1, 2023: The IRS announced that the amount individuals can contribute to their 401(k) plans in 2024 has increased to $23,000, up from $22,500 in 2023. Notice 2023-75, which was released the same day, provides adjusted 2024 limitations on benefits and contributions under qualified retirement plans as under § 415(d).

November 2, 2023: The IRS rescheduled the hearing on proposed regulations regarding digital asset transactions from November 7, 2023, to November 13, 2023.

November 2, 2023: The IRS published Tax Tip 2023-119, which notes that individuals may now review 18 new Nationwide Tax Forums Online seminars.

November 3, 2023: The IRS reminded taxpayers to review their tax withholding obligations ahead of the upcoming tax filing season to avoid having a large refund or balance due.

November 3, 2023: The IRS issued proposed regulations that would add new requirements relating to the disclosure of information that group health plans and health insurance issuers must include subject to the No Surprises Act. The proposed regulations consider requiring plans and issuers to register via the Federal IDR portal. Comments must be received by January 2, 2024.

November 3, 2023: The IRS released its weekly list [...]

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Federal District Court Rules Codified Economic Substance Doctrine Vitiates Tax Transaction Benefits

On October 31, 2023, the US District Court for the District of Colorado, in Liberty Global, Inc. v. United States, applied the codified economic substance doctrine and held—on summary judgment—that Liberty Global, Inc. (LGI) must recognize $2.4 billion in taxable gain. At issue was a four-step transaction that took place in 2018, as a result of which LGI took the position that a dividends received deduction offset a $2.4 billion taxable gain based on a purported “mismatch” between (1) the rules for taxation of global intangible low-taxed income (GILTI) or subpart F income of a controlled foreign corporation (CFC) and (2) the qualification of an entity as a CFC.

In rejecting what it described as LGI’s “scheme” to “exploit” the apparent mismatch, the Court made three preliminary holdings. First, LGI argued that the prefatory clause in Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 7701(o)—“[i]n the case of any transaction to which the economic substance doctrine is relevant”—requires courts to conduct a threshold analysis into whether the economic substance doctrine is “relevant” to the transaction at issue, and only then can courts consider whether the transaction has “economic substance.” The Court rejected this argument, stating that “there is no threshold ‘relevance’ inquiry that precedes the inquiry” into a transaction’s economic substance. Instead, “the doctrine’s relevance is coextensive with the statute’s test for economic substance.” Second, the Court held that the proper unit of analysis is “the transaction in aggregate” and did not analyze any step or phase in isolation, even if it could be said that the tax benefit at issue was “created” because of a particular step. And third, the Court denied LGI’s contention that its transaction falls under any exception to the economic substance doctrine. The Court determined that LGI’s transaction was not a “basic business transaction” and, although a series of transactions that constitute a corporate organization or reorganization might fall outside the economic substance doctrine, a series of transactions that merely includes a reorganization is not necessarily exempt.

The Court then applied the economic substance doctrine. LGI conceded that steps one through three “did not change, in a meaningful way, LGI’s economic position,” so the Court considered whether the steps had a substantial, non-tax purpose. LGI asserted that the transaction was “in furtherance” of Belgian corporate law requirements, but the Court found LGI had failed to indicate how the transaction facilitated such compliance. Moreover, an action may be “in furtherance” of some end without being a “substantial purpose” of the action, as IRC Section 7701(o) requires. Even if an isolated step provided substantial, non-tax benefits for LGI, that does not suggest the existence of a non-tax purpose for “the entire scheme.” Thus, the Court held that “the only substantial purpose of the transaction was tax evasion.”

The Court concluded that steps one through three of the transaction must be disregarded under federal law, resulting in $2.4 billion of taxable gain on LGI’s sale of its subsidiary during step four without such gain being converted to a dividend and [...]

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