News
In recognition of National Hurricane Preparedness Week and National Wildfire Awareness month, the IRS reminded taxpayers to have a year round complete emergency preparedness plan to protect personal ...
The IRS has updated the Allowable Living Expense (ALE) Standards, effective April 24, 2023.The ALE standards reduce subjectivity when determining what a taxpayer may claim as basic living ...
The IRS has released the 2024 inflation-adjusted amounts for health savings accounts under Code Sec. 223. For calendar year 2024, the annual limitation on deductions under Code Sec. 223(b)(2...
The IRS, as part of the National Small Business week initiative, has urged business taxpayers to begin planning now to take advantage of tax-saving opportunities and get ready for repor...
The IRS has informed taxpayers who make energy improvements to their existing residence including solar, wind, geothermal, fuel cells or battery storage may be eligible for expanded home energy tax...
The IRS has modified Notice 2014-21 to remove Background section information stating that virtual currency does not have legal tender status in any jurisdiction, as the Department of the Treasury a...
The IRS and Department of the Treasury announced that public hearings conducted by the Service will no longer conduct public hearings on notices of proposed rulemaking solely by telephone for...
The Alabama Court of Civil Appeals (court) affirmed that an authorized dealer (taxpayer) of a telecommunications company (company) did not owe sales tax on funds it received from customers as prepayme...
A sleep clinic operator (taxpayer) was properly subject to Alaska corporate income tax for the tax years at issue because the taxpayer did not qualify for the qualified small business exemption. In th...
The Arizona Department of Revenue has announced a local transaction privilege tax (TPT) rate change.Show LowEffective July 1, 2023, the city will impose a new Hotel/Motel Additional Tax at a rate of 3...
Arkansas Governor Sanders announced the extension of the 2022 income tax filing date and income tax payment date from April 18, 2023, to July 31, 2023, for affected counties. This extension includes 2...
The IRS has announced tax return filing and payment relief for individuals and businesses in Modoc County affected by the severe winter storms, straight-line winds, flooding, landslides, and mudslides...
Colorado has adopted a new rule regarding the subtraction from federal taxable income for amounts treated as dividends pursuant to IRC Sec. 78. The rule:advises taxpayers that the subtraction is limit...
Frequently asked questions (FAQs) have been issued to provide guidance for International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) carriers regarding the calculation and reporting of the motor vehicle fuels tax credi...
Enacted Delaware legislation provides that land use must satisfy at least one of the following criteria to qualify for special property tax valuation as actively devoted to agriculture, horticulture, ...
As businesses begin to comply with Initiative 82, which phases out the District of Columbia tipped minimum wage for servers, bartenders, and other tipped workers beginning May 1, 2023, the Office of T...
Florida will follow the corporate income tax relief granted by the IRS regarding tax return due dates for taxpayers affected by severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding. Eligible taxpayers that file Flo...
Georgia has enacted legislation extending its tax credit for qualified education donations until December 31, 2026. The credit previously expired on December 31, 2023. Act 256 (H.B. 340), Laws 2023, e...
Hawaii has updated its guidance regarding the renewable energy technologies income tax credit (RETITC), specifically the credit for photovoltaic (PV) systems. The publication explains, among other top...
A taxpayer was not entitled to half of an overpayment of Idaho personal income tax from 2017 that her ex-spouse claimed in full as an estimated payment on his 2018 tax return, because the separate ori...
The final LaSalle County equalization factor (multiplier) for Illinois property tax purposes has been set for 2022 at 1.0000. The final 2021 multiplier was also 1.0000. Release, Illinois Department of...
The Indiana gasoline use tax rate for the month of June 2023 is $0.204 per gallon. Departmental Notice #2, Indiana Department of Revenue, June 1, 2023...
The Iowa Department of Revenue adopted new regulations for the implementation of the excise tax on electric fuel. These rules provide guidance as to what entities need to obtain a license to sell or d...
Kansas has created sales tax exemptions for certain nonprofit organizations and authorized additional counties to submit local taxes to the voters.Sales Tax ExemptionsPurchases by the Kansas Suicide P...
