safe harbor Archives - TAX CONTROVERSY 360

Weekly IRS Roundup December 18 – December 22, 2023

by Evan Walters | Dec 26, 2023 | IRS Guidance, Tax Reform

Check out our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of December 18, 2023 – December 22, 2023.

December 18, 2023: The IRS released Internal Revenue Bulletin 2023-51, which includes the following:

Notice 2023-74, which delays the new $600 Form 1099-K reporting threshold requirement for third-party settlement organizations for calendar year 2023 and plans to phase in the reporting requirement in 2024, starting with a threshold of $5,000.
Revenue Procedure 2023-40, which provides guidance in specific circumstances on the adequacy of disclosure on a federal tax return for purposes of reducing the understatement of income tax accuracy-related penalty pursuant to § 6662(d) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) and avoiding the Code § 6694(a) tax return preparer penalty.
Proposed regulations that would amend the rules applicable to plans that include cash or deferred arrangements pursuant to § 401(k) to provide guidance with respect to long-term, part-time employees. Comments must be received by January 26, 2024. A public hearing is scheduled for March 15, 2024, at 10 am EDT.
Revenue Procedure 2023-37, which sets forth rules for Qualified Pre-approved Plans and § 403(b) Pre-approved Plans. The rules consolidate and conform prior revenue procedures with respect to the pre-approved plans.
Revenue Procedure 2023-38, which provides procedural rules for qualified manufacturers of new clean vehicles to comply with the reporting, certification and attestation requirements regarding the excluded entity restriction.
Revenue Ruling 2023-23, which publishes the base period T-bill rate for the period ending September 30, 2023, under § 995(f).
Revenue Procedure 2023-36, which updates the list of jurisdictions with which the United States has in effect a relevant information exchange agreement or an automatic exchange relationship under Treasury Regulation § 1.6049-4(b)(5) and Treasury Regulation § 1.6049-8(a).

December 18, 2023: The IRS announced the launch of the second phase of a new online self-service tool for businesses that expands the business tax account capabilities and eligible entity types. Individual partners of partnerships and individual shareholders of S Corporation businesses are also now eligible for a business tax account.

December 18, 2023: The IRS issued Revenue Ruling 2024-1, which provides tables of covered compensation under § 401(l)(5)(E) for the 2024 plan year.

December 19, 2023: The IRS announced new penalty relief for certain individuals, businesses and tax-exempt organizations that were not sent automated collection reminder notices during the pandemic. Notice 2024-7 and Fact Sheet 2023-28 provide additional details.

December 19, 2023: The IRS issued Notice 2024-1, which provides the percentage increase for calculating the qualifying payment amounts for items and services furnished during 2024 for purposes of § 9816 and § 9817 of the Code, section 716 and section 717 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of [...]

Continue Reading

Weekly IRS Roundup November 16 – November 20, 2020

by McDermott Will & Emery | Nov 23, 2020 | IRS Guidance, Tax Reform

Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of November 16, 2020 – November 20, 2020. Additionally, for continuing updates on the tax impact of COVID-19, please visit our resource page here.

November 16, 2020: The IRS released Notice 2020-82 related to the due date for certain contributions to defined benefit plans.

November 16, 2020: The IRS released Revenue Ruling 2020-26 updating the applicable federal rate and various other prescribed rates for December 2020.

November 16, 2020: The IRS released Notice 2020-81 updating weighted average interest rates, yield curves, and segment rates.

November 18, 2020: The IRS released Revenue Ruling 2020-27 related to deductions for expenses paid with Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans.

November 18, 2020: The IRS released Revenue Procedure 2020-51 providing a safe harbor for deductions for expenses paid with PPP loans when loan forgiveness is denied or the taxpayer forgoes forgiveness.

November 19, 2020: The IRS released TD 9933 containing final regulations to provide guidance regarding unrelated business taxable income of exempt organization.

November 20, 2020: The IRS released Notice 2020-83 announcing the Required Amendments List for qualified retirement plans and section 403(b) retirement plans.

