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Weekly IRS Roundup February 15 – February 19, 2021

by McDermott Will & Emery | Feb 24, 2021 | IRS Guidance, Tax Reform

Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of February 15, 2021 – February 19, 2021. Additionally, for continuing updates on the tax impact of COVID-19, please visit our resource page here.

February 16, 2021: The IRS issued Revenue Ruling 21-05, which provides the applicable short-, mid- and long-term applicable federal rates for the month of March. These rates are used for purposes of section 1274(d), which relates to the determination of issue price in the case of certain debt instruments issued for property.

February 16, 2021: The IRS issued Notice 21-16 providing guidance on the corporate bond monthly yield curve, the corresponding spot segment rates used in section 417(e)(3) and the 24-month average segment rates under section 430(h)(2). In addition, the notice provides guidance as to the interest rate on 30-year US Department of the Treasury securities under section 417(e)(3)(A)(ii)(II) and the 30-year Treasury weighted average rate under section 431(c)(6)(E)(ii)(I).

February 18, 2021: The IRS issued Notice 21-15 clarifying the application of section 214 which provides temporary special rules for health flexible spending arrangements and dependent care assistance programs under section 125 cafeteria plans. (For more information, see our On the Subject here.)

February 18, 2021: The IRS released Internal Revenue Bulletin 2021-8, dated February 22, 2021, containing the following highlights: Announcement 2021-2 (Administrative); Announcement 2021-3 (Administrative); and Rev. Proc. 2021-15 (Administrative).

February 19, 2021: The IRS released its weekly list of written determinations (e.g., Private Letter Rulings, Technical Advice Memorandums and Chief Counsel Advice).

Special thanks to Samuel DiPietro in our Chicago office for this week’s roundup.

Weekly IRS Roundup January 18 – January 22, 2021

by McDermott Will & Emery | Jan 27, 2021 | IRS Guidance, Tax Reform

Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of January 18, 2021 – January 22, 2021. Additionally, for continuing updates on the tax impact of COVID-19, please visit our resource page here.

On January 20, President Biden’s chief of staff, Ronald Klain, issued a memorandum freezing the publication of rules in the Federal Register pending additional review by presidential designees or appointees. As a result, there may be delays in the official publication of pending IRS actions.

January 19, 2021: The IRS released Notice 21-08 providing a waiver of the addition to tax for underpayment of estimated income tax by individual taxpayers, where the underpayment is attributable to the amendment to section 461(l)(1)(B) contained in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

January 19, 2021: The IRS issued Rev. Rul. 21-04 updating the applicable federal rate and various other prescribed rates for February 2021.

January 19, 2021: The IRS issued Notice 21-09 updating weighted average interest rates, yield curves and segment rates.

January 19, 2021: The IRS released Notice 21-06 waiving the requirement to file information returns or furnish payee statements related to certain COVID-19 relief programs.

January 19, 2021: The IRS posted Notice 21-11 extending relief for employers to withhold and pay certain taxes because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

January 19, 2021: The IRS posted Notice 21-10 extending and providing additional relief for Qualified Opportunity Funds and their investors because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic

January 19, 2021: The IRS announced Notice 21-13 providing relief for partnerships from certain penalties related to the reporting of partners’ beginning capital account balances.

January 22, 2021: The IRS released its weekly list of written determinations (e.g., Private Letter Rulings, Technical Advice Memorandums and Chief Counsel Advice).

January 22, 2021: The IRS released Internal Revenue Bulletin 2021-4, dated January 25, 2021, containing the following highlights: Rev. Proc. 2021-8 (Exempt Organizations); TD 9937 (Employee Plans); Rev. Proc. 2021-10 (Income Tax); Rev. Rul. 2021-2 (Income Tax); Ann. 2021-1 (Tax Conventions).

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

Weekly IRS Roundup September 14 – September 18, 2020

by McDermott Will & Emery | Sep 22, 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 September 14, 2020 – September 18, 2020. Additionally, for continuing updates on the tax impact of COVID-19, please visit our resource page here.

September 14, 2020: The IRS published final regulations providing guidance on the limitation on the deduction for business interest expense after amendment of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). The regulations provide guidance to taxpayers on how to calculate the limitation, what constitutes interest for purposes of the limitation, which taxpayers and trades or businesses are subject to the limitation and how the limitation applies in consolidated group, partnership, international and other contexts. The final regulations vary slightly from the document released on IRS.gov on July 28, 2020.

September 14, 2020: The IRS published a criminal tax bulletin concerning recent case law involving the Criminal Tax Division.

September 15, 2020: The IRS published Rev. Rul. 2020-20 that provides various prescribed rates for federal income tax purposes for October 2020, including: (1) the applicable federal rates (AFR) under section 1274(d); (2) the adjusted applicable federal rates (adjusted AFR) under section 1288(b); (3) the adjusted federal long-term rate and the long-term tax-exempt rate under section 382(f); (4) the appropriate percentages for determining the low-income housing credit under Section 42(b)(1); and (5) the federal rate for determining the present value of an annuity, an interest for life or for a term of years or a remainder or a reversionary interest under section 7520.

September 15, 2020: The IRS published a practice unit covering Last In-First Out (LIFO) inventories under various LIFO methods.

September 15, 2020: The IRS released for future publication in the Federal Register final regulations concerning the definition of an eligible terminated S corporation and rules relating to distributions of money by such a corporation after the post-termination transition period. The regulation package also amends current regulations to extend the treatment of distributions of money during the post-termination transition period to all shareholders of the corporation and clarifies the allocation of current earnings and profits to distributions of money and other property. The final regulations affect C corporations that were formerly S corporations and the shareholders of such corporations.

September 16, 2020: The IRS published a memorandum providing flexibility for taxpayers who are temporarily unable to meet the payment terms on accepted offers due to the economic impact of COVID-19. The procedures will expire December 31, 2020, unless extended.

September 17, 2020: The IRS published a practice unit providing an overview of the Overall Foreign Loss (OFL), Separate Limitation Loss (SLL) and Overall Domestic Loss (ODL) rules, as well as related examples.

September 17, 2020: The IRS
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