The Kentucky Department of Insurance has updated a bulletin that contains information on local government premium taxes (LGPT) for insurance companies and surplus lines brokers, including the 2023-202...
Effective July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, the Louisiana natural gas severance tax rate has been set at 25.1¢ per 1,000 cubic feet (MCF) measured at a base pressure of 15.025 pounds per square in...
Maine Revenue Services announced amendments to several rules effective May 3, 2023:Rule 102, regarding Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT), was amended to remove references to outdated payment methods, su...
Maryland has enacted legislation making changes to the student loan debt relief credit against its personal income tax. For tax years beginning after December 31, 2022, Maryland has increased the amou...
An active duty servicemember (taxpayer) stationed in Massachusetts and domiciled elsewhere was not responsible for excise tax assessed on a motor vehicle leased by him because the Servicemembers’ Ci...
The Michigan Department of Treasury has provided guidance on the expansion of the industrial processing sales tax exemption pursuant to Public Acts 27 and 30 of 2023. Industrial processing includes th...
A local Minnesota sales and use tax of 0.25% is imposed on retail sales made in the metropolitan area or to a destination in the metropolitan area. The new tax applies on the same base as the state sa...
Mississippi has enacted legislation extending the Endow Mississippi tax credit until December 31, 2028. The legislation also increases the maximum amount of a qualified contribution to $500,000 and in...
In a letter ruling, Missouri Department of Revenue (department) discussed eligibility of a tax entity's shareholders to receive the Section 143.081.3(2), RSMo, S corporation resident credit (credit).I...
Montana enacted various revisions to the annual job growth incentive tax credit, applicable retroactively to tax years beginning after December 31, 2021. Among other changes, the definitions of "net e...
The Nebraska Department of Revenue has reminded taxpayers that owners of depreciable tangible personal property must file the Nebraska Personal Property Return and Schedule before May 1 with the count...
Nevada has changed the process for National Guard members and their relatives to claim an exemption during the annual sales tax holiday.The new process requires the eligible person claiming the exempt...
The New Hampshire Supreme Court determined that the taxpayers’ buildings were not damaged so as to be entitled to proration of property taxes. The taxpayers owned commercial real estate on which the...
New Jersey has decoupled the corporation business tax and gross income tax from the federal provisions that prohibit tax credits and deductions for cannabis businesses. The bill also decouples S corpo...
New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announced that the state's personal income tax rebates would go out to taxpayers in mid-June. The rebates will be $500 for single taxpayers and $1,000 to tax...
The cap amount for the New York sales and use tax exemption for sales and uses of electronic news services that occur from June 1, 2023, to May 31, 2024, increases to $4,441. News Bulletin, New York D...
North Carolina issued important guidance on 2022 tax return filing changes resulting from legislation that:expands eligibility for the elective pass-through entity (PTE) income tax to partnerships wit...
North Dakota created a nonrefundable credit for purchases of manufacturing and animal agricultural machinery and equipment to automate a manufacturing or animal agricultural process. The credit amount...
For Ohio property tax purposes, the County Board of Elections (Board) properly determined that the proposed levies were ineligible for consideration at the 2023 primary election ballot because they co...
The remittance of Oklahoma motor fuel tax to suppliers and bonded importers is based on 98.4% (for gasoline) and 98.1% (for diesel fuel) until July 1, 2029. Thereafter, remittance will be paid on the ...
For Oregon personal income tax purposes, owners of a family-owned business were entitled to an adjustment to their basis in real property, but they were not eligible for a deduction for bad debt becau...
A bill to enact an elective pass-through entity (PTE) income tax was introduced in the Pennsylvania house.The elective PTE tax would be available after December 31, 2022. S.B. 659, as introduced in th...
For Rhode Island property tax purposes, the tax assessor of the Town of Lincoln properly increased the value of a Limited Liability Corporation's (LLC's), the taxpayer's, property in light of the deve...
South Carolina has updated its Internal Revenue Code conformity date from December 31, 2021, to December 31, 2022.If there are IRC sections adopted by South Carolina that expired on December 31, 2022,...
The amount of the South Dakota property tax exemption available to a property owned by a local industrial development corporation has been increased. Effective July 1, 2023, the amount is increased to...
