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Weekly IRS Roundup January 13 – 17, 2020

by McDermott Will & Emery | Jan 21, 2020 | IRS Audits, 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 13 – 17, 2020.

January 13, 2020: The IRS published an information letter relating to the testamentary transfer to a trust of US Series EE savings bonds purchased by and issued to a decedent. The IRS stated that if the bonds were transferred to the trust because of a death, and if the transferor were either an accrual method taxpayer or a cash method taxpayer who reported interest annually, then the increase in value of the bonds in the year of death up to the date of death must be reported on the decedent’s final return. The IRS provided alternative guidance to cash method transferors that did not annually report their interest.

January 13, 2020: The Chief Counsel’s Office informally advised that for capital contributions where a partnership return is accepted as filed, the IRS may adjust the basis of an affected item at the partner level without opening a partnership-level examination. The Office explained that though the IRS cannot change any partnership-item components of outside basis without opening a TEFRA proceeding, the partnership itself can adjust the overall computation of outside basis, accepting all the partnership-item components as filed, as well as any nonpartnership-item components of outside basis.

January 13, 2020: The IRS updated their FATCA (Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act) IDES (International Data Exchange Services) Technical FAQs page. The update addresses taxpayers that receive an “Invalid Certificate” alert when uploading their digital certificates to the IDES system. The IRS provided a variety of explanations for the error, including that the digital certificate itself may be invalid and that there may be communication errors with the certificate authority.

January 13, 2020: The IRS supplemented the 2019 Instructions for Form 1042-S, which addresses a foreign person’s US source income subject to withholding. The changes reflect the proposed regulations that reduced a taxpayer’s burden with respect to certain requirements under FATCA. The Instructions’ Tax Rate Table was also adjusted to include the revised backup withholding tax rate of 24%, as required by the TCJA.

January 16, 2020: The IRS issued a news release announcing that it will return sequestered funds to businesses that were affected by a recent OMB determination regarding the Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit Control Act of 1985, as amended. The IRS explained that it will restore any amounts sequestered since 2013 under section 168(k)(4), further stating that taxpayers need not take any action because the IRS has a complete list of all affected taxpayers.

January 17, 2020: The IRS issued a news release announcing that the agency is open to considering relief from double taxation resulting from the application of the repatriation tax under section 965 where there is no significant reduction in the resulting tax by application of foreign tax credits. The IRS explained that it would only be appropriate to provide relief in unique circumstances, such as where [...]

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Weekly IRS Roundup December 23 – 27, 2019

by McDermott Will & Emery | Dec 30, 2019 | IRS Audits, 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 December 23 – 27, 2019.

December 20, 2019: The Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a notice further extending the time for certain FBAR filings, citing the 2016 notice of proposed rulemaking that has not yet been finalized. Taxpayers whose filing due dates were previously extended by Notice 2018-1 will now have until April 15, 2021, to file. For all other taxpayers with an FBAR filing obligation, the filing due date remains April 15, 2020.

December 23, 2019: The IRS released proposed regulations that modify how to determine the source of income from sales of inventory produced within the United States and sold without the United States, or vice versa. The regulations also propose new rules regarding how to determine the source of income from sales of personal property (including inventory) by nonresidents, where the sales are attributable to an office or other fixed place of business that the nonresident maintains in the United States. The regulations also modify the rules that determine whether foreign source income is effectively connected with the conduct of a trade or business within the United States. The IRS has requested that written or electronic comments, as well as requests for a public hearing, be received by February 28, 2020.

December 27, 2019: The IRS released final regulations relating to withholding and reporting tax on certain US source income paid to foreign persons. The final regulations provide guidance on the due diligence and reporting rules applicable to persons making certain US source payments to foreign persons, as well as guidance on certain aspects of reporting by foreign financial institutions on US accounts. The final regulations are scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on January 2, 2020.

December 27, 2019: The IRS published an issue snapshot regarding the impact of the Tribal Social Security Fairness Act on tribal council members’ worker status. The issue snapshot addresses whether an Indian tribe’s decision—or lack thereof—to enter into a section 218A agreement and to elect social security coverage for its tribal council members will affect those workers’ classification for other purposes of the IRC, such as income tax and retirement plan participation.

December 27, 2019: The IRS published an issue snapshot explaining that under the TCJA, a corporation with a fiscal year that includes January 1, 2018, will pay federal income taxes using a blended tax rate, as opposed to a flat 21% tax rate. The IRS stated that fiscal year corporations may want to consider filing an amended return if they previously filed an income tax return that did not reflect the blended rate.

December 27, 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 Jenni Saperstein in our Chicago office for this week’s roundup.

Weekly IRS Roundup November 4 – 8, 2019

by McDermott Will & Emery | Nov 11, 2019 | IRS Audits, 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 November 4–8, 2019.

