Laura L. Gavioli, PC, recently wrote an article for Law360 on a US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit’s decision that may provide an equitable avenue for hearing of late-filed petitions in US Tax Court. The Law360 article, “Myers May Make It Easier to Find Equitable Relief in Tax Court,” can be accessed here.
The enactment of the Taxpayer First Act, H.R. 3151 (116th Cong.) (TFA) brings with it several changes to the procedures and operations of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The TFA touches on the following subjects:
This post does not discuss each subject, but rather focuses on changes to the IRS Appeals process. (more…)
The IRS is using a new tool from its arsenal to enforce compliance for tax refund and credit claims: the Internal Revenue Code Section 6676 penalty. Taxpayers and their advisers need to be aware of the mechanics of this penalty and how best to avoid it being sustained.
Andrew R. Roberson, Kevin Spencer and Evan Walters authored a comprehensive article on IRC Section 6676. They discuss:
Read the article here.
Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of March 25 – 29, 2019.
March 25, 2019: The IRS issued Proposed Regulations under Section 301 of the code updating existing regulations to reflect changes made by the Technical and Miscellaneous Revenue Act of 1988.
March 25, 2019: The IRS issued Proposed Regulations partially withdrawing and re-proposing 2016 proposed regulations addressing transactions where property of a corporation becomes property of a real estate investment trust (REIT) following certain corporate distributions of controlled corporation stock.
March 26, 2019: The IRS issued Notice 2019-22 announcing the phase out of the Section 30D plug-in electric drive motor vehicle credit for purchasers of eligible General Motors’ vehicles beginning April 1, 2019.
March 27, 2019: The IRS issued Announcement 2019-03 providing an annual report on advance pricing agreements and the Advance Pricing and Mutual Agreement Program.
March 28, 2019: The IRS withdrew proposed regulations (REG-143686-07) that provided guidance on the allocation and recovery of basis in corporate stock redemptions under Section 301 of the code.
March 28, 2019: The IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2019-15 providing a waiver from time requirements for individuals electing to exclude their foreign earned income who must leave a country due to war, civil unrest or similar circumstances.
March 28, 2019: The IRS issued Notice 2019-24 providing adjustments to the limitation on housing expenses under Section 911 of the code.
March 29, 2019: The IRS issued Revenue Ruling 2019-11 providing guidance to taxpayers regarding the inclusion in income of recovered state and local taxes in the current year when the taxpayer deducted state and local taxes paid in a prior year.
March 29, 2019: The IRS withdrew proposed regulations (REG-124627-11) that provided guidance on the continuity of interest requirement under Section 368 of the code.
Special thanks to Terence McAllister in our New York office for this week’s roundup.
On March 5, 2019, the US Department of Treasury (Treasury) issued a policy statement on the tax regulatory process. We previously wrote an article for Law360 on the policy statement, which can be accessed here. In our article, we noted the disclaimer language in the policy statement that “is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or inequity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, it officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.” We further noted that this same limiting language can be found in Executive Orders issued by the President of the United States, and that courts have generally rejected attempts to rely on such orders containing this language, although it might be possible to analogize the positions in the policy statement to the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) statements in CC-2003-014, which instructs IRS employees not to take positions contrary to IRS published guidance.
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) had broad examination authority to determine the correct amount of tax owed by taxpayers. In addition to seeking information directly from a taxpayer, the IRS is also authorized to seek information from third parties. However, Internal Revenue Code (Code) Section 7602(c)(1) requires that the IRS provide “reasonable notice in advance to the taxpayer” before contacting a third party. The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently addressed what constitutes “reasonable notice” for this purpose.
In J.B. v. United States, the taxpayer sought to quash an IRS summons for insufficient notice. The taxpayers were selected for a compliance research examination as part of the IRS’s National Research Program, which involves in-depth audits of random taxpayers to improve the government’s access to compliance information and ensure that the IRS is auditing the right taxpayers. The IRS notified the taxpayers of the audit by mail and enclosed a copy of Publication 1, Your Rights as a Taxpayer. Publication 1 states, in relevant part, that the IRS may sometimes talk to other persons if the taxpayers are unable to provide or verify information received from the taxpayer. In J.B., the IRS summonsed the California Supreme Court for copies of billing statements, invoices and other documents relating to payments to the taxpayer-husband, who was a lawyer who accepted appointments to represent indigent criminal defendants in capital cases. The taxpayers did not learn of the summons until after it had been issued, and therefore moved to quash the summons for insufficient notice. The district court held in favor of the taxpayers.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed, albeit on different grounds. After explaining that “reasonable notice” is a fact-sensitive determination and that advance notice is intended to provide taxpayers the right to avoid potential embarrassment caused by IRS contact with third parties, the court discussed the Internal Revenue Manual and the IRS’s prior practice of providing taxpayer-specific notice. In particular, the predecessor IRS letter had more than 20 iterations tailored to meet different functional requirements. The court ultimately held that the IRS must provide notice “reasonably calculated under all relevant circumstances to apprise interested parties of the possibility that the IRS may contact third parties and that affords interested parties a meaningful opportunity to resolve issues and volunteer information before those third-party contacts are made.”