Effective July 1, 2023, an additional 6% Tennessee sales and use tax is imposed on the sales price of products that contain a hemp-derived cannabinoid when sold at retail in the state.Application of T...
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts has issued a notice to taxpayers that the Coastal Protection Fee will be suspended effective June 1, 2023. Crude oil transferred through a marine terminal on o...
Utah issued a reminder that the motor fuel (gasoline) and special fuel (diesel) tax rate is lowered to 34.5 cents per gallon, effective July 1, 2023. Tax Bulletin 8-23, Utah State Tax Commission, May ...
The Vermont Legislature has passed a bill that, if enacted, would change the state’s IRC conformity date from December 31, 2021, to December 31, 2022.The bill would also clarify the apportionment pe...
Virginia announced that the fuel tax rates for the period July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, are as follows:gasoline—29.8 cents per gallon;diesel fuel—30.8 cents per gallon;blended fuels (gasoli...
Washington's working families tax credit against the sales tax is made available to individuals filing their federal income taxes under the married filing separately status. Furthermore, individuals m...
West Virginia updated a personal income tax publication on the taxability of income from military service. The taxability of the income of a military servicemember in West Virginia is dependent upon a...
For Wisconsin property tax purposes, the circuit court properly dismissed the taxpayer’s claims because it had failed to comply with its obligation to present evidence or sworn testimony at a hearin...
For Wyoming property tax purposes, the County Board of Equalization’s (County Board’s) decision was partly reversed because the assessor failed to demonstrate that either lessee used the town’s ...
WASHINGTON—The Internal Revenue Service will be resuming issuing collections notices to taxpayers that were previously suspending during the COVID-19 pandemic, although a date on when they will begin to be sent out has not been set.
WASHINGTON—The Internal Revenue Service will be resuming issuing collections notices to taxpayers that were previously suspending during the COVID-19 pandemic, although a date on when they will begin to be sent out has not been set.
"Right now, we are planning for restarting those notices," Darren Guillot, commissioner for collection and operation support in the IRS Small Business/Self Employment Division, said May 5, 2023, during a panel discussion at the ABA May Tax Meeting. "We have a very detailed plan."
Guillot assured attendees that the plan does not involve every notice just starting up on an unannounced day. Rather, the IRS will "communicate vigorously" with taxpayers, tax professionals and Congress on the timing of the plans so no one will be caught off guard by their generation.
He also stated that the plan is to stagger the issuance of different types of notices to make sure the agency is not overwhelmed with responses to them.
"The notice restart is really going to be staggered," Guillot said. "We’re going to time it at an appropriate cadence so that we believe we can handle the incoming phone calls that it can generate."
Guillot continued: "We want to also be mindful of the impact that it will have on the IRS Independent Office of Appeal. Some of those notices come with appeals rights and we want to make sure that we give taxpayers a chance to resolve their issues without the need to have to go to appeal or even get to that stage of that notice. So, it will be a staggered process."
In terms of helping to avoid the appeals process and getting taxpayers back into compliance, Guillot offered a scenario of what taxpayers might expect. In the example, if a taxpayer was set to receive a final Notice of Intent to Levy right before the pause for the pandemic was instituted, "we’re probably going to give most of those taxpayers a gentle reminder notice to try and see if they want to comply before we go straight to that final notice. That’s good for the taxpayer and it’s good for the IRS. And it’s good for the appellate process as well."
Guillot also said the agency is going to look at the totality of the 500-series of notices and taxpayers and their circumstances to see if there is a more efficient way of communicating and collecting past due amounts from taxpayers.
He also stressed that the IRS has been working with National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins and she has offered "input that we’re incorporating and taking into consideration every step of the way."
Collins, who also was on the panel, confirmed that and added that the IRS is "trying to take a very reasonable approach of how to turn it back on," adding that the staggered approach will also help practitioners and the Taxpayer Advocate Service from being overwhelmed as well as the IRS.
Guillot also mentioned that in the very near future, the IRS will start generating CP-14 notices, which are the statutory due notices. This is the first notice that a taxpayer will receive at the end of a tax season when there is money that they owe and those will start to be sent out to taxpayers around the end of May.
