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IRS Audit Update: Communicating Via Video Meetings and Secure Messaging

The traditional audit experience for taxpayers large and small has, like many things, been impacted by COVID-19. Taxpayers and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have been forced to navigate audits in a remote environment, causing issues related to exchanging documents, engaging in discussions and even filing tax returns and other documents. The IRS has worked hard to adjust to the pandemic and made significant strides in maintaining an efficient audit process.

The key to a well-organized and just audit process is communication between taxpayers and the IRS. In a welcome development, the IRS Large Business & International (LB&I) Division recently announced that effective October 18, 2021 (and expiring October 18, 2023), IRS employees must grant an LB&I taxpayer’s request for a video meeting in lieu of an in-person or telephone discussion. The video meeting must be through IRS-approved solutions, which is currently WebEx and ZoomGov with a future phase-in of Microsoft Teams planned. Screen sharing is permitted but files may not be transferred on these platforms.

Additionally, the IRS has been offering the Taxpayer Digital Communications (TDC) secure messaging system as another communication method. The TDC system avoids the need to send documents to the IRS via facsimile and allows the transfer of files of up to one gigabyte in a secure messaging environment. The IRS is also working with corporate taxpayers on third-party virtual reading rooms that permit IRS employees to review documents without downloading them.

Practice Point: The use of video meetings and the TDC system are two ways that the IRS and taxpayers can continue to communicate effectively and efficiently in a remote working environment. The IRS is continuing to roll out new programs and initiatives in this area and the McDermott tax team will continue to provide updates as they become available.




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Weekly IRS Roundup October 25 – October 29, 2021

Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of October 25, 2021 – October 29, 2021. Additionally, for continuing updates on the tax impact of COVID-19, please visit our resource page here.

October 25, 2021: The IRS released a memorandum implementing the Large Partnership Compliance (LPC) Pilot Program, including the identification, selection and delivery of large partnership tax returns, exam procedures and feedback.

October 25, 2021: The IRS released a memorandum providing emergency guidance on emails with personal accounts in exigent circumstances to IRS employees responsible for protecting sensitive but unclassified data, including tax information and personally identifiable information.

October 26, 2021: The IRS and US Department of the Treasury (Treasury) published a notice and request for comments concerning the foreign tax credit used by individuals, estates or trusts. Comments are requested on Form 1116, Foreign Tax Credit (Individual, Estate or Trust), and Schedules B and C, which are used by individuals (including nonresident aliens), estates or trusts who paid foreign income taxes on US taxable income to compute the foreign tax credit. Written comments are due on or before December 27, 2021.

October 26, 2021: The IRS published a practice unit examining education expenses claimed by Nonresident Alien Individual (NRA) employees. The unit focuses on examining the education expenses claimed by NRAs engaged in a US trade or business as employees and discusses the issues and audit steps that examiners will need to consider for these taxpayers.

October 27, 2021: The IRS published a new release announcing that victims of Hurricane Ida in parts of Mississippi now have additional time—until January 3, 2022—to file various individual and business tax returns and make tax payments. The deadline remains November 1, 2021, for affected taxpayers in other parts of Mississippi.

October 28, 2021: The IRS and Treasury published a notice and request for comments concerning Form 3468 (Investment Credit). The form is used to compute taxpayers’ credit against their income tax for certain expenses incurred for their trades or businesses. Written comments are due on or before December 27, 2021.

October 29, 2021: The IRS and Treasury published a notice and request for comments concerning Form SS-4 (Application for Employer Identification Number). The form is used by taxpayers who are required to have an identification number for use on any return, statement or other document to obtain such number. Written comments are due on or before December 28, 2021.

October 29, 2021: The IRS and Treasury published a notice and request for comments concerning rules relating to the manner and method of reporting and paying the nondeductible 50% excise tax imposed by Section 5881 with respect to the receipt of greenmail. Written comments are due on or before December 28, 2021.

