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IRS Releases Practice Units on Permanent Establishments

by and | Jan 31, 2019 | , ,

On January 29 and 30, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service’s Large Business and International (LB&I) division released new Practice Units on Permanent Establishments, which can be found here and here. Permanent Establishments create taxing nexus for foreign businesses doing business in the United States and for those who have “effectively connected income.” The Practice Units provide the IRS’s LB&I audit teams with a general guide on the tax concepts related to permanent establishments. The Practice Units provide examples of the analysis necessary to determine whether a foreign company has a permanent establishment, for example, as a result of its agent concluding contracts on its behalf in the United States. Additionally, the Practice Unit on treaty exemptions describes whether an activity has a preparatory or auxiliary character for purposes of determining whether a foreign enterprise has a US permanent establishment. LB&I auditors will use the Practice Units as tools to help analyze whether a US permanent establishment exists and an income tax adjustment is necessary.

Practice Point: If you have potential PE issues, it is a good idea to look at what your auditors are looking at. The Practice Units are helpful to understand the perspective of IRS auditors on these issues, the types of questions they are likely to ask and the information that they will request.



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Weekly IRS Roundup January 21 – 25, 2019

by | Jan 28, 2019 | , ,

Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of January 21 – 25, 2019. Tax news is very limited because of the government shutdown:

January 22, 2019: The IRS issued a news release cancelling a public hearing on proposed regulations relating to user fees for enrolled agents and enrolled retirement plan agents, due to the partial federal government shutdown.

January 22, 2019: The IRS issued final instructions for Form 461, dealing with limitations on business losses under section 461(l) of the Code, enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

January 22, 2019: The IRS issued final instructions for Form 965-A, dealing with individual taxpayers’ transition tax obligations under section 965 of the Code, enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

January 22, 2019: The IRS issued final instructions for Form 965-B, dealing with corporations’ and REITs’ transition tax obligations under section 965 of the Code, enacted as part of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

January 23, 2019: The IRS issued final instructions for the 2018 version of Form 1065 Schedule D, dealing with reporting of capital gains and losses on partnership returns, to reflect changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

January 25, 2019: The IRS issued a news release reminding taxpayers to seek information regarding their eligibility for the earned income tax credit.

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



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A Big Thank You to Our Readers

by | Jan 23, 2019 |

We greatly appreciate our readers over the past year and are pleased to share that we were recently recognized by Law360 as the Tax Group of the Year.

In 2018, McDermott’s tax practice made headlines with its various high-profile state and local, US federal and international matters. Through our blogs, thought leadership pieces and tax-focused events, we are dedicated to maintaining our position as a leading firm for tax work and keeping clients abreast of significant and relevant topics in the industry.



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Weekly IRS Roundup January 14 – 18, 2019

by | Jan 22, 2019 | , ,

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.



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Weekly IRS Roundup January 7 – 11, 2019

by | Jan 14, 2019 | , ,

Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of January 7 – 11, 2019. Tax news is very limited because of the government shutdown:

January 7, 2019: The IRS issued a news release confirming that, despite the partial federal government shutdown, it will process tax returns beginning January 28, 2019, and provide refunds to taxpayers as scheduled.

January 7, 2019: The IRS released the final 2018 version of Form 8996, dealing with certification as a qualified opportunity fund under section 1400Z-2 of the Code, enacted in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

January 7, 2019: The IRS issued an announcement cancelling a public hearing—originally scheduled for January 10, 2019—on proposed regulations concerning qualified opportunity funds under section 1400Z-2 of the Code, in light of the partial federal government shutdown.

January 7, 2019: The IRS released final instructions for Form 8992, dealing with the calculation of global intangible low-taxed income under section 951A of the Code, enacted in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

January 8, 2019: The IRS released the final 2018 version of Form 8992, dealing with the calculation of global intangible low-taxed income under section 951A of the Code, enacted in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

January 11, 2019: The IRS issued a news release announcing the start of the IRS Free File program for this filing season and detailing new consumer protections that have been added to the program.