The Ninth Circuit was particularly troubled by the facts that: (1) the IRS had reason to know that the billing records at issue might have been subject to attorney-client privilege and (2) the taxpayers would have had access to those documents and would have been able to provide redacted copies of the pertinent records. Moreover, the court noted that Publication 1 was “divorced from any specific request for documents.” The court concluded that “[a]lthough we limit our holding to the facts of this case, we are doubtful that Publication 1 alone will ever suffice to provide reasonable notice in advance to the taxpayer, as [...]
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By a vote of 84-15 (with one senator not voting), the Senate has finally confirmed Michael Desmond to be the next Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service. Mr. Desmond is highly regarded in the tax community. We wish him well in his new post.
See links below for our prior coverage of Mr. Desmond’s nomination and the role of Chief Counsel.
Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of February 18 – 22, 2019.
February 19, 2019: The IRS issued a news release promoting online resources for answering taxpayer questions, in light of high call volume during the period following Presidents Day.
February 19, 2019: The IRS issued a news release reminding farmers and fishermen to file Form 1040 and remit all taxes owed by March 1, 2019, if they had elected to forgo making quarterly estimated tax payments.
February 19, 2019: The IRS acquiesced to the decision only in Jacobs v. Commissioner, 148 TC No. 24 (2017), dealing with whether the Boston Bruins’ pre-game meals at away game hotels were de minimis fringe benefits under section 132(e)(2) of the Code.
February 21, 2019: The IRS issued a news release urging taxpayers to file reports of large cash transactions electronically, in lieu of filing a paper Form 8300.
February 22, 2019: The IRS released final regulations amending compliance monitoring regulations for the low-income housing credit of section 42 of the Code.
February 22, 2019: The IRS released its weekly list of written determinations (e.g., Private Letter Rulings, Technical Advice Memorandums and Chief Counsel Advice).
Special thanks to Le Chen in our DC office for this week’s roundup.
Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of February 11 – 15, 2019.
February 11, 2019: The IRS issued a news release promoting online resources for answering taxpayer questions, in anticipation of high call volume over the Presidents Day weekend.
February 12, 2019: The IRS issued a news release announcing the release of the National Taxpayer Advocate’s 2018 Annual Report to Congress, which reported on, among other things, the effect of the shutdown on IRS operations and the need to modernize the IRS’s IT systems.
February 12, 2019: The IRS issued a news release promoting its “Where’s My Refund?” online tool as a way for taxpayers to check on the status of their tax refunds.
February 13, 2019: The IRS released Revenue Procedure 2019-13, providing a safe harbor method of accounting for determining depreciation deductions for passenger automobiles that qualify for the 100% additional first-year depreciation deduction under section 168(k) of the Code, but that are also subject to depreciation limitations under section 280F of the Code.
February 13, 2019: The IRS issued a news release outlining various payment options available to taxpayers who owe additional tax after filing.
February 14, 2019: The IRS issued Notice 2019-16, providing baseline interest rates referenced in various provisions of the Code dealing with employee benefits.
February 14, 2019: The IRS issued a news release reminding taxpayers that they will be asked to verify their identities when calling the IRS for assistance.
February 15, 2019: The IRS released Revenue Ruling 2019-07, providing various prescribed rates for federal income tax purposes for March 2019.
February 15, 2019: The IRS issued a news release promoting online resources for obtaining prior-year tax records, in anticipation of high call volume over the Presidents Day weekend.
February 15, 2019: The IRS released its weekly list of written determinations (e.g., Private Letter Rulings, Technical Advice Memorandums and Chief Counsel Advice).
Special thanks to Le Chen in our DC office for this week’s roundup.
Each New Year, many of us look back on the previous year’s activities, and determine what we want to accomplish in the coming year – lose weight, start exercising, read more tax articles, etc. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Large Business & International (LB&I) Division memorialized its New Year’s resolutions for 2019 in Publication 5319. So, for taxpayers with more than $10 million in assets, you may want listen up and see what the IRS has in store for 2019!
LB&I’s goals come during a time of significant reduction in workforce and increase in responsibilities. LB&I experienced a significant reduction in workforce between October 2017 and October 2018, reducing its workforce by a net of 344 employees (down from 4,868 to 4,524) spread across several positions. This included 18 individuals in leadership, 218 revenue agents and 25 tax examiners. With the exception of tax law specialists, which remained at 24, every other position saw a reduction in personnel. This reduction in personnel comes at critical point for LB&I, as it undoubtedly spent much of its time and resources last year working on guidance necessary to implement the substantial changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted in late 2017. It will continue to be responsible for training and compliance related to those changes. (more…)
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