October 29, 2021: The IRS released a memorandum [...]

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Contracting in Anticipation of Tax Reform—Can a Tax Transaction Really Be Rescinded?

Tax reform is on the horizon. It’s in the press every day, but until US Congress can get together and make a final decision, it’s all conjecture. So what can taxpayers do to prepare for the inevitable? One idea is to enter into a transaction now with the expectation that certain tax provisions will be enacted, and if those tax provisions are not enacted by December 31, 2021, unwind the transaction as if nothing ever happened—the proverbial tax “do-over,” “mulligan,” or “oopsie.” There is basis for this strategy under the doctrine of rescission.

A transaction rescission occurs when all parties agree to void the transaction as if nothing occurred. (Think of the parties physically ripping up the formal, executed contracts.) This may sound a bit silly, but if the parties can enter into a transaction, why shouldn’t they be able to decide to void it?

The doctrine of rescission is well-entrenched in the law and finds its roots in contract law, but it can also be applicable (and effective) in tax law. While the doctrine of rescission is nowhere to be found in the Internal Revenue Code or the Treasury Regulations, case law ensures taxpayers that the doctrine is available in a tax context. (See: e.g., Penn v. Robertson, 115 F.2d 167 (4th Cir. 1940).)

Likewise, in Revenue Ruling 80-58, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) endorsed the doctrine of rescission, and the facts in that ruling demonstrate the boundaries of the doctrine. In February 1978, A (a calendar year taxpayer) sold a tract of land to B and received cash for the entire purchase price. The contract of sale obligated A, at the request of B, to accept reconveyance of the land from B if at any time within nine months of the date of sale B was unable to have the land rezoned for B‘s business purposes. If there was a reconveyance under the contract, A and B would be placed in the same positions they were prior to the sale. The IRS ruled that “the original sale is to be disregarded for federal income tax purposes because the rescission extinguished any taxable income for that year with regard to that transaction.” There are numerous private letter rulings that provide additional examples of the IRS’s approval of the doctrine of rescission.

Importantly, the doctrine of rescission as applicable to tax issues is governed by the “annual accounting concept.” This concept pervades tax law and measures behavior for tax purposes based upon the tax year of the taxpayer. As the Supreme Court of the United States held, each taxable year is a separate unit for tax accounting purposes. (See: Security Flour Mills Co. v. Comm’r, 321 U.S. 281 (1944).) So the idea is, if a taxpayer enters into a transaction and the transaction is voided before the end of the year, for tax purposes it’s as if the transaction never occurred.

So, if any taxpayers are thinking about engaging in a transaction they may [...]

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Weekly IRS Roundup October 18 – October 22, 2021

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

October 18, 2021: The IRS announced that beginning October 18, its Large Business and International (LB&I) Division will accept all taxpayer requests to meet with IRS employees using secure video conferencing.

October 20, 2021: The IRS published an announcement, reminding employers that the next quarterly payroll tax return is due November 1, 2021. The IRS urged employers to use the speed and convenience of filing the returns electronically.

October 21, 2021: The IRS and US Department of the Treasury (Treasury) published a notice and request for comments concerning Form 4810 (Request for Prompt Assessment Under Internal Revenue Code Section 6501(d)). The form is used to help locate a return and expedite the processing of a taxpayer’s request. Written comments are due on or before December 20, 2021.

October 21, 2021: The IRS published an announcement, reminding the more than 759,000 federal tax return preparers that they must renew their Preparer Tax Identification Numbers (PTINs) now for 2022. All current PTINs will expire December 31, 2021.

October 21, 2021: The IRS published a notice, setting forth current standards that a limited liability company (LLC) must satisfy in order to receive a determination letter recognizing it as tax exempt under Section 501(a) and described in Section 501(c)(3). The notice also requests comments on these standards, as well as specific issues relating to tax exempt status for LLCs, to assist the Treasury and the IRS in determining whether additional guidance is needed concerning the standards that an LLC must satisfy in order to be exempt from taxation by reason of being described in Section 501(c). Written comments should be submitted by February 6, 2022.

