Tax news and information - Journal of Accountancy

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January 1, 2016

How to avoid the 10% additional tax on early retirement distributions

Exceptions to the 10% tax for early withdrawals from retirement plans help clients save more for retirement while giving them access to much-needed cash for expenses such as home purchases, medical bills, college tuition, and others.

January 1, 2016

Resolving IRS disputes through audit reconsideration

Taxpayers may be able to apply for a “rework” of a previous audit.

January 1, 2016

Congress changes partnership audit and adjustment rules

TEFRA and electing large partnership rules are repealed.

January 1, 2016

Tax Court allows discount for assumption of estate taxes

A net gift calculation is accepted under the willing buyer/seller test.

January 1, 2016

Tax return preparation: Outsource your grunt work

Check out GruntWorx’s Organize and Populate products, which organize your client’s tax documents and enter the data into your tax preparation software automatically.

December 22, 2015

Proposed regulations outline country-by-country reporting requirements

The much-anticipated rules, under which the US would adopt the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s country-by-country reporting regime, would require reporting by multinational enterprise groups with revenue of $850 million or more in the prior annual accounting period.

December 18, 2015

Congress passes extender and other tax legislation

The omnibus spending bill passed by Congress on Friday, which extends a long list of expired tax provisions, also contains a large number of other tax items.

December 17, 2015

Standard mileage rates will go down in 2016

The IRS issued the standard mileage rates for business use of an automobile and for driving for medical or moving purposes for 2016.

December 16, 2015

Tax extender legislation introduced in Congress

The Consolidated Appropriations Act introduced in Congress on Wednesday would extend a large number of expired tax provisions.

December 14, 2015

Tell your client to hang up on the ‘IRS’

But when the “IRS” calls your client, it probably isn’t really the IRS.

December 7, 2015

Criminal tax prosecutions run the gamut

In its annual business report for 2015, the IRS’s Criminal Investigation division discussed notable criminal tax prosecutions.

December 4, 2015

Bill with passport and third-party tax collection provisions passes Congress

The highway funding bill passed by Congress includes provisions that will allow the government to revoke the passports of seriously delinquent tax debtors and will require the IRS to use third-party debt collectors.

December 1, 2015

Gain recognized from repossession of principal residence

The repossession of a taxpayer’s former principal residence more than one year after its sale triggered the recognition of previously excluded gain.

December 1, 2015

New tax on expatriates’ gifts and bequests gets prop. regs.

The highest gift or estate tax rate applies after the gift tax annual exclusion amount; the marital deduction and QTIPs are among the possible exclusions.

December 1, 2015

Business tax quick guide—tax year 2015

Download and print this quick guide PDF for use during tax season and look for our quick guide for individual taxpayers in the January 2016 issue.

December 1, 2015

IRS to implement donee reporting for charities

The Service issues prop. regs. and will develop a new information return.

December 1, 2015

Line items

Per-diem rates issued for 2015–2016 travel The IRS issued its annual update (Notice 2015-63) of per-diem rates for substantiating certain business expenses taxpayers incur when traveling away from home on or after Oct. 1, 2015. The per-diem rate for the incidental-expenses-only deduction remains unchanged at $5 per day for any

December 1, 2015