IRS practice & procedure

Acting quickly in the wake of Hurricane Irma, the IRS gave filing and payment extensions to hurricane victims in 16 counties in Florida, all of St. John and St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and four municipalities in Puerto Rico.

In an effort to reduce identity theft, the IRS issued proposed regulations that would permit employers to use truncated taxpayer identification numbers (TTINs) on Forms W-2, Wage and Tax Statement.

Various e-Services will be unavailable between Sept. 7 and Sept. 12, the Internal Revenue Service announced, as it moves to a new platform.

The relief includes an extension of time to file certain individual and business tax returns and make certain tax payments.

If granted, the stay would allow the IRS to charge the fees while it decides whether to appeal the district court decision that struck down the fees and, if it does appeal, during the appeal itself.

The IRS Office of Appeals announced that on Aug. 1 it will begin offering taxpayers and their representatives a new web-based virtual conference option for taxpayer conferences.

Changes to the due dates and extensions of time to file various tax returns and information returns were implemented in a package of regulations the IRS issued on Wednesday.

After reviewing all 105 Treasury regulations issued in 2016 and early 2017, the Treasury Department has identified eight that cost too much, are too complex or exceed the IRS’s statutory authority.

The system had been down since early June, after a federal court held that the IRS cannot charge a PTIN fee.

The D.C. District Court held that the IRS has the authority to require preparers to use preparer tax identification numbers (PTINs) but that it cannot charge fees for issuing PTINs.