Maximum penalties for willful failure to report foreign bank accounts on FinCEN Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), for multiple years are limited under new IRS procedures.
IRS practice & procedure
Return due dates changed in highway funding bill
The federal highway funding extension bill passed by Congress contains several tax provisions, including changing the due dates for partnership, S corporation, and corporate tax returns, a provision the AICPA has long advocated.
Regulations provide guidance on proper place to file refund claims
The new rules generally require taxpayers filing claims for refund or credit to file their claim with the IRS service center at which the taxpayers currently would be required to file a tax return for the type of tax to which the claims relate.
National taxpayer advocate: IRS falling down on the job of helping identity theft victims
Fewer than 10% of callers to the IRS’s phone line for victims of identity theft got through to an IRS assistor during some of the busiest weeks of tax season.
Emerging tax issues cause due-diligence problems
Speaking at an IRS Nationwide Forum in Fort Washington, Md., the deputy director of the IRS Office of Professional Responsibility warned practitioners that they should exercise due diligence when advising clients on emerging tax issues.
Managing IRS authorizations
These tools are essential to interact with the IRS on clients’ behalf.
Criminal investigations down in staffing and investigations
The number of new IRS criminal investigations fell markedly in fiscal 2014 from the year before, the Service’s Criminal Investigation Division reported.
Final regs. provide rules for assessment limitation period for undisclosed listed transactions
Coordination with the general limitation period for assessment and the effect of information furnished by a material adviser are among the points addressed.
Filing within 60 days before the assessment period ends
A special rule gives the IRS an extra 60 days to assess tax.
Taxes and the rescission doctrine
This doctrine allows taxpayers to “unwind” a tax transaction.
“Be on the lookout” lists gone from IRS reviews of Sec. 501(c)(4) applications
Two years after finding the IRS used inappropriate criteria when reviewing applications for tax-exempt status under Sec. 501(c)(4) and delayed the processing of some applications, the TIGTA issued a follow-up report to check on the IRS’s progress in eliminating the controversial practices.
Final regs. provide rules for assessment limitation period for undisclosed listed transactions
Generally, the IRS has three years from the later of the date the return was filed or the original due date of the return to assess tax.
Gross income omissions and the 6-year tax assessment period
How taxpayers can guard against doubling the statute-of-limitation period for the IRS to assess tax.
What to do when your client receives a summons
This column addresses summonses when issued in taxpayer examinations and is not designed or intended to be a full articulation of the significant legal implications of a summons or its enforcement.
IRS realigns compliance operations
The IRS in November completed reorganization of its compliance operations serving individual and small business taxpayers.
IRS updates accounting method change procedures
The new rules apply to automatic and nonautomatic accounting method changes and include a list of automatic changes that do not require IRS consent.
Budget cuts may force IRS furlough days again
The IRS warned its employees that budget cuts may require it to furlough employees for two days sometime during this fiscal year.
AICPA provides feedback on tax reform proposals
The AICPA urged Rep. Paul Ryan, the new chair of the House Ways and Means Committee, to follow the AICPA’s principles of good tax policy to guide tax reform.
TIGTA: Process for complaints against preparers is too slow
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said in Rep’t No. 2014-40-056 that its audit indicated the IRS does not timely process complaints it receives against tax return preparers.
IRS proposes scrapping COD nonpayment testing period
The Service says the 36-month period for reporting cancellation-of-debt income is ineffective and prone to confusion.
Features
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