October 22, 2021: The IRS published an announcement, reminding employers that they generally will not jeopardize the tax status of their pension plans if they rehire retirees or permit distributions of retirement benefits to current employees who have reached age 59 and a half or the plan’s normal retirement age. The IRS posted FAQs to help employers impacted by COVID-19, which resulted in labor shortages.

October 22, 2021: The IRS published Revenue Procedure 2021-42, providing guidelines and general requirements for the development, printing and approval of the 2021 substitute tax forms. The IRS accepts quality substitute tax forms that are consistent with the official forms and have no adverse impact on processing.

October 22, 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 Robbie Alipour in our Chicago office for this week’s roundup.




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Does Latest IRS Guidance Signal New Firm Stance on Research Credit Refund Claims?

On October 15, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a press release related to required information for valid research credit refund claims. The press release contains a link to a memorandum by two IRS employees, which will be used to evaluate such claims, and states that there will be a grace period (until January 10, 2022) before such information will be required to be included with timely filed research credit refund claims.

The guidance referred to in the press release is from the IRS’s Office of the Chief Counsel, Memorandum 20214101F (the IRS Research Memo) dated September 17, 2021, which focuses on administrative claims for refunds respect to the Internal Revenue Code (IRS) section 41 research credit.

First, we recommend reviewing the IRS Research Memo because it does a good job explaining the necessary elements to claim the credit. Second, the IRS Research Memo is a good reminder that the first requirement is to file a refund claim that is sufficiently detailed in order to give the IRS notice on both the technical and factual basis of the refund claim. In the context of the IRC Section 41 credit, the IRS Research Memo provides the following as minimum requirements for a refund claim:

  • Identify all the business components to which the IRC Section 41 research credit claim relates for the year for which a refund is sought.
  • For each business component:
    • Identify all research activities performed
    • Identify all individuals who performed each research activity
    • Identify all the information each individual sought to discover
  • Provide the total qualified employee wage expenses, total qualified supply expenses and total qualified contract research expenses for the claim year (this may be done using Form 6765, Credit for Increasing Research Activities).
  • The refund claim must be signed under penalties of perjury attesting to the veracity of the facts and information stated therein.
  • Supporting facts should be in the form of a written statement and merely incorporated by reference to documents attached to the claim.
  • The refund claim must be filed within the period of limitations stated in IRC Section 6511. Typically, taxpayers must file a valid claim within three years of the date Form 1040 or Form 1120 was filed or two years from the time the tax was paid—whichever period expires later.

Importantly, the IRS Research Memo does not advise taxpayers on how much information the IRS believes is sufficient to make a valid claim for refund. The IRS Research Memo does, however, highlight some recent court decisions where taxpayers were denied a refund because they did not include sufficient facts in their IRC Section 41 refund claim. In those cases, the courts ruled that the refund claims were defective and untimely.

Practice Point: The IRS Research Memo is a good reminder that when it comes to refund claims, generally, more description and detail is better. Interestingly, if the taxpayer had claimed a research credit on the original return, there would be [...]

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Weekly IRS Roundup October 11 – October 15, 2021

Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of October 11, 2021 – October 15, 2021. Additionally, for continuing updates on the tax impact of COVID-19, please visit our resource page here.

October 12, 2021: The IRS released a notice, announcing that the US Department of the Treasury (Treasury) and the IRS intend to amend the regulations under Section 987 to defer the applicability date of certain final regulations by one additional year. The deferred regulations will apply to tax years beginning after December 7, 2022. For calendar year taxpayers, the 2016 final regulations and the related 2019 final regulations will apply to the tax year beginning on January 1, 2023. The IRS and Treasury do not intend to amend the applicability date of Treasury Regulation § 1.987-12.