By Gregory Twachtman, Washington News Editor
The Internal Revenue Service will use 2018 as the benchmark year for determining audit rates as it plans to increase enforcement for those individuals and businesses making more than $400,000 per year.
The Internal Revenue Service will use 2018 as the benchmark year for determining audit rates as it plans to increase enforcement for those individuals and businesses making more than $400,000 per year.
The agency is "going to be focused completely on … closing the gap," IRS Commissioner Daniel said April 27, 2023, during a hearing of the House Ways and Means Committee. "What that means is the auditrate, the most recent auditrate, we have that’s complete and final is 2018. That is the rate that I want to share with the American people. The auditrate will not go above that rate for years to come because for the next several years, at least, we’re going to be focused on work that we’re doing with the highest income filers."
Werfel added that even if the IRS were to expand its audit footprint a few years from now, "you’re still not going to get anywhere near that historical average for quite some time. So, I think there can be assurances to the American people that if you earn under $400,000, there’s no new wave of audits coming. The probability of you being audited before the Inflation Reduction Act and after the Inflation Reduction Act are not changed at all."
He also noted that many of the new hires that will be brought in to handle enforcement will focus on the wealthiest individuals and businesses. Werfel said that there currently are only 2,600 employees that cover filings of the wealthiest 390,000 filers and that is where many of the enforcement hires will be used.
"We have to up our game if we’re going to effectively assess whether these organizations are paying what they owe," he testified. "So, it’s about hiring. It’s about training. And it’s not just hiring auditors, it’s about hiring economists, scientists, engineers. And when I [say] scientists, I mean data scientists to truly help us strategically figure out where the gaps are so we can close those gaps."
Werfel did sidestep a question about the potential need for actually increasing the number of audits for those making under $400,000. When asked about a Joint Committee on Taxation report that found that more than 90 percent of unreported income actually came from taxpayers earning less than $400,000, he responded that "there is a lot of mounting evidence that there is significant underreporting or tax gap in the highest income filers. For example, there’s a study that was done by the U.S. Treasury Department that looked at the top one percent of Americans and found that as much as $163 billion of tax dodging, roughly."
And while answering the questions on the need for more personnel to handle the audits of the wealthy, he did acknowledge that "a big driver" of needing such a large workforce to handle the filings of wealthy taxpayers is due to the complexity of the tax code, in addition to a growing population, a growing economy, and an increasing number of wealthy taxpayers.
Other Topics Covered
Werfel’s testimony covered a wide range of topics, from the size and role of the personnel to be hired to the offering of service that has the IRS fill out tax forms for filers to technology and security upgrade, similar to a round of questions the agency commissioner faced before the Senate Finance Committee in a hearing a week earlier.
He reiterated that a study is expected to arrive mid-May that will report on the feasibility of the IRS offering a service to fill out tax forms for taxpayers. Werfel stressed that if such a service were to be offered, it would be strictly optional and there would be no plans to make using such a service mandatory.
"Our hope and our vision [is] that we will meet taxpayers where they are," he testified. "If they want to file on paper, we’re not thrilled with it, but we’ll be ready for it. If they want the fully digital experience, if they want to work with a third-party servicer, we want to accommodate that."
Werfel also reiterated a commitment to examine the use of cloud computing as a way to modernize the IRS’s information technology infrastructure.
And he also continued his call for an increase in annual appropriations to compliment the funding provided by the Inflation Reduction Act. He testified that modernization funds were "raided" so that phones could be answered and to prevent service levels from declining while still being able to modernize the agency, more annual funds will need to be appropriated.
By Gregory Twachtman, Washington News Editor
The Supreme Court has held that the exception to the notice requirement in Code Sec. 7609(c)(2)(D)(i) does not apply where a delinquent taxpayer has a legal interest in accounts or records summoned by the IRS under Code Sec. 7602(a). The IRS had entered official assessments against an individual for unpaid taxes and penalties, following which a revenue officer had issued summonses to three banks seeking financial records of several third parties, including the taxpayers. Subsequently, the taxpayers moved to quash the summonses. The District Court concluded that, under Code Sec. 7609(c)(2)(D)(i), no notice was required and that taxpayers, therefore, could not bring a motion to quash.