November 20, 2020: The IRS released TD 9934 containing final regulations to coordinate the extraordinary disposition rule under section 245A with the disqualified basis and disqualified payment rules under section 951A.

November 20, 2020: The IRS released Internal Revenue Bulletin 2020-47, dated November 23, 2020, containing the following highlights: Rev. Proc. 2020-49 (Administrative); REG-122462-20 (Employee Plans); Rev. Proc. 2020-47 (Employee Tax); Rev. Rule. 2020-25 (Income Tax); Rev. Proc. 2020-50 (Income Tax); T.D. 9919 (Income Tax); and T.D. 9931 (Temporary Regulation).

November 20, 2020: The IRS released an audit technique guide for conservation easements.

November 20, 2020: The IRS released its weekly list of written determinations (e.g., Private Letter Rulings, Technical Advice Memorandums and Chief Counsel Advice).

Special thanks to Brian Moore in our Washington, D.C. office for this week’s roundup.

Weekly IRS Roundup January 14 – 18, 2019

by McDermott Will & Emery | Jan 22, 2019 | IRS Guidance, Tax Reform, Uncategorized

Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of January 14 – 18, 2019.

January 15, 2019: The IRS issued final regulations implementing the transition tax under section 965 of the Code, enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

January 15, 2019: The IRS released an updated contingency plan describing its actions and activities in light of the partial federal government shutdown.

January 16, 2019: The IRS released Notice 2019-11, providing a penalty waiver, under certain conditions, for an individual taxpayer’s underpayment of withholding and estimated income tax, in light of the major changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

January 18, 2019: The IRS issued final regulations providing guidance on the deduction for qualified business income under section 199A of the Code, enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

January 18, 2019: The IRS released proposed regulations dealing with previously suspended losses and ownership interests in certain entities for purposes of calculating the deduction under section 199A of the Code, enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

January 18, 2019: The IRS released Revenue Procedure 2019-11, providing methods for calculating W-2 wages for purposes of the deduction under section 199A of the Code, enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

January 18, 2019: The IRS released Notice 2019-07, proposing a safe harbor for rental real estate enterprises for purposes of the deduction under section 199A of the Code, enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Special thanks to Le Chen in our DC office for this week’s roundup.

IRS Issues Safe Harbors under Which the IRS Will Not Assert That a Corporation Lacks the Requisite ‘Control’ for Purposes of Section 355(a)

by Jay M. Singer | Jul 18, 2016 | IRS Guidance, Uncategorized

On July 15, 2016, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) released Rev. Proc. 2016-40. This revenue procedure provides safe harbors in which the IRS will not assert that a distributing corporation, D, lacks control of another corporation, C, within the meaning of Code section 355(a)(1)(A) when D acquires putative control of C through C’s issuance of stock and C subsequently engages in a transaction that actually or effectively reserves the effect of the stock issuance. In general, D can only distribute the stock of C to D shareholders in a tax-free spin-off under Code section 355 if D has control of C within the meaning of Code section 368(c) immediately before the spin-off. To satisfy the control requirement of section 368(c), D must have 80 percent of the vote and 80 percent of each nonvoting class of C stock. Historically, in situations in which D owned less than 80 percent of the stock of C, D would satisfy this requirement by having C recapitalize its stock into “high vote” and “low vote” classes of stock immediately before the spin-off. D would then distribute the “high vote” stock with more than 80 percent of the vote of all C stock to D shareholders in a tax-free spin-off under section 355. However, publicly traded corporations often dislike having multiple classes of stock with different voting rights outstanding. As a result, when C becomes an independent publicly traded corporation following the spin-off, it often seeks to recapitalize its “high vote” and “low vote” classes of stock into a single class with identical voting rights. Prior to 2013, the IRS issued a number of private letter rulings permitting C to engage in such recapitalizations following its first regularly scheduled board meeting after a spin-off without retroactively causing the spin-off to fail to be tax-free under section 355. In 2013, the IRS announced it would no longer issue such rulings while it studied the issue.

(more…)