October 13, 2021: The IRS published an updated Form W-8BEN-E (Certificate of Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Entities)) and related instructions.

October 14, 2021: The IRS and Treasury published a notice and request for comments concerning assumption of partner liabilities. The rules relate to a partnership’s assumption of certain fixed and contingent obligations in connection with the issuance of a partnership interest, as well as to Section 358(h) for assumptions of liabilities by corporations from partners and partnerships and temporary regulations concerning the assumption of certain liabilities under Section 358(h). Written comments are due on or before December 13, 2021.

October 14, 2021: The IRS and Treasury published a notice and request for comments concerning Form 1127 (Application for Extension of Time for Payment of Tax Due to Undue Hardship). Written comments are due on or before December 13, 2021.

October 14, 2021: The IRS and Treasury published a notice and request for comments concerning Revenue Procedure 99-50, which permits combined information reporting by a successor business entity (i.e., a corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship) in certain situations following a merger or an acquisition. Written comments are due on or before December 13, 2021.

October 15, 2021: The IRS published draft instructions for Form 8949 (Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets). The updated form reflects reporting for Section 1061, which concerns recharacterizing certain long-term capital gains of a partner who holds one or more applicable partnership interests as short-term capital gains.

October 15, 2021: The IRS published a news release, updating its process for certain frequently asked questions (FAQs) on newly-enacted tax legislation. The IRS is updating this process to address concerns regarding transparency and the potential impact on taxpayers when the FAQs are updated or revised. The IRS is also addressing concerns regarding the potential application of penalties to taxpayers who rely on FAQs by providing clarity as to their ability to rely on FAQs for penalty protection. The IRS stated that significant FAQs on newly-enacted [...]

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IRS Provides Guidance on Reliance of FAQs for Penalty Protection Purposes

On October 15, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a news release and fact sheet for IRS Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), which are typically posted on the IRS’s website. The purpose of the fact sheet is to confirm and explain the extent to which FAQs can be relied upon for purposes of avoiding civil tax penalties. (For a primer on penalties and defenses, see our prior article in the Tax Executive.)

The Internal Revenue Code and Treasury Regulations, along with relevant case law, provide rules on what can (and cannot) be relied upon for penalty protection purposes. The most common penalty defenses are reasonable basis (sometimes coupled with a disclosure requirement), substantial authority and reasonable cause. Substantial authority is an objective standard, and Treasury Regulation § 1.6662-4(d)(3)(i) contains a laundry list of such authorities. Absent from this list are IRS FAQs. Reasonable basis has generally been viewed as an objective standard as well (at least outside the US Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit), and satisfaction of the substantial authority standard suffices for reasonable basis purposes. Reasonable cause is a subjective standard based on consideration of all the facts and circumstances, with the most important factor being the extent to which the taxpayer took steps to determine their proper tax liability.

For many years, taxpayers and practitioners have debated the value of IRS FAQs. On the one hand, they provide much needed guidance that can be helpful to taxpayers. On the other hand, FAQs are not published in the Internal Revenue Bulletin, are not treated as precedential or binding on the IRS and may be removed or changed by the IRS at any time (without any repository available to find prior versions of FAQs). The IRS relies heavily on FAQs to provide immediate guidance to taxpayers—sometimes in the form of substantive guidance—but has historically disclaimed any ability for taxpayers to rely on its FAQs or for IRS personnel to follow its FAQs. This has led to uncertainty in the tax community as to whether (and to what extent) taxpayers can and should follow IRS FAQs for both substantive positions and penalty protection purposes.

Prior to his return to private practice earlier this year, former IRS Chief Counsel Michael Desmond noted the need for better transparency and permanency around certain IRS FAQs. That transparency and permanency has finally arrived, although the weight of its value still remains uncertain. In the new release and fact sheet, the IRS announced as follows:

FAQs are a valuable alternative to guidance published in the Bulletin because they allow the IRS to more quickly communicate information to the public on topics of frequent inquiry and general applicability. FAQs typically provide responses to general inquiries rather than applying the law to taxpayer-specific facts and may not reflect various special rules or exceptions that could apply in any particular case. FAQs that have not been published in the Bulletin will not [...]

