The Journal of Accountancy is dedicated to ensuring CPAs stay well informed about the tax issues. This page gathers together news stories and articles from AICPA magazines and newsletters discussing the many aspects of the fiscal cliff that loomed at the end of 2012. The fiscal cliff had many different
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TOPICS
Tax
Congress passes fiscal cliff act
Pulling back from the “fiscal cliff” at the 13th hour, Congress on Tuesday preserved most of the George W. Bush-era tax cuts and extended many other lapsed tax provisions. Shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday, the Senate passed a bill that had been heralded and, in some quarters, groused about throughout
FATCA: A new era of financial transparency
Since 2008, the U.S. government has been aggressively moving against U.S. taxpayers who have undeclared foreign accounts. Through a variety of mechanisms, the government has obtained information about U.S. account holders and their assets from jurisdictions previously thought nearly impenetrable. These recent developments portend the eventual erosion of traditional concepts of
Second Circuit strikes down part of Defense of Marriage Act
The Second Circuit recently affirmed a New York federal district court decision that allowed the surviving spouse of a same-sex couple to take an unlimited marital deduction when computing the deceased spouse’s estate tax liability. The Second Circuit agreed with the lower court that Section 3 of the Defense of
Improving the audit selection process
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) recently released two reports for its study of the IRS Small Business/Self-Employed (SB/SE) Division’s audits of partnerships and S corporations. The findings in both reports are similar: Although the SB/SE audits recommended substantial adjustments, roughly 33% of all the audits in fiscal
Practice safe e-filing
Since 2012, e-filing generally has been mandatory for tax preparers or firms that anticipate filing 11 or more federal individual or trust returns in a calendar year. However, e-filing presents a variety of dangers and unintended consequences not present with paper filing. Here are tips to make e-filing as safe
Covered opinion rules withdrawn
Finding that the rules it implemented in 2004 regarding covered opinions were not justified by the additional costs of practitioner compliance, on Sept. 14 the IRS proposed revoking them and substituting a single, basic new standard governing all written tax advice (REG-138367-06). Under current Circular 230, Regulations Governing Practice Before
TIGTA: IRS pays millions in unnecessary interest on NOL carrybacks
The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) found that IRS delays in processing net operating loss (NOL) carrybacks result in the IRS’s paying millions of dollars in interest unnecessarily. According to TIGTA, the IRS pays the excess interest because it does not always process taxpayers’ amended prior returns with
Conservation easements are deductible despite reimbursement provision
The Tax Court upheld charitable donations of conservation easements in a bargain sale, despite a requirement that, in the event of a later disposal of the property and extinguishment of the easements, the donee organization use the proceeds to reimburse the government agencies that funded the purchase. The court determined
Subsidiaries’ advance agreements are equity instruments
The Tax Court ruled that PepsiCo’s Netherlands subsidiary’s “advance agreements” (AAs) with certain other PepsiCo subsidiaries, newly formed as part of an effort to retain its tax position, were properly characterized as equity for U.S. tax purposes. Prior to 1996, PepsiCo had a corporate structure that allowed separate Netherlands Antilles
Small businesses struggle to navigate provisions of the health care law
Small businesses have enough to worry about without having to wade through the intricacies of hundreds of pages of the health care legislation enacted in 2010: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, P.L. 111-148, as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act P.L. 111-152, referred to here
Tax season: Cued up and ready?
The tax organizer files are starting to come in, the return preparation software is updated, and the staff has cleared its calendar for the long days and nights ahead. That’s right, it’s tax preparation season, and for 2012 returns, CPAs have much to consider that’s new. They may also have
Whistleblower’s claim not entitled to Tax Court review
In a case of first impression, the Tax Court held that it could not order the IRS to reopen an individual’s whistleblower claim under Sec. 7623(b), and the court dismissed his petition. Sec. 7623(b) authorizes an award to a whistleblower if the IRS proceeds with any administrative or judicial action based
Avoiding allegations of improper tax advice
On the golf course, an older client mentions that he has pledged an endowment to his alma mater. Knowing the client does not need his IRA funds for retirement purposes, the CPA mentions that certain taxpayers can make distributions directly from their IRAs without the distribution being included in taxable
Nina Olson: Taxpayers’ voice at the IRS
Nina E. Olson is the IRS’s National Taxpayer Advocate. Since 2001, she has led the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS), a nationwide organization of approximately 2,000 taxpayer advocates who help U.S. individual and business taxpayers resolve problems and work with the IRS to correct systemic and procedural problems. In this capacity,
Mandatory language for consents to disclose, use taxpayer information modified
In Rev. Proc. 2013-14, the IRS has provided guidance to tax return preparers about the format and content of taxpayer consents to disclose and consents to use tax return information and modified the mandatory language required on each taxpayer consent. The guidance applies to individuals filing a return in the
Rules on use, disclosure of taxpayer information finalized
The IRS on Wednesday issued final regulations under Sec. 7216 that govern the circumstances in which tax return preparers can disclose or use certain limited tax return information (T.D. 9608). The regulations finalize with minor changes rules that were issued in 2010 as temporary and proposed regulations (T.D. 9478 and
Final regs. remove de minimis partner rule
The IRS issued final regulations that remove the de minimis partner rule from Regs. Sec. 1.704-1(b)(2)(iii)(e) (T.D. 9607). This means that when determining whether special allocations have substantial economic effect, partnerships will no longer be permitted to ignore the tax attributes of de minimis partners. The IRS received many suggestions
Sec. 304 anti-abuse, anti-avoidance rules finalized
In T.D. 9606, the IRS finalized regulations that apply to transactions subject to Sec. 304 but that are structured with the principal purpose of avoiding the statute’s application. The regulations target transactions designed to avoid Sec. 304 treatment of a corporation that controls an acquiring corporation or a deemed acquiring
Voluntary Classification Settlement Program expanded, liberalized
On Tuesday, the IRS made significant changes to its Voluntary Classification Settlement Program (VCSP). In Announcement 2012-46, in effect until June 30, 2013, the IRS is temporarily permitting employers who have not filed Forms 1099 for their workers to participate in the program by paying a larger amount of past
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From The Tax Adviser
March 31, 2026
Current developments in taxation of individuals: Part 1
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Current Developments in Taxation of Individuals: Part 1
March 6, 2026
