Tax news and information - Journal of Accountancy

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August 24, 2022

IRS relieves penalties for 2019 and 2020

As part of COVID-19 pandemic relief, the IRS will automatically abate failure-to-file penalties for certain tax and information returns and refund those penalties already paid.

August 18, 2022

A closer look at tax items in the Inflation Reduction Act

A tax-focused CPA breaks down provisions of the Inflation Reduction Act, including the corporate minimum tax, the 1% excise tax on share buybacks, IRS enforcement funding, and more in this podcast episode with transcript.

August 17, 2022

Guidance on clean vehicle tax credit

The IRS explained the new requirement that a car’s or truck’s final assembly occurred in North America to qualify for the tax credit on the purchase of clean-running vehicles.

August 17, 2022

Congress enacts tax and climate bill

With Senate amendments approved by the House on Friday, the budget reconciliation bill now known as the Inflation Reduction Act will go to the president for his signature.

August 10, 2022

Guide released for tax pros’ information security plan

A downloadable booklet describes the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act’s safeguards rule and includes a template for a firm’s required written information security plan.

August 8, 2022

Key tax provisions in the Senate reconciliation bill

The Inflation Reduction Act passed by the Senate on Sunday includes many tax items, some designed to raise revenue and others to promote various clean energy initiatives.

August 4, 2022

National taxpayer advocate appeals IRS response on scanning tech

National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins escalated her push for the IRS to adopt barcode scanning of paper tax returns, but the IRS would commit only to a goal of scanning certain 2022 returns.

August 4, 2022

Regulations streamline partnership basis elections

Final regulations issued by the IRS and Treasury allow a Sec. 754 election statement to be submitted without a partner’s signature.

August 1, 2022

2022 tax software survey: Shares of respondents and product and company information

Bonus: The percentages for all products, including a breakdown of their usage among firms ranked by ranges of numbers of preparers, in the 2022 tax software survey.

August 1, 2022

Line items

Tax update: S elections, PTE, and Sec. 1202 (podcast) … Senate Finance airs post-Wayfair sales tax burdens … Midyear IRS mileage rate increase follows precedent, recent pleas … Senators request details on IRS info return destruction … IRS voice bots help set up payment plans

August 1, 2022

IRS agent’s receipt of a copy of an LLC’s return constitutes its filing, Ninth Circuit holds

If a delinquent return is submitted to and received by an authorized IRS official requesting it, the return need not be sent to an IRS service center to be considered filed, the appellate court stated.

August 1, 2022

Tax Court: IRS counsel may reject administrative innocent-spouse approval

In denying relief, the court finds that the Office of Chief Counsel’s litigating position is independent of its request for a determination by a specialized unit.

August 1, 2022

2022 tax software survey

CPAs assess how their return preparation products performed.

July 29, 2022

CHIPS and Science Act with semiconductor tax credit passes Congress

The bill now goes to President Joe Biden, who has said he will sign it into law.

July 28, 2022

Senate deal paves way to reconciliation bill with tax provisions

A federal budget reconciliation bill with tax provisions, including a 15% corporate minimum tax and a variety of tax credits, took a step closer to reality with Sen. Joe Manchin’s agreement to the package’s contents.

July 28, 2022

Some balance-due notices on joint returns issued in error, IRS says

Payments made by the second-listed spouse on a joint return for 2021 under certain conditions may not have been properly credited by the IRS.

July 27, 2022

Senate passes CHIPS Act with semiconductor tax credit

The bill’s semiconductor production incentives would include a new 25% investment credit.

July 21, 2022

Breaking down the top issues facing CPA firms

Two CPA leaders analyze the critical issues identified by firms in a recent survey, including IRS service, succession planning, retention, and more.

July 20, 2022

IRS seeks transformation in new 5-year plan

The IRS’s fiscal 2022–26 Strategic Plan sets out goals to modernize its operations and interactions with taxpayers while adapting to new challenges and threats.

July 15, 2022

Pandemic-paused IRS return preparer visits could resume by video

The U.S. GAO recommended that the IRS pilot videoconferencing for its program singling out “high-risk” return preparers for direct compliance checks and education with respect to refundable tax credits and other taxpayer tax benefits.

FROM THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

Clean data faster using Excel’s REGEX functions

Excel’s REGEX functions provide a simpler, flexible solution to text-cleaning tasks, reducing the need to combine multiple functions when cleaning imported data. This JofA Technology Q&A article shows the way with step-by-step instructions and a video walkthrough.