The Supreme Court has held that the exception to the notice requirement in Code Sec. 7609(c)(2)(D)(i) does not apply where a delinquent taxpayer has a legal interest in accounts or records summoned by the IRS under Code Sec. 7602(a). The IRS had entered official assessments against an individual for unpaid taxes and penalties, following which a revenue officer had issued summonses to three banks seeking financial records of several third parties, including the taxpayers. Subsequently, the taxpayers moved to quash the summonses. The District Court concluded that, under Code Sec. 7609(c)(2)(D)(i), no notice was required and that taxpayers, therefore, could not bring a motion to quash. The Court of Appeals also affirmed, finding that the summonses fell within the exception in Code Sec. 7609(c)(2)(D)(i) to the general notice requirement.
Exceptions to Notice Requirement
The taxpayers argued that the exception to the notice requirement in Code Sec. 7609(c)(2)(D)(i) applies only if the delinquent taxpayer has a legal interest in the accounts or records summoned by the IRS. However, the statute does not mention legal interest and does not require that a taxpayer maintain such an interest for the exception to apply. Further, the taxpayers’ arguments in support of their proposed legal interest test, failed. The taxpayers first contended that the phrase "in aid of the collection" would not be accomplished by summons unless it was targeted at an account containing assets that the IRS can collect to satisfy the taxpayers’ liability. However, a summons might not itself reveal taxpayer assets that can be collected but it might help the IRS find such assets.
The taxpayers’ second argument that if Code Sec. 7609(c)(2)(D)(i) is read to exempt every summons from notice that would help the IRS collect an "assessment" against a delinquent taxpayer, there would be no work left for the second exception to notice, found in Code Sec. 7609(c)(2)(D)(ii). However, clause (i) applies upon an assessment, while clause (ii) applies upon a finding of liability. In addition, clause (i) concerns delinquent taxpayers, while clause (ii) concerns transferees or fiduciaries. As a result, clause (ii) permits the IRS to issue unnoticed summonses to aid its collection from transferees or fiduciaries before it makes an official assessment of liability. Consequently, Code Sec. 7609(c)(2)(D)(i) does not require that a taxpayer maintain a legal interest in records summoned by the IRS.
An IRS notice provides interim guidance describing rules that the IRS intends to include in proposed regulations regarding the domestic content bonus credit requirements for:
An IRS notice provides interim guidance describing rules that the IRS intends to include in proposed regulations regarding the domestic content bonus credit requirements for:
- --the Code Sec. 45 electricity production tax credit,
- --the new Code Sec. 45Y clean electricity production credit,
- --the Code Sec. 48 energy investment credit, and
- --the new Code Sec. 48E clean energy investment credit.
The notice also provides a safe harbor regarding the classification of certain components in representative types of qualified facilities, energy projects, or energy storage technologies. Finally, it describes recordkeeping and certification requirements for the domestic content bonus credit.
Taxpayer Reliance
Taxpayers may rely on the notice for any qualified facility, energy project, or energy storage technology the construction of which begins before the date that is 90 days after the date of publication of the forthcoming proposed regulations in the Federal Register.
The IRS intends to propose that the proposed regs will apply to tax years ending after May 12, 2023.
Domestic Content Bonus Requirements
The notice defines several terms that are relevant to the domestic content bonus credit, including manufactured, manufactured product, manufacturing process, mined and produced. In addition, the notice extends domestic content test to retrofitted projects that satisfy the 80/20 rule for new and used property.
The notice also provides detailed rules for satisfying the requirement that at least 40 percent (or 20 percent for an offshore wind facility) of steel, iron or manufactured product components are produced in the United States. In particular, the notice provides an Adjusted Percentage Rule for determining whether manufactured product components are produced in the U.S.
Safe Harbor for Classifying Product Components
The safe harbor applies to a variety of project components. A table list the components, the project that might use each component, and assigns each component to either the steel/iron category or the manufactured product category.
The table is not exhaustive. In addition, components listed in the table must still meet the relevant statutory requirements for the particular credit to be eligible for the domestic content bonus credit.
