Tax news and information - Journal of Accountancy

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February 1, 2020

AICPA honors service and professional contributions in tax

Jane T. Rubin received the Arthur J. Dixon Memorial Award, and Blake Vickers received the Tax Division Distinguished Service Award.

February 1, 2020

Taxpayer-favorable changes in the bonus depreciation regs.

The rules apply to the 100% additional first-year depreciation deduction in Sec. 168(k), which is in effect through 2022.

January 31, 2020

Electronic filing mandated for Sec. 501(c)(3) applications

The IRS announced that Form 1023, Application for Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3), must now be submitted electronically.

January 22, 2020

More taxpayers qualify for student loan COD relief

The IRS is expanding its relief from cancellation-of-debt income to students whose federal loans were discharged for certain legal reasons.

January 2, 2020

IRS issues 2020 standard mileage rates

On the last day of 2019, the IRS issued the standard mileage rates for 2020 for business, charitable, medical, or moving expense purposes, as well as other deduction amounts.

January 1, 2020

No deduction for paying corporate parent’s expense

A subsidiary fails to show that it received the primary benefit from its payment to an adviser incident to a merger.

January 1, 2020

2020 tax filing season preview

CPA firms venture into the new decade of serving taxpayers.

January 1, 2020

Taxpayers may deduct casualty losses in prior years

The final regulations allow more time to make the election.

January 1, 2020

CFC downward attributions get safe harbors

Reporting of Subpart F and GILTI inclusions may rely on ‘alternate information.’

January 1, 2020

Writing to win tax appeals

If taxpayers disagree with an IRS audit, they have 30 days to prepare an IRS protest. Find out how to win at IRS Appeals.

January 1, 2020

‘Gifts’ to clergy may be remuneration

Payments to a pastor did not qualify to be excluded from income as a parsonage allowance or as nontaxable gifts.

January 1, 2020

Practitioners need a written information security plan

The IRS places fresh emphasis on tax preparers’ responsibilities under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act safeguards rule.

January 1, 2020

Filing season quick guide — tax year 2019

Download and print this tax season reference highlighting dollar thresholds, tax tables, standard amounts, credits, and deductions.

January 1, 2020

Estate is entitled to refund of Sec. 6651 late-filing penalty

The full tax liability had been paid by the extended due date.

December 23, 2019

Humpty Dumpty meets the tax code

Annette Nellen, Esq., CPA, CGMA, walks us through four recent decisions by the U.S. Tax Court to show how the precise application of a word or phrase can make a world of difference.

December 20, 2019

Qualified opportunity zone regs. finalized

The IRS issued final regulations providing guidance on tax-favored investments in qualified opportunity zones (QOZs).

December 19, 2019

Year-end government spending bill contains many tax provisions

The consolidated appropriations bill passed by Congress makes many changes to retirement plan rules, repeals health care taxes, extends expired tax provisions, and provides tax relief for disaster victims.

December 19, 2019

5th Circuit invalidates health care law’s individual mandate

The Fifth Circuit held that the “individual mandate” under Sec. 5000A, which imposes a “shared responsibility payment” on taxpayers who do not obtain health insurance that provides at least minimum essential coverage, is unconstitutional now that the payment amount has been reduced to zero.

December 18, 2019

New FASB standard aims to simplify accounting for income taxes

FASB issued a standard that is designed to reduce cost and complexity in accounting for income taxes.

FROM THIS MONTH'S ISSUE

Build reusable Skills in Anthropic’s Claude AI

Instead of rewriting prompts each time, CPAs can turn routine tasks into reusable AI Skills. This Technology Q&A walks through how to build Claude Skills that process files, ask setup questions, and export clean Excel outputs.