financial institutions Archives | TAX CONTROVERSY 360

Weekly IRS Roundup March 27 – March 31, 2023

by Sarah M. Raben | Apr 3, 2023 | IRS Guidance, Tax Reform, Tax Refunds

Check out our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of March 27, 2023 – March 31, 2023.

March 27, 2023: The IRS released Internal Revenue Bulletin 2023-13, which highlights the following:

Notice 2023-23: This notice provides guidance to financial institutions on reporting required minimum distributions (RMDs) for 2023 after the amendment to Section 401(a)(9) made by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023. If an individual retirement account (IRA) owner has an RMD due in 2023, the financial institution that is the trustee, custodian, or issuer maintaining the IRA must file a 2022 Form 5498 (IRA Contribution Information) by May 31, 2023, and indicate by checking Box 11 that an RMD is required.

Revenue Procedure 2023-13: This procedure provides the general rules and specifications for paper and computer-generated substitutes for the following:

- Form 941, Employer’s QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return
- Schedule B (Form 941), Report of Tax Liability for Semiweekly Schedule Depositors
- Schedule D (Form 941), Report of Discrepancies Caused by Acquisitions, Statutory Mergers, or Consolidations
- Schedule R (Form 941), Allocation Schedule for Aggregate Form 941 Filers
- Form 8974, Qualified Small Business Payroll Tax Credit for Increasing Research Activities.

Revenue Procedure 2023-18: This procedure addresses how to apply to be a certified professional employer organization (CPEO), the requirements for a CPEO to remain certified and the procedures relating to suspension and revocation of CPEO certification.

Notice 2023-24: This notice provides guidance under Section 45J relating to the credit for the production of electricity from advanced nuclear power facilities. The notice provides (1) guidance for computing the Section 45J credit; (2) the amount of the unutilized national megawatt capacity limitation; (3) the procedures for taxpayers to apply for allocations of—and that the IRS will use to allocate—the unutilized national megawatt capacity limitation solely with respect to facilities that the US Department of Energy previously certified as “advanced nuclear facilities” and (4) the procedures for a “qualified public entity” to elect to transfer the Section 45J credit to an “eligible project partner.”

Notice 2023-26: This notice provides adjustments to the limitation on housing expenses for purposes of Section 911 for specific locations for 2023. These adjustments are based on geographic differences in housing costs relative to housing costs in the United States.

Revenue Procedure 2023-17: This procedure provides indexing adjustments for the applicable dollar amounts under Sections 4980H(c)(1) and (b)(1). These indexed amounts are used to calculate the employer-shared responsibility payments under Section 4980H(a) and (b)(1), respectively.

Revenue Procedure 2023-19: This procedure provides information to any individual who failed to meet Section 911(d)(1) eligibility requirements for 2022 because of adverse conditions in a foreign country.

March 27, 2023: The IRS released a warning as part of the [...]

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Weekly IRS Roundup March 6 – March 10, 2023

by Sarah M. Raben | Mar 13, 2023 | IRS Guidance, Tax Reform, Tax Refunds

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

March 6, 2023: The IRS released Internal Revenue Bulletin 2023-10, which highlights the following:

Action on Decision 2023-1: The IRS announced that although it disagrees with the holding that Section 4611(b)(1)(A) imposes a tax on exports in violation of the Export Clause of the US Constitution (US Const. art. I, § 9, cl. 5), in the interest of sound tax administration, it will follow the decision in all circuits.

Notice 2023-17: This notice establishes a program to allocate amounts of environmental justice solar and wind capacity limitation (Capacity Limitation) to qualified facilities eligible for the energy investment credit as determined under Section 48. This notice also provides initial program guidance for potential applicants for allocations of calendar year 2023 Capacity Limitation.

Notice 2023-18: This notice establishes the Section 48C(e)(1) program to allocate $10 billion in credits ($4 billion of which may only be allocated to projects located in certain energy communities census tracts) and provides initial guidance. The goal of the program is to expand US manufacturing capacity and quality jobs for clean energy technologies (including production and recycling), reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the US industrial sector and secure domestic supply chains for critical materials (including specified critical minerals) that serve as inputs for clean energy technology production.

Notice 2023-20: This notice provides interim guidance for the determination of adjusted financial statement income as it relates to (1) variable contracts and similar contracts, (2) funds withheld from reinsurance and modified coinsurance agreements and (3) the basis of certain assets held by certain previously tax-exempt entities that received a “fresh start” basis adjustment.

Revenue Ruling 2023-5: This revenue ruling provides the applicable federal rates for federal income tax purposes for March 2023. The short-term federal interest rate is 4.5%, the mid-term rate is 3.7% and the long-term rate is 3.74%.

March 6, 2023: The IRS announced that it will be open for special Saturday hours throughout tax season, during which taxpayers can receive face-to-face help from IRS employees without an appointment. The next Saturday openings will be April 8 and May 13.

March 6, 2023: The IRS released Tax Tip 2023-28, which offers easy and convenient options for making federal tax payments.

March 7, 2023: The IRS released Notice 2023-23, which provides guidance to financial institutions on reporting required minimum distributions (RMDs) for 2023 after the amendment to Section 401(a)(9) made by the Consolidated Appropriations Act. If an individual retirement account (IRA) owner has an RMD due for 2023, the financial institution that is the trustee, custodian or issuer maintaining the IRA must file a 2022 Form 5498 (IRA Contribution Information) by May 31, 2023, and indicate [...]

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Weekly IRS Roundup July 23 – 27, 2018

by McDermott Will & Emery | Jul 31, 2018 | IRS Guidance, Uncategorized

Presented below is our weekly roundup for July 23 – 27, 2018 on significant IRS guidance and relevant tax matters.

July 20, 2018: The IRS has updated its FAQ list for the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) including new questions and answers regarding the IRS’s updated processing system and certifications for compliance.

July 23, 2018: In Publication 5118, the IRS released the July updated version of the FATCA Online Registration User Guide. This includes, among other additions, changes to enable for financial institutions to submit certifications of pre-existing accounts and periodic certifications.

July 27, 2018: The IRS issued TD 9836 containing final regulations regarding the substantiation and reporting rules for cash and noncash charitable contributions. The regulations provide guidance to individuals, partnerships and corporations.

July 27, 2018: The IRS released their weekly list of written determinations (e.g., Private Letter Rulings, Technical Advice Memorandum and Chief Counsel Advice).

Special thanks to Christy Vouri-Misso and Greg Berson in our DC office for this week’s roundup.

Governments are Pulling Back the Crypto-Currency Curtain

by McDermott Will & Emery and Roger J. Jones | Dec 13, 2017 | Court Procedure Matters, IRS Audits, IRS Guidance, Trial Courts, Uncategorized

Coinbase Inc., a virtual currency exchange platform, was recently ordered by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California to provide the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) with 2013-2015 transaction data for thousands of Coinbase accounts. See United States v. Coinbase Inc., et al., No. 17-CV-01431-JSC, 2017 WL 5890052, (N.D. Cal. Nov. 28, 2017). The IRS, citing references to 5.9 million customers and more than $6 billion of bitcoin transactions on Coinbase’s website, identified a potential reporting gap, since only 800-900 taxpayers have identified bitcoin transactions on their tax returns in the past few years. (Coinbase’s website currently references 10 million customers and $50 billion in transactions.) Although the IRS narrowed the scope of the third-party record keeper summons it had originally issued to Coinbase under Code Sections 7602, 7603 and 7609 (aka, a “John Doe Summons”), the parties could not reach agreement on what was to be produced, and the government initiated enforcement proceedings earlier this year. (more…)