Certification and Substantiation
Finally, the notice explains that a taxpayer that claims the domestic content bonus credit must certify that a project meets the domestic content requirement as of the date the project is placed in service. The taxpayer must also satisfy the general income tax recordkeeping requirements to substantiate the credit.
A taxpayer certifies a project by submitting a Domestic Content Certification Statement to the IRS certifying that any steel, iron or manufactured product that is subject to the domestic content test was produced in the U.S. The taxpayer must attach the statement to the form that reports the credit. The taxpayer must continue to attach the form to the relevant credit form for subsequent tax years.
A married couple’s petition for redetermination of an income tax deficiency was untimely where they electronically filed their petition from the central time zone but after the due date in the eastern time zone, where the Tax Court is located. Accordingly, the taxpayers’ case was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
A married couple’s petition for redetermination of an income tax deficiency was untimely where they electronically filed their petition from the central time zone but after the due date in the eastern time zone, where the Tax Court is located. Accordingly, the taxpayers’ case was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
The deadline for the taxpayers to file a petition in the Tax Court was July 18, 2022. The taxpayers were living in Alabama when they electronically filed their petition. At the time of filing, the Tax Court's electronic case management system (DAWSON) automatically applied a cover sheet to their petition. The cover sheet showed that the court electronically received the petition at 12:05 a.m. eastern time on July 19, 2022, and filed it the same day. However, when the Tax Court received the petition, it was 11:05 p.m. central time on July 18, 2022, in Alabama.
Electronically Filed Petition
The taxpayers’ petition was untimely because it was filed after the due date under Code Sec. 6213(a). Tax Court Rule 22(d) dictates that the last day of a period for electronic filing ends at 11:59 p.m. eastern time, the Tax Court’s local time zone. Further, the timely mailing rule under Code Sec. 7502(a) applies only to documents that are delivered by U.S. mail or a designated delivery service, not to an electronically filed petition.
Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Daniel Werfel said changes are coming to address racial disparities among those who get audited annually.
Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Daniel Werfel said changes are coming to address racial disparities among those who get audited annually.
"I will stay laser-focused on this to ensure that we identify and implement changes prior to the next tax filing season," Werfel stated in a May 15, 2023, letter to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-Ore.).
The issue of racial disparities was raised during Werfel’s confirmation hearing an in subsequent hearings before Congress after taking over as commissioner in the wake of a study issued by Stanford University that found that African American taxpayers are audited at three to five times the rate of other taxpayers.
The IRS "is committed to enforcing tax laws in a manner that is fair and impartial," Werfel wrote in the letter. "When evidence of unfair treatment is presented, we must take immediate actions to address it."
He emphasized that the agency does not and "will not consider race as part of our case selection and audit processes."
He noted that the Stanford study suggested that the audits were triggered by taxpayers claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit.
"We are deeply concerned by these findings and committed to doing the work to understand and address any disparate impact of the actions we take," he wrote, adding that the agency has been studying the issue since he has taken over as commissioner and that the work is ongoing. Werfel suggested that initial findings of IRS research into the issue "support the conclusion that Black taxpayers may be audited at higher rates than would be expected given their share of the population."
Werfel added that elements in the Inflation Reduction Act Strategic Operating Plan include commitments to "conducting research to understand any systemic bias in compliance strategies and treatment. … The ongoing evaluation of our EITC audit selection algorithms is the topmost priority within this larger body of work, and we are committed to transparency regarding our research findings as the work matures."
By Gregory Twachtman, Washington News Editor
The American Institute of CPAs expressed support for legislation pending in the Senate that would redefine when electronic payments to the Internal Revenue Service are considered timely.
The American Institute of CPAs expressed support for legislation pending in the Senate that would redefine when electronic payments to the Internal Revenue Service are considered timely.
In a May 3, 2023, letter to Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) and Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), the AICPA applauded the legislators for The Electronic Communication Uniformity Act (S. 1338), which would treat electronic payments made to the IRS as timely at the point they are submitted, not at the point they are processed, which is how they are currently treated. The move would make the treatment similar to physically mailed payments, which are considered timely based on the post mark indicating when they are mailed, not when the payment physically arrives at the IRS or when the agency processes it.
