IRS practice & procedure

Despite generally lower tax bills, many taxpayers are seeing smaller-than-expected refunds — or no refunds at all. And some taxpayers are now subject to underwithholding penalties, despite limited relief from the IRS.

The IRS has authority to charge a user fee for preparer tax identification numbers (PTINs) a federal appeals court held on, paving the way for the agency to reinstate the charges for obtaining and renewing a PTIN.

The IRS posted a draft of a form that affected taxpayers will submit with their 2019 tax returns showing how they computed their qualified business income (QBI) deduction under Sec. 199A.

The IRS announced that it is expanding its identity protection personal identification number (IP PIN) program to taxpayers in seven additional states.

The IRS posted guidance for the public explaining how it will be operating now that the shutdown has ended, to catch up on its backlog in audits, collections, tax return processing, and Tax Court cases.

The partial shutdown of the federal government ended just in time to allow the full IRS workforce to return to work for the start of tax season.

Practitioners should be aware of changes to the due-diligence requirements for returns that claim the earned income tax credit, the American opportunity tax credit, and/or the child tax credit.

The IRS issued an updated contingency plan outlining how it will function during tax season.

The IRS announced Monday evening that tax season will start in late January and that it will issue refunds to taxpayers despite the partial shutdown of the federal government.

A partial government shutdown at midnight on Friday would affect the IRS, which has not been fully funded for fiscal year 2019.

The IRS issued a notice providing interim guidance for the 2019 calendar year on income tax
withholding from wages and from retirement and annuity distributions.

The IRS issued the 2019 annual inflation adjustments for many tax provisions as well as the 2019 tax rate tables for individuals and estates and trusts.

Veteran tax attorney Charles Rettig gives his first public address as new IRS commissioner, speaking to CPAs Tuesday at the AICPA National Tax Conference in Washington.

The IRS issued final regulations on the penalty that applies to tax return preparers who fail to exercise due diligence in preparing returns for taxpayers who are claiming head-of-household filing status, the earned income tax credit, the child tax credit, the additional child tax credit, or the American opportunity tax credit.