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



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Tax Court Provides Operational Update during Government Shutdown

by | Jan 14, 2019 | ,

As we previously discussed, the United States Tax Court (Tax Court) closed its doors on December 28, 2018, until further notice. However, trial sessions scheduled for the weeks of January 7, and 14, 2019, were to proceed as scheduled. The Tax Court has updated its website to confirm that the trial sessions scheduled for the week of January 14, 2019, will proceed as scheduled, but that trial sessions scheduled for the week of January 28, 2019, in El Paso, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Lubbock are canceled. A decision regarding the trial sessions for the week of February 4, 2019, will be made on or before January 18, 2019.

As a result of the shutdown, the Tax Court did not issue any Orders or Opinions from December 31, 2018, to January 9, 2019. It started issuing Orders again on January 10, 2019, but no Opinions have been issued since December 27, 2018.

Practice Point: In addition to its impact on governmental agencies, the government shutdown continues to disrupt judicial operations. Some federal courts have continued to issue opinions during this time but activity in many cases has been postponed or canceled.



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Joint Committee Releases Overview of Its Refund Review Process

by and | Jan 10, 2019 | , , , , ,

Clients ask us all of the time, “What is the Joint Committee on Taxation’s (JCT) process for reviewing refund claims granted by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)?” Recently, the JCT has released an overview of its process. Wait, what? After the IRS has agreed to issue you a refund, there is a congressional committee that has to check the IRS’s work? Yep!

Internal Revenue Code (IRC) §6405 prohibits the IRS/US Department of the Treasury from issuing certain refund payments to taxpayers until 30 days after a “report” is given to the JCT. Only refunds “in excess” of $5 million for corporate taxpayers and $2 million for all other taxpayers (partnerships, individuals, trusts, etc.) are required to be reported to the JCT. A refund claim is an amount listed on an amended return (e.g., Forms 1140X and 1120X), tentative carrybacks (e.g., Forms 1139 and 1045), and refunds attributable to certain disaster losses. Numerous types of refund payments are excepted from JCT review, including refunds claimed on originally filed returns, resulting from litigation and employment taxes. It is important to note that this process is not limited to the IRS Examination stage; it can also occur at the IRS Appeals stage or even in tax court litigation. (more…)



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Weekly IRS Roundup December 31, 2018 – January 4, 2019

by | Jan 8, 2019 | ,

Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of December 24, 2018 – January 4, 2019. Tax news is very limited because of the government shut down:

December 31, 2018: The IRS released Notice 2019-09, providing interim guidance on section 4960 of the Code, enacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, regarding excise taxes on excess remuneration and excess parachute payments paid by certain tax-exempt organizations to covered employees.

December 31, 2018: The IRS released the final 2018 version of Form 8990, dealing with limitations on business interest expense deductions under section 163(j) of the Code.

December 31, 2018: The IRS released final instructions for the 2018 version of Form 1116, dealing with the foreign tax credit, reflecting changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

January 4, 2018: The IRS released final instructions for the 2018 version of Form 8990, dealing with limitations on business interest expense deductions under section 163(j) of the Code, reflecting changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

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



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Section 965 Transition Tax Overpayment Addressed in Technical Corrections

by | Jan 4, 2019 | , , ,

On January 2, 2019, the outgoing Chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, Kevin Brady (R-TX), released the Tax Technical and Clerical Corrections Act (the Bill), addressing several technical issues associated with the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (P.L. 115-97) (TCJA). The Bill includes certain provisions that, if enacted, would affirm Congress’ intent that taxpayers with an overpayment with respect to an installment payment of the transition tax under Internal Revenue Code (Code) Section 965 should be able to claim a credit or refund with respect to such amount. The provisions in the Bill with respect to Code Section 965 overpayments are largely consistent with similar draft legislation introduced on November 26, 2018 (the Retirement, Savings and Other Tax Relief Act of 2018 and the Taxpayer First Act of 2018, or H.R. 88; see prior discussion here). In particular, the Bill provides that where a taxpayer that made an election under Code Section 965(h)(1) to pay the net tax liability under Section 965 in installments has filed a request for a credit or refund with respect to an overpayment, the Internal Revenue Service cannot take any installment into account as a liability for purposes of determining whether an overpayment exists. If enacted, the Bill would permit taxpayers to claim a refund or credit with respect to an installment payment of the taxpayer’s transition tax under Code Section 965. (more…)



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