S. 1338 was introduced by Sen. Blackburn on April 27, 2023. At press time, Sen. Cortez Masto is the only co-sponsor to the bill.
The bill adopts a recommendation included by the National Taxpayer Advocate in the annual so-called "Purple Book" of legislative recommendations made to Congress by the NTA. The Purple Book notes that IRS does not have the authority to apply the mailbox rule to electronic payments and it would need an act of Congress to make the change.
"Your bill would provide welcome relief and solve a problem that taxpayers have been faced with, i.e., incurring penalties through no fault of their own because they believed their filings or payments were timely submitted through an electronic platform," the AICPA letter states. This legislation would provide equity by treating similarly situated taxpayers similarly. It would also improve tax administration by eliminating IRS notices assessing unnecessary penalties when the taxpayer or practitioner electronically submits a tax return by the deadline regardless of when the IRS processes it.
Tax policy and comment letters submitted to the government can be found here.
By Gregory Twachtman, Washington News Editor
WASHINGTON—The Inflation Reduction Act Strategic Operating Plan was designed to be a living document, an Internal Revenue Service official said.
The plan, which outlines how the IRS plans to spend the additional nearly $80 billion in supplemental funds allocated to it in the Inflation Reduction Act, was written to be a "living document. It’s not meant to be something static that stays on the shelf and never gets updated, and just becomes an historic relic," Bridget Roberts, head of the IRS Transformation and Strategy Office, said May 5, 2023, at the ABA May Tax Meeting.
WASHINGTON—The Inflation Reduction Act Strategic Operating Plan was designed to be a living document, an Internal Revenue Service official said.
The plan, which outlines how the IRS plans to spend the additional nearly $80 billion in supplemental funds allocated to it in the Inflation Reduction Act, was written to be a "living document. It’s not meant to be something static that stays on the shelf and never gets updated, and just becomes an historic relic," Bridget Roberts, head of the IRS Transformation and Strategy Office, said May 5, 2023, at the ABA May Tax Meeting.
Roberts also described the plan as a tool to help bring the agency together and more unified in its mission.
"We intentionally wrote the plan to sort of break down some of those institutional silos," she said. "So, we didn’t write it based on business unit or function."
She framed the development of the plan a "cross-functional, cross-agency effort," adding that it "wasn’t like, ‘here’s how we’re going to change wage and investment or large business.’ It was, ‘here’s how we’re going to change service and enforcement and technology. And those pieces touch everything."
Roberts also highlighted the need for better data analytics across the agency, something that the SOP emphasizes particularly as it beings to ramp up enforcement activities to help close the tax gap.
"We are never going to be able to hire at a level that you can audit everybody," she said. "So, the ability to use data and analytics to really focus our resources on where we think there is true noncompliance," rather than conducting audits that result in no changes. "That’s not helpful for taxpayers. That’s not helpful for the IRS."
By Gregory Twachtman, Washington News Editor
The IRS Independent Office of Appeals, in coordination with the National Taxpayer Advocate, has invited public feedback on how it can improve conference options for taxpayers and representatives who are not located near an Appeals office, encourage participation of taxpayers with limited English proficiency and ensure accessibility by persons with disabilities. Taxpayers can send their comments to ap.taxpayer.experience@irs.gov by July 10, 2023.
The IRS Independent Office of Appeals, in coordination with the National Taxpayer Advocate, has invited public feedback on how it can improve conference options for taxpayers and representatives who are not located near an Appeals office, encourage participation of taxpayers with limited English proficiency and ensure accessibility by persons with disabilities. Taxpayers can send their comments to ap.taxpayer.experience@irs.gov by July 10, 2023.
Appeals resolve federal tax disputes through conferences, wherein an appeals officer will engage with taxpayers in a way that is fair and impartial to taxpayers as well as the government to discuss potential settlements. Additionally, taxpayers can resolve their disputes by mail or secure messaging. Although, conferences are offered by telephone, video, the mode of meeting with Appeals is completely decided by the taxpayer. Recently, appeals expanded access to video conferencing to meet taxpayer needs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, taxpayers and representatives who prefer to meet with Appeals in person have the option to do so as, appeals has a presence in over 60 offices across 40 states where they can host in-person conferences.