November 4, 2019: The IRS posted a new Large Business and International active compliance campaign on Section 965 transition tax as enacted under the 2017 TCJA. The IRS stated that the goal of the campaign is to promote compliance with Section 965. The treatment stream will include conducting examinations as well as providing technical assistance to teams on Section 965, with a focus on identifying and addressing taxpayer populations with potential material compliance risk. The IRS anticipates that returns selected as part of the Section 965 campaign will also be risked and, if appropriate, examined for other material issues, especially issues related to TCJA planning. For our coverage of this campaign, see here.

November 6, 2019: The IRS issued a Revenue Procedure and a News Release announcing the tax year 2020 annual inflation adjustments for more than 60 tax provisions, including the tax rate schedules and other tax changes. The tax year 2020 adjustments are generally used on tax returns filed in 2021.

November 8, 2019: The IRS published Proposed Regulations providing guidance relating to the life expectancy and distribution period tables that are used to calculate required minimum distributions from qualified retirement plans, individual retirement accounts and annuities, and certain other tax-favored employer-provided retirement arrangements. The life expectancy tables and applicable distribution period tables were developed based on mortality rates for 2021 and would provide longer life expectancies than the tables in the existing regulations. Public comments regarding the contemplated rules must be received by January 7, 2020.

November 8, 2019: The IRS released a Revenue Procedure providing the list of automatic changes to which the automatic change procedures in Revenue Procedure 2015-13, as clarified and modified by other listed guidance. The revenue procedure is effective for a Form 3115 filed on or after November 8, 2019, for a year of change ending on or after March 31, 2019. It supersedes the previous list in Rev. Proc. 2018-31.

November 8, 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 Robbie Alipour and Jenni Saperstein in our Chicago office for this week’s roundup.

IRS Issues Transition Tax Compliance Campaign

by McDermott Will & Emery, Kevin Spencer and McDermott Will & Emery | Nov 6, 2019 | IRS Appeals, IRS Audits, IRS Guidance, Tax Reform, Uncategorized

On November 4, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) announced a new Large Business and International (LB&I) compliance campaign regarding Section’s 965 transition tax under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). This is one of several dozen compliance campaigns that LB&I has announced since the initial 13 campaigns were identified in 2017, and is part of LB&I’s larger goals of improving return selection, identifying issues representing a risk of noncompliance and making the greatest use of limited resources. We have written at length regarding the IRS’s campaigns. Click here for prior coverage of the IRS’s campaigns. This announcement comes just over a month after the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) issued a report questioning the effectiveness and efficiency of campaign issue selection. We wrote about the TIGTA report here. The IRS is presumably heeding TIGTA’s recommendation and is focused on Section 965 because of the substantial dollars associated with compliance. A list of all campaigns can be found here (the newest campaign is found under the tab “IRC 965”).

Section 965 was part of tax reform in the TCJA. It generally imposes a transition tax on a US shareholder’s pro rata share of accumulated earnings and profits of certain foreign corporations, as if those earnings had been repatriated to the US. The new campaign will focus examinations on US-based multinational companies’ 2017 and 2018 returns to ensure compliance with the transition tax in Section 965. The campaign will also provide technical assistance to IRS teams working on Section 965 issues, with a focus on identifying and addressing taxpayer populations with potential material compliance risk.

Practice Point: Multinational taxpayers should be mindful of this new campaign and aware of any compliance issues they may face. Taxpayers should be aware that returns selected for the transition tax campaign will also be examined for other material issues, especially those related to TCJA planning.

Tax Blog: New Questions and Answers for Section 965

by McDermott Will & Emery | Jul 19, 2019 | IRS Guidance, Tax Reform, Tax Refunds, Uncategorized

The IRS has released new informal guidance (“Questions and Answers”) regarding section 965, containing information on making successive installment payments, filing transfer agreements as a result of certain acceleration or triggering events, and other matters related to S corporation shareholders making the section 965(i) election.

Consistent with prior advice issued by the IRS (see coverage here and here), the Questions and Answers provide that the IRS cannot make a refund or apply as a credit any amount of an installment payment until the entire income tax liability is satisfied (i.e., any overpayments of an installment obligation will be used to satisfy future section 965 installment payments).

The Questions and Answers also provides details on payment obligations with respect to successive installment payments under section 965(h). In particular, the IRS will “make every effort to issue an installment notice and payment voucher” for each successive installment payment, but taxpayers who do not receive a notice may contact the IRS to obtain the amount to be paid.

The Questions and Answers reiterates that transfer agreements will be considered timely filed “only if filed within 30 days of the date that the acceleration event occurs” (i.e., relief is not available under §§ 301.9100-2 or -3 to file a late election).

In addition, S corporation shareholders that previously filed a section 965(i) election may enter into a consent agreement with the IRS within 30 days of the occurrence of the triggering event in order to pay the section 965 net tax liability in eight annual installments. The Questions and Answers clarify that a consent agreement does not take the place of a section 965(h) election, and that S corporation shareholder must also make a section 965(h) election to pay the section 965 net tax liability in eight annual installments. Finally, the Questions and Answers clarifies that the S corporation and the transferor of the S corporation shares remain jointly and severally liable for the section 965 tax liability after making a section 965(h) election to pay in eight annual installments.

