 In revenue ruling 2004-92 the
IRS announced a 1% increase in interest
rates for underpayments and overpayments
for the calendar quarter beginning October
1, 2004 (
www.irs.gov/pub/irs-drop/rr-04-92.pdf
). The new rate of interest determined
under IRC section 6621 is 5% for
overpayments (4% in the case of a
corporation), 5% for underpayments and 7%
for large corporate underpayments.
Interest on the portion of a corporate
overpayment exceeding $10,000 will be
2.5%.
New e-service speeds
transcript delivery (
www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=129058,00.html
). Tax practitioners now can request
transcripts of clients’ tax records and
receive them within minutes through a
new online tool delivered through the
IRS business system modernization
program. The transcript delivery system
(TDS) is one of three premium e-services
the IRS developed for practitioners who
have successfully e-filed 100 or more
individual tax returns. The other
two—disclosure authorization and
electronic account resolution—were
released in July 2004.
The IRS is indefinitely
extending its tip rate determination and
education program, a voluntary
compliance tool that has helped nearly
double the reporting of income from
gratuities (
www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=129379,00.html
). Developed in 1993 for the food
and beverage industry, the program was
set to expire in 2005. It offers
multiple voluntary agreement options
designed to provide nonburdensome
methods for employers and employees to
comply with tip reporting laws,
including the tip rate determination
agreement (TRDA), the tip reporting
alternative commitment (TRAC) and the
employer-designed TRAC. The IRS will
continue to administer existing tip
agreements without the need for
employers to re-sign them.
Half a million more small
businesses will be eligible to file
simplified expense forms for tax year
2005 returns filed in 2006—an increase
of 15% (
www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=129561,00.html
). The IRS will raise to $5,000 from
$2,500 the business expense threshold
for filing form 1040, schedule C-EZ,
saving small business taxpayers
approximately 5 million hours of
paperwork. |
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