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Weekly IRS Roundup October 4 – October 8, 2021

Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of October 4, 2021 – October 8, 2021. Additionally, for continuing updates on the tax impact of COVID-19, please visit our resource page here.

October 4, 2021: The IRS released a practice unit, providing tax law and audit steps for reviewing a reseller’s uniform capitalization cost computations under section 263A. The practice unit focuses on the simplified production method and does not cover the final section 263A Treasury Regulations that were effective November 20, 2018.

October 4, 2021: The IRS published a news release, announcing 18 self-study seminars available online through the IRS Nationwide Tax Forums. The seminars cover topics such as the gig economy and virtual currency.

October 4, 2021: The IRS published instructions for Form W-8BEN (Certificate of Foreign Status of Beneficial Owner for United States Tax Withholding and Reporting (Individuals)) concerning:

  • Guidance under section 1446(f) (withholding on partnership interest dispositions)
  • New lines 6a and 6b (addressing foreign tax ID number (FTIN) matters)
  • Tax treaty benefits claims (requiring representations)
  • Section 6050Y reporting (covering life insurance contracts and reportable death benefits)
  • Electronic signatures (updated to reflect new guidance)

October 5, 2021: The IRS published a news release, announcing that Free File remains available through October 15 for taxpayers who still need to file their 2020 tax returns. Free File is the IRS’s public-private partnership with tax preparation software industry leaders to provide their brand name products for free.

October 5, 2021: The IRS released a memorandum, expanding the criteria for collection due process cases that qualify for a rapid response appeals process under IRM 8.22.6.2 and related subsections.

October 5, 2021: The IRS released a memorandum concerning interim guidance regarding the IRS Independent Office of Appeals’ steps and procedures for its nationwide pilot program: The Appeals Electronic Case Files Initiative for Large Business & International (LB&I) report generation software (RGS) examination cases. This guidance is applicable to LB&I RGS International Individual Compliance cases only and excludes other large cases such as Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982 cases, Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 cases and Syndicated Conservation Easement cases.

October 5, 2021: The IRS released a memorandum updating procedures where an organization requests a change in a section 501 subsection during the application process by submitting one application form to replace a different application form. The procedures are effective 30 days after issuance of the memorandum and supersedes those in TEGE-07-0421-0010 (April 29, 2021).

October 7, 2021: The IRS published a program letter indicating that, in Fiscal Year 2022, Tax Exempt (TE)/Government Entities (GE) commissioners expect to invest in new resources to expand outreach to the exempt sector as well as increase their enforcement staff.

October 8, 2021: The IRS released its weekly list of written [...]

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Supreme Court Grants Certiorari in One Tax Case, Denies it in Several Others

Historically, the Supreme Court of the United States rarely grants petitions for certiorari in tax cases, and it appears this trend continues in the current term.

On September 30, 2021, the Supreme Court granted the petition for certiorari in Boechler, P.C. v. Commissioner. The case presents the question of whether Internal Revenue Code Section 6330(d)(1), which establishes a 30-day time limit for filing a petition in the US Tax Court to review a notice of determination by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in a collection due process matter, is a jurisdictional requirement or a claim-processing rule subject to the equitable tolling doctrine.

On October 4, 2021, the Supreme Court denied petitions for certiorari in Healthcare Distribution Alliance v. James and Taylor Lohmeyer Law Firm PLLC v. United States. The former involved a challenge to a US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decision that held that an opioid stewardship surcharge was a tax within the meaning of the Tax Injunction Act. The Court also found that the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to rule on the challenge to the payment. The latter case involved a law firm’s challenge to the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s decision that the IRS could use a “John Doe” summons to seek the identifies of taxpayers who it believed may have taken the firm’s advice to hide income offshore.