Second Circuit Weighs in on Tax Court’s Refund Jurisdiction

by McDermott Will & Emery, Kevin Spencer and McDermott Will & Emery | Apr 16, 2019 | Appellate Courts, Tax Reform, Tax Refunds, Trial Courts, Uncategorized

Borenstein v. Commissioner is an interesting opinion involving the intersection of canons of statutory construction and jurisdiction. Recently, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed the US Tax Court’s holding in Borenstein that the court lacked jurisdiction to order a refund of an undisputed overpayment made by the taxpayer. The case, which we discussed in a prior post, involved interpreting statutory provisions dealing with claims for a refund after a notice of deficiency was issued. The Tax Court’s holding was based on the application of the plain meaning rule to Internal Revenue Code (Code) Section 6512(b)(3), which limit its jurisdiction to order refunds of overpayments.

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Tax Court Rules State Corporate Incentives Are NOT Taxable Income Under Federal Law

by Kevin Spencer and Le Chen | Apr 11, 2019 | Court Procedure Matters, Tax Reform, Trial Courts, Uncategorized

Many states and localities give incentives for business to move or transact in their locations. There has always been a question of whether these incentives are taxable income under federal income tax law. Internal Revenue Code (IRC) section 118, as amended by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, P.L. 115-97, provides that “[i]n the case of a corporation, gross income does not include any contribution to the capital of the taxpayer….(b) For purposes of subsection (a), the term “contribution to the capital of the taxpayer” does not include—…(2) any contribution by any governmental entity or civic group (other than a contribution made by a shareholder as such).”

In a recent case, the US Tax Court ruled that certain cash grants given by the State of New Jersey fit squarely within IRC section 118, and were not taxable to the corporate taxpayer. Brokertec Holdings, Inc. v. Commissioner, T.C. Memo. 2019-32.

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Reasonable Cause for E-Filing Errors?

by McDermott Will & Emery | Mar 7, 2019 | Court Procedure Matters, IRS Guidance, Tax Reform, Uncategorized

Tax return filing season is fast approaching, and taxpayers big and small are preparing to file their returns. A recent US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit decision, Haynes v. United States, No. 17-50816 (5th Cir. Jan. 29, 2019), indicates that many of those taxpayers will face uncertainty if their returns are late due to preparer errors or technological issues when electronically filed (e-filed).

The court in Haynes declined to rule on whether the Supreme Court decision in United States v. Boyle, 469 US 241 (1985), applied to e-filing a tax return. The court instead remanded the case to resolve factual issues. In declining to examine the application of Boyle, the decision leaves in place uncertainty for many taxpayers who e-file their returns.

Internal Revenue Code Section 6651(a)(1) excuses a taxpayer from penalties for failure to file a return on time if they show the failure was “due to reasonable cause and not due to willful neglect.” In Boyle, an estate executor hired an experienced lawyer to prepare estate tax returns, but the lawyer failed to put the filing date on the calendar. Nevertheless, the court held that determining a deadline and meeting it did not require any special skills, and therefore relying on an agent was unreasonable. Accordingly, the Court in Boyle did not excuse late filing, and the taxpayer was subject to penalty. (more…)

Law360: Rules of Construction Provide Framework for Decoding TCJA

by Editorial Team | Mar 6, 2019 | IRS Guidance, Tax Reform, Uncategorized

We recently wrote a detailed article on rules of statutory and regulatory construction in light of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for Law360. The Law360 article, “Rules of Construction Provide Framework for Decoding TCJA,” can be accessed here.

Weekly IRS Roundup February 25 – March 1, 2019

by McDermott Will & Emery | Mar 4, 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 February 25 – March 1, 2019.

February 25, 2019: The IRS issued Revenue Ruling 2019-05, announcing the interest rates for underpayments and overpayments under section 6621 of the Code, applicable for the calendar quarter beginning April 1, 2019.

February 26, 2019: The IRS issued a news release as part of its new Tax Time Guide series, providing information and online resources to help taxpayers understand the changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

February 27, 2019: The IRS released final regulations amending the utility allowance regulations concerning the low-income housing credit under section 42 of the Code.

February 27, 2019: The IRS issued a news release reminding taxpayers who owe federal taxes about potential restrictions on their ability to obtain or renew passports.

February 27, 2019: The IRS scheduled a public hearing for March 14, 2019, on the proposed regulations implementing the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act as it relates to the foreign tax credit.

February 28, 2019: The IRS issued Notice 2019-17, providing relief from underpayment penalties to farmers and fishermen in certain circumstances.

February 28, 2019: The IRS issued a news release as part of its new Tax Time Guide series, providing information and online resources to taxpayers about how to check refund status or pay additional tax owed.

March 1, 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.

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