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Weekly IRS Roundup January 8 – January 12, 2024

Check out our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of January 8, 2024 – January 12, 2024.

January 8, 2024: The IRS released Internal Revenue Bulletin 2024-2, which includes the following:

  • Notice 2024-7, which provides eligible taxpayers with automatic relief from additions to tax for failure to pay with respect to certain income tax returns for 2020 and 2021.
  • Announcement 2024-3, which explains Voluntary Disclosure Program eligibility criteria, terms and procedures for taxpayers to resolve refunds or credits for erroneous Employee Retention Credit (ERC) claims.
  • Notice 2024-2, which provides guidance on certain SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 provisions.
  • Notice 2024-3, which sets forth the 2023 Cumulative List of Changes in Plan Qualification Requirements for Defined Contribution Qualified Pre-approved Plans.
  • Notice 2024-4, which updates the corporate bond monthly yield curve and corresponding spot segment rates for December 2023 used under Internal Revenue Code (Code) § 417(e)(3)(D), the 24-month average segment rates for December 2023 and the 30-year Treasury rates, as reflected by the application of § 430(h)(2)(C)(iv).
  • Revenue Ruling 2024-1, which provides covered compensation tables under § 401(1)(5)(E) for the 2024 plan year.
  • Notice 2024-1, which provides the percentage increase for calculating the qualifying payment amounts for items and services furnished in 2024 for purposes of Code §§ 9816 and 9817, §§ 716 and 717 of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, and §§ 2799A-1 and 2799A-2 of the Public Health Service Act.
  • Notice 2024-6, which provides additional guidance on the sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) credit, including methods and Renewable Fuel Standard program safe harbors used to qualify for and calculate the SAF credit.
  • Announcement 2024-1, which revokes § 501(c)(3) determinations for certain organizations and stipulates that contributions made to the organizations by individual donors are no longer deductible under § 170(b)(1)(A).
  • Notice 2024-5, which provides a safe harbor for the incremental cost of certain qualified commercial clean vehicles placed in service in calendar year 2024 for purposes of the credit pursuant to § 45W.
  • Notice 2024-8, which provides the optional 2024 standard mileage rates that taxpayers can use when computing the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving expense purposes.
  • Notice 2024-9, which notes the IRS’s intent to propose regulations concerning statutorily required exceptions to the elective payment phaseout for entities that do not satisfy the domestic content requirements of §§ 45, 45Y, 48 and 48E. The notice also provides the transitional process for how applicable entities can claim the statutory exception for elective payment projects that begin construction during calendar year 2024 and fail to satisfy the domestic content requirement.
  • Notice 2024-11, which updates the list of treaties that meet the requirements of § 1(h)(11)(C)(i)(II) as it relates to [...]

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Update on IRS Enforcement Efforts

We frequently post about the Internal Revenue Service’s (IRS) tax enforcement trends and announcements. Prior examples from this year include the release of a five-year strategic plan emphasizing enforcement, the plan to hire up to 200 additional attorneys to assist with litigation efforts, the implementation of the Large Partnership Compliance (LPC) Pilot Program, a focus on tax compliance of non-US citizens and residents, and the creation of a new Joint Strategic Emerging Issues Team to identify emerging “abusive transactions.” Over the past several weeks, the IRS has provided additional updates on its enforcement efforts and future plans, including the following:

  • The IRS is considering raising the economic substance doctrine more frequently in transfer pricing examinations—even those where taxpayers have transfer pricing documentation—and asserting penalties more often in transfer pricing cases. This follows the announcement last April that executive approval is no longer needed before asserting the codified economic substance doctrine under Internal Revenue Code Section 7701(o).
  • The IRS plans to grow the LPC program and envisions it functioning similar to corporate examinations conducted by the Large Business & International Division.
  • The IRS’s Criminal Investigation (CI) Division is highly focused on criminal digital asset cases and intends to make many of these cases public. This follows the recent release of the CI Division’s annual report.
  • The IRS intends to expend more resources on examinations of high-income/high-net-worth taxpayers.
  • The IRS has proposed to require the disclosure of more information regarding corporate taxpayers’ uncertain tax positions, including citations to contrary authorities, which, if finalized, will likely lead to more examinations and challenges to tax reporting positions.

Practice Point: Tax enforcement has been down over the past several years, including a slowdown in audit operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. With increased funding from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and proposed restrictions on access to IRS Appeals for certain matters, we expect more examinations and tax disputes in the near future. Taxpayers and their advisors should prepare. Consider working with your tax controversy advisor to discuss your more vulnerable return positions to see how to better defend against the impending tax enforcement wave!




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