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Weekly IRS Roundup December 19 – December 23, 2022

Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of December 19, 2022 – December 23, 2022.

December 19, 2022: The IRS released Internal Revenue Bulletin 2022-51, which highlights the following:

  • Revenue Ruling 2022-23: This revenue ruling announces the interest rates for the first quarter of 2023. The new interest rates are as follows:
    • Overpayments: 7%
    • Overpayments for corporations: 6%
    • Corporate overpayments for portion exceeding $10,000: 4.5%
    • Underpayments: 7%
    • Large corporate underpayments: 9%
  • Announcement 2022-26: This announcement notifies taxpayers that payments made to property owners under Suffolk County’s Septic Improvement Program are not required to be included in gross income for federal income tax purposes.
  • Revenue Ruling 2022-24: This revenue ruling provides tables for covered compensation related to qualified pension, profit-sharing and stock bonus plans under Section 401(l)(5)(E) and related income tax regulations for the 2023 plan year. The taxable wage base is $160,200 for the 2023 tax year (up from $147,000 in 2022) for purposes of determining covered compensation.
  • Announcement 2022-24: This announcement lists the organizations that no longer qualify for 501(c)(3) and 170(c)(2) status.
  • Announcement 2022-25: This announcement notifies potential donors of a stipulated decision by the US Tax Court in declaratory judgment proceedings under Section 7428.
  • Announcement 2022-27: This announcement reminds state and local housing credit agencies of the deadline related to certain allocation of housing credit dollar amounts under Section 42.

December 19, 2022: The IRS and the US Department of the Treasury (Treasury) issued guidance related to the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) credit. Notice 2023-06 explains the requirements for the fuel to be eligible for the SAF credit, how to claim the credit and who must be registered. The SAF credit was introduced in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 (IRA) and applies to a qualified fuel mixture containing sustainable aviation fuel for certain uses or sales in the 2023 and 2024 calendar years.

December 19, 2022: The Treasury announced a timeline for providing additional information on key tax provisions for the IRA. Before the end of the year, the Treasury will provide: (1) FAQs on the tax credit for energy-efficient home improvement projects and residential energy property; (2) initial guidance on the corporate alternative minimum tax; and (3) initial guidance on the excise tax on stock buybacks. Beginning January 1, 2023, consumers and businesses will be able to access tax benefits from many of the IRA’s climate provisions.

December 20, 2022: The IRS issued Notice 2023-4, which provides the percentage increase for calculating the qualifying payment amounts for items and services furnished during 2023 with respect to Sections 9816 and 9817 of the Internal Revenue Code, Sections 716 and 717 of the Employee Retirement Income Security [...]

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Huge Win for Refined Coal: DC Appeals Court Permits Tax Credits

On August 5, 2022, the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld the US Tax Court’s bench opinion in favor of partners and investors in a refined coal business. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has consistently fought taxpayers’ attempts to claim a tax credit for refining coal despite a clear congressional mandate in Internal Revenue Code section 45(c)(7)(A). The IRS has repeatedly taken the position that the partnerships formed to utilize the tax credits generated by the refined coal business are not bona fide because the partnerships could never make an economic profit without the tax credits.

In Cross Refined Coal LLC, the IRS examined the partnership’s 2011 and 2012 tax years and disallowed $25.8 million of refined coal production tax credits and $25.7 million of claimed operating losses. The IRS argued that:

  • The partnership did not exist as a matter of fact.
  • The partnership was not, in substance, a partnership for federal income tax purposes because it was not formed to carry on a business or for the sharing of profits and losses from the production or sale of refined coal by its purported members/partners, but rather was created to facilitate the prohibited transaction of monetizing refined coal tax credits.
  • The transaction was entered into solely to purchase refined coal tax credits and other tax benefits.
  • Claimed expenses were not ordinary and necessary or credible expenses in connection with a trade or business or other activity engaged in for profit.

After a two-week trial involving several witnesses and thousands of exhibits, the Tax Court held that the partnership was legitimate because its partners made substantial contributions to the partnership, participated in its management and shared in its profits and losses. The IRS appealed to the DC Circuit.

In affirming the Tax Court, the DC Circuit held that the partners intended to form a partnership and had legitimate non-tax motives for the business. The Court diffused any concern that the partnership included tax benefits, explaining that “there was nothing untoward about seeking partners who could apply the refined-coal credits immediately, rather than carrying them forward to future tax years.” The Court also recognized that “Congress expressly provided for coal refiners to employ this investment strategy, for the tax code specifies how the credit must be divided when a refining facility has multiple owners.” The Court was not persuaded by the IRS’s concern that the partners did not enter the partnership to obtain a pre-tax profit: “[a]ccording to the Commissioner, Cross’s partners did not have the requisite intent to carry on a business together because Cross was not ‘undertaken for profit or for other legitimate nontax business purposes.’” The Court disagreed, explaining:

As a general matter, a partnership’s pursuit of after-tax profit can be legitimate business activity for partners to carry on together. This is especially true in the context of tax incentives, which exist precisely to encourage activity that would not otherwise be profitable.

The DC Circuit found [...]

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Weekly IRS Roundup July 9 – 13, 2018

Presented below is our weekly roundup for July 9 – 13, 2018 on significant IRS matters.

July 9, 2018: The IRS released Internal Revenue Bulletin No. 2018-28 including: Notice 2018-48 (lists the population census tracts designated as qualified opportunity zones); Notice 2018-59 (provides two methods for taxpayers to begin construction for the investment tax credit under Section 48); Announcement 2018-11 (Office of Professional Responsibility [OPR] announces recent disciplinary sanctions); Rev. Rul. 2018-20 (rendering obsolete several previous revenue rulings); and Rev. Proc. 2018-35 (modifying Rev. Proc. 2018-31 regarding accounting methods for citrus plant replanting costs).

July 11, 2018: The IRS issued final regulations (T.D. 9834) addressing inversion transactions structured to avoid the purposes of sections 7874 and 367 and other post-inversion tax avoidance transactions.

July 13, 2018: The IRS issued proposed regulations (REG-103474-18) related to the Code section 6695(g) return preparer penalty amending previous guidance to reflect changes made by 2017 federal tax reform.

July 13, 2018: The IRS released it weekly list of written determination (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.




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