In the wake of the Supreme Court’s Windsor decision (Sup. Ct. Dkt. No. 12-307 (6/26/13)), which invalidated a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), P.L. 104-199, the Treasury Department and IRS announced in late August that “same-sex couples, legally married in jurisdictions that recognize their marriages, will be
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Tax
Act before the deadline: Exclusion of 100% of QSBS gain
Taxpayers have a short window in which to act if they want to take advantage of the Sec. 1202 provision that allows exclusion of 100% of the gain realized on the sale or exchange of qualified small business stock (QSBS). Unless the law is amended, for QSBS acquired after Dec.
Final rules issued on individual health care mandate
The IRS released final regulations on the Sec. 5000A shared-responsibility payment—the penalty or tax imposed on individual taxpayers who do not obtain minimum essential health care coverage beginning in 2014 (known as the “individual mandate”). The final rules adopt the proposed regulations issued in January with a few clarifications (REG-148500-12).
Is a remittance a deposit or a payment?
A district court held that an estate’s remittance to the IRS was a tax payment rather than a deposit. It denied the estate’s refund request because it occurred after the three-year recovery period had expired. Generally, a taxpayer must request a refund of a tax overpayment within three years from
Before you sign: Natural gas lease tax issues
The practice of extracting natural gas from shale through hydraulic fracturing, commonly referred to as “fracking,” is becoming more widespread throughout the country. It is essential for practitioners to understand the tax issues that could arise for clients who own property with shale gas deposits. From 2001 to 2011, Americans
Government farm payments subject to SE tax
The Tax Court held a taxpayer’s net income from payments received under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) was self-employment income under Sec. 1402(a). During 2006 and 2007, Rollin Morehouse, a resident of Minnesota, received “CRP annual rental” payments as consideration for agreeing to set aside from
When is a stock worthless?
When an S corporation’s stock becomes worthless, shareholders are treated as having disposed of their entire interest in the S corporation for passive activity loss purposes, allowing the shareholders to deduct suspended passive losses from the S corporation without regard to the passive activity loss rules. As demonstrated in Bilthouse,
New guidance on gift cards and deferral of income
Gift cards and gift certificates have an appealing feature that makes them desirable to both givers and receivers—convenience. Nowadays, many gift cards are not limited to a specific retailer; some gift cards are accepted by multiple merchants. Under prior law and guidance, revenue from gift card sales was recognized in
Proposed rules issued for small employer health insurance premium credit
The IRS issued proposed regulations governing the Sec. 45R credit for small employers that offer health insurance coverage for employees (REG-113792-13). The proposed rules incorporate the provisions of Notices 2010-44 and 2010-82, modified to reflect the statutory changes starting in 2014, notably, a higher credit amount, the fact that employers
PTIN renewal system reopens
On Thursday, two weeks after the end of the government shutdown, the IRS reopened its registration system for renewing preparer tax identification numbers (PTINs) for the 2014 filing season. When the IRS reopened on Oct. 17, it announced that while the PTIN registration system was available for new PTIN registrations,
IRS releases inflation adjustments for 2014
On Thursday, the IRS issued the annual inflation adjustments for 2014 for more than 40 tax provisions and the tax tables for 2014 (Rev. Proc. 2013-35). Among the inflation-adjusted amounts that have increased are the personal exemption, which increased from $3,900 in 2013 to $3,950 for 2014, and the standard
Social Security wage base rises to $117,000 for 2014
On Wednesday, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that the wage base above which taxes for old age, survivors, and disability insurance (OASDI) are not due will increase from $113,700 to $117,000 in 2014. The new rate means employees will pay a maximum of $7,254 of OASDI in 2014, with
Guidance issued for FFIs with FATCA agreements
On Tuesday, the IRS issued its latest guidance in preparation for the implementation of the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) reporting and withholding requirements (Notice 2013-69). The guidance applies to foreign financial institutions (FFIs) entering into an FFI agreement with the IRS under Sec. 1471 or to FFIs or
Ineffective income and withholding verification hinder IRS in detecting fraudulent returns
On Monday, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) released the results of its review of the IRS’s fraudulent tax return detection system, the Electronic Fraud Detection System (EFDS), concluding that inadequate income and withholding verification resulted in the IRS’s missing many fraudulent returns (TIGTA, Income and Withholding Verification
Filing season will be delayed, IRS says
The IRS announced on Tuesday a delay of one or two weeks in the start of the 2014 filing season as a result of the 16-day government shutdown to allow adequate time for the IRS to prepare and test systems. The return filing start date was originally going to be
Internet Tax Freedom Act preempts Illinois click-through nexus law
On Friday, the Supreme Court of Illinois held that Illinois’s click-through nexus law is expressly preempted by the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act (ITFA), P.L. 105-277, which prohibits states from imposing discriminatory taxes on electronic commerce (Performance Marketing Ass’n v. Hamer, No. 114496 (Ill. 10/18/13)). The Illinois law (35 Ill.
IRS and Tax Court reopen after government shutdown; PTIN renewals delayed
After President Barack Obama signed the bill reopening the federal government and raising the debt limit, the IRS posted a notice on its website Thursday morning notifying workers to report to work no later than four hours after “the start of their tour of duty that begins at 6 a.m.
Government shutdown, debt ceiling deal includes one tax provision
Wednesday’s deal to fund the federal government through Jan. 15 and to extend the federal government’s borrowing authority through Feb. 7 in the end contained only one tax provision, making a minor change to 2010’s health care legislation. The agreement, H.R. 2775, was passed by the Senate in a 81–18
Federal courts to stay open through Oct. 17
The federal judiciary announced on Thursday that federal courts will remain open through Thursday, Oct. 17, unless the government shutdown is resolved and court funding is restored before then. When the federal government first shut down on Oct. 1, the federal judiciary estimated that between fees and federal appropriations that
IRS not issuing liens or levies, enforcement actions limited, during shutdown
The IRS updated its website to notify taxpayers that, during the current government shutdown, the IRS is not sending out liens or levies either generated automatically or sent by personnel. Taxpayers may still receive notices of liens or levies with October mailing dates, the IRS says, but these notices were
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