IRS practice & procedure

The AICPA sent a letter to the IRS with recommendations for items of tax guidance that should be priorities for the Service to issue from July 1, 2018, to June 30, 2019.

The comments were prompted by new questions that have emerged about how the tax rules apply to virtual currency transactions since the AICPA first submitted comments.

The IRS alerted tax practitioners to beware of a phishing scheme in which cybercriminals send out emails posing as state accounting and professional associations.

The IRS urged small businesses to be wary of a growing amount of identity theft attempts aimed at employers and small businesses in general, and partnerships and trusts and estates.

After the IRS’s Modernized e-File and Direct Pay systems were not in operation for most of the day on Tuesday, the IRS extended the filing and payment deadline for 2017 individual tax returns until midnight on Wednesday, April 18.

The Treasury Department and the White House’s Office of Management and Budget have agreed to change the procedures under which Treasury regulations are reviewed.

The $1.3 trillion spending bill passed by Congress includes IRS funding and tax-related technical corrections, including changes to the centralized partnership audit regime.

The U.S. Supreme Court held that to obtain a conviction for obstructing or impeding the administration of the Internal Revenue Code, the government was required to prove that the defendant knew of a pending tax-related proceeding or could reasonably foresee the commencement of such a proceeding.

The IRS completed its annual list of the top tax scams for this filing season, with brazen phishing and phone scams still prominent on the list.

The IRS announced the new lower tax brackets for 2018 and a number of other new items affected by P.L. 115-97, known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

The IRS is proposing to remove 298 regulations that have no current or future application to the Internal Revenue Code.

President Donald Trump announced that he will nominate Charles Rettig, a tax attorney from California, to be the new Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service.

The IRS’s Office of Professional Responsibility has implemented a new process for informing practitioners that they are under investigation for violations of Circular 230.