The Supreme Court also denied petitions for certiorari in the following cases:

  • Perkins v. Commissioner: A case regarding the taxability of income derived from the sale of land and gravel mined from treaty-protected land by an enrolled member of the Seneca Nation
  • Kimble v. United States: A case focused on Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts penalties and
  • Razzouk v. United States: A case involving restitution for tax and bribery convictions

Still pending are petitions in Willis v. United States (which involves the value of collectible coins seized by the government and deposited into an IRS account) and Clay v. Commissioner (which deals with a dispute over whether to follow guidance from the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the IRS).

Practice Point: Although the Supreme Court rarely reviews tax cases, when it does, the decision is usually important because it’s applicable to numerous taxpayers. For example, cases such as Mayo Found. for Med. Educ. & Research v. United States and United States v. Home Concrete & Supply LLC both provided significant guidance for taxpayers regarding the IRS’s scope of regulatory authority. Additionally, non-tax cases from the Supreme Court can contain general principles that are also applicable and impact tax positions taken, or being considered, by taxpayers. Thus, it is important that taxpayers and their representatives stay abreast on what is happening at the Supreme Court.




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District Court Broadly Interprets Informal Claim Doctrine

Internal Revenue Code (Code) section 7803(a)(3)(C) provides that taxpayers have “the right to pay no more than the correct amount of tax.” However, there are two relevant considerations to this “right.” First, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) must take the appropriate steps before it can assess and collect any amount of tax beyond that reported by the taxpayer. Second, taxpayers who believe they overpaid their tax must take affirmative steps to protect their rights to claim a refund before the period of limitations on seeking a refund expires. We recently provided an overview of these steps.

Taxpayers traditionally claim the right to an income tax refund (or credit) by filing a formal amended tax return using the appropriate form prescribed by the IRS (e.g., Form 1040X, Form 1120X, etc.) under IRS procedures and guidelines (e.g., Code section 6402 and the underlying regulations). However, in some situations, taxpayers can assert a valid refund claim through other means such as correspondence or other written communications with the IRS that is not made by filing a formal amended tax return. Courts have consistently recognized the validity of so-called “informal” refund claims and explained that such claims must have a written component that gives the IRS sufficient notice of the fact that the taxpayer believes they have overpaid their income tax and that a refund is due.

Likewise, the IRS acknowledges the propriety of the informal claim doctrine. However, the IRS’s position appears to be inconsistent as Internal Revenue Manual 25.6.1.10.2.6(3) (09-29-2015) references the judicially-created informal claim doctrine noted above, but Publication 5125, which discusses the IRS’s Large Business & International examination process, states that the claim must also be made under penalties of perjury. (See: Internal Revenue Manual 25.6.1.10.2.6.3 (09-29-2015).)

The recent district court decision in Johnson v. United States (No. 2:10-cv-01561-TLN-JDP (E.D. Cal., Sept. 30, 2021) addressed whether correspondence between taxpayers and the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) can give rise to an informal claim. The taxpayers in that case reviewed copies of their tax account transcripts for several years and determined that funds offset by the IRS from tax years 2013 and 2014 and applied to earlier tax years were incorrect because there was no liability remaining in those earlier years. Specifically, the taxpayers argued that they were entitled to refunds for tax years 2009 and 2010 and relied on discussions and correspondence with TAS, including a faxed letter summarizing the timeline of the issues, to support their position that their refund claim was timely under the informal claim doctrine. The IRS argued that the informal claim doctrine did not apply because the letter did not include facts sufficient to apprise the IRS of the factual basis for the claims; the letter only referenced 2009 (and therefore was insufficient for 2010) and was not signed under penalties of perjury.

The district court sided with the taxpayers regarding the year 2009, finding that the letter constituted an informal claim under the judicially-created informal claim [...]

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