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Weekly IRS Roundup November 29 – December 3, 2021

Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of November 29, 2021 – December 3, 2021. Additionally, for continuing updates on the tax impact of COVID-19, please visit our resource page here.

November 29, 2021: The IRS published a news release warning taxpayers and tax professionals to beware of a dangerous combination of events that can increase their exposure to tax scams and identity theft. The IRS stated that the holiday shopping season, the upcoming tax season and the pandemic all create additional opportunities for criminals to steal sensitive personal or finance information.

November 30, 2021: The IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2021-53, which provides temporary guidance regarding the treatment of certain stock distributions by publicly offered real estate investment trusts and publicly offered regulated investment companies in recognition of the need for liquidity as a result of COVID-19. The guidance reduces the minimum required aggregate amount of cash that distributee shareholders may receive to no less than 10% of the total distribution in order for Section 301 (by reason of Section 305(b)) to apply to such distribution.

November 30, 2021: The IRS published a news release warning taxpayers to be wary of fake charities used by scammers to trick unsuspecting donors into providing money and sensitive financial and personal information.

November 30, 2021: The IRS posted an issue snapshot concerning issue indicators and audit tips for public and tax-exempt employer contributions to eligible deferred compensation plans (as defined in Section 457(b)).

December 1, 2021: The US Competent Authority posted the arrangement between Competent Authorities of the United States and Turkey, setting forth parameters on the exchange of county-by-country reporting agreements to combat transfer pricing, base erosion and profit shifting-related risks.

December 1, 2021: The IRS published a news release reminding taxpayers they can get extra protection starting in January by joining its Identity Protection Personal Identification Number (IP PIN) program. Anyone who can verify their identity can protect themselves against tax-related identity theft by opting into the program.

December 2, 2021: The IRS published a news release warning tax professionals that they face additional security risks from cybercriminals seeking to use the pandemic and phishing scams to steal sensitive client information.

December 2, 2021: The IRS recommended nonacquiescence in Mayo Clinic v. United States, 997 F.3d 789 (8th Cir. May 13, 2021), rev’g 412 F. Supp. 3d 1038 (D. Minn. 2019), where the appeals court invalidated Treasury Regulations Section 1.170A-9(c)(1)’s requirement that the primary function of an educational organization described in Section 170(b)(1)(A)(ii) be the presentation of formal instruction. For more background, see our recent post.

December 2, 2021: The IRS published a news release reminding tax professionals and taxpayers that they can use digital signatures on a variety of common IRS forms and access a [...]

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Weekly IRS Round-up: June 4 – 8

In order to continue to keep our readers informed on tax matters, we will be rolling out weekly posts on significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax cases. This post marks our first round-up of IRS guidance for the week June 4 – 8, 2018.

June 4, 2018: The IRS issued 3 new FAQs (supplementing the original 14 tax reform FAQs) which announce that it will waive certain late-payment penalties relating to the section 965 transition tax.

June 4, 2018: The IRS issued Internal Revenue Bulletin No. 2018-23 including: Rev. Proc. 2018-32 (combining guidance for grantors and contributors to tax-exempt organizations); Rev. Proc. 2018-34 (providing indexing adjustments for certain provisions under section 36B); Rev. Rul. 2018-14 (obsoleting Rev. Rul. 68-59, 1968-1 C.B. 273); Rev. Rul 2018-15 (obsoleting Rev. Rul. 74-487, 1974-2 C.B. 82; Rev. Rul. 75-211, 1975-1 C.B. 86; Rev. Rul. 77-115, 1977-1 C.B. 154; Rev. Rul. 77-407, 1977-2 C.B. 77; and, Rev. Rul. 80-11, 1980-1 C.B. 58); and Rev. Rul. 2018-16 (providing the prescribed federal interest rates for June 2018).

June 7, 2018: The IRS issued an early release draft of Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate seeking comments from industry.

June 7, 2018: With hurricane season underway, the IRS warns taxpayers that scammers often try to take advantage of the generosity of taxpayers who want to help victims of major disasters.

June 8, 2018: The IRS issued final regulations under sections 337 and 732 that: (1) prevent a corporate partner from avoiding corporate-level gain through transactions with a partnership involving equity interests of the partner or certain related entities, (2) allow consolidated group members that are partners in the same partnership to aggregate their bases in stock for certain purposes and (3) that may require certain corporations that engage in gain elimination transactions to reduce the basis of corporate assets or to recognize gain.

June 8, 2018: The IRS released its weekly list of written determinations (e.g., Private Letter Rulings, Technical Advice Memorandum and Chief Counsel Advice).

Special thanks to Christy Vouri-Misso in our DC office for this week’s round-up.