News

As the year draws to a close, practitioners have an opportunity to reach out to clients and discuss possible financial steps. The following highlights some of the more important year-end considerations.

The IRS is conducting a phone survey to help it improve services to tax professionals and their clients.

On Cyber Monday, the Internal Revenue Service, state tax agencies and the nation's tax industry – working together as the Security Summit – kicked-off the 8th National Tax Security Awareness Week with tips for taxpayers and tax professionals to avoid scams and protect sensitive personal information.

Following feedback from taxpayers, tax professionals and payment processors and to reduce taxpayer confusion, the Internal Revenue Service today released Notice 2023-74PDF announcing a delay of the new $600 Form 1099-K reporting threshold for third party settlement organizations for calendar year 2023.

My first thought for a 10th anniversary column was to describe the changes in the last 10 years. A second reaction was to recall my greatest columns. I then realized that looking back or even at the present were exercises in vanity and would not provide any takeaways. To be successful you need to look to the future and be anxious to adopt the changes that are quickly occurring.

The IRS definition of "broker" in its proposed regulations for digital asset reporting under Sec. 6045 (REG-122793-19) stretches the statutory definition "beyond the breaking point" and adds to security and privacy concerns, crypto industry advocates told the IRS in a public hearing.

The American Institute of CPAs is rolling out some changes in its tax standards that will take effect in January.

The Internal Revenue Service's decision to destroy around 30 million unprocessed paper information returns to reduce its backlog during the pandemic probably had little effect on taxpayers, according to a new report.

As part of ongoing efforts to protect taxpayers, the Internal Revenue Service reminds people that International Fraud Awareness Week serves as an important time to protect personal and financial information from scam artists and tax schemes.

With the nation's tax season rapidly approaching, the Internal Revenue Service reminds taxpayers there are important steps they can take now to help "get ready" to file their 2023 federal tax return.

Lots of businesses have claimed the Employee Retention Credit who don't actually qualify for it — and in many cases it's going to be up to their accountants to set them right. Randy Crabtree of Tri-Merit Tax Specialty Tax Professionals and the Unique CPA podcast dives into how you can know if a client qualifies, as well as the intricacies of some other major tax credits.

The Internal Revenue Service is once again extending for another year the transition period during which taxpayers have 45 days to perfect a research credit claim for refund before the IRS makes its final decision about the claim. They will now have through Jan. 10, 2025, to perfect the claim.

The Internal Revenue Service announced today that sellers of clean vehicles can now register using the new IRS Energy Credits Online tool, available free from the IRS. Known as IRS Energy Credits Online or IRS ECO, this free electronic service is secure, accurate and requires no special software. Though available to any business of any size, IRS Energy Credit Online may be especially helpful to any small business that currently sells clean vehicles.

On Oct. 12, 2023, the Internal Revenue Service released the long-awaited, updated tax gap estimates. The tax gap measures how much the U.S. Treasury loses annually due to taxpayer non-compliance.

The Internal Revenue Service today reminded the nearly 800,000 active tax return preparers that they can take the first step in their filing season readiness by renewing their Preparer Tax Identification Numbers (PTINs) now.

The Internal Revenue Service is trying to deal with a series of challenges that the billions in additional funding from the Inflation Reduction Act will help alleviate, but not completely address.

The IRS will continue its pursuit of money owed to the U.S. government by sending letters to about 150 U.S. subsidiaries of foreign corporations, reminding them of their tax obligations; initiating audits of 60 large corporations; and proceeding with its investigations of high-wealth individuals who do not pay their taxes, IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said Thursday.

Following a dramatically improved 2023 filing season thanks to Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) investments, the Internal Revenue Service has targeted IRA resources on strengthening enforcement, with announcements on new initiatives to pursue high-income, high-wealth individuals who do not pay overdue tax bills and complex partnerships.

As part of a larger effort to protect small businesses and organizations from scams, the Internal Revenue Service today announced the details of a special withdrawal process to help those who filed an Employee Retention Credit (ERC) claim and are concerned about its accuracy.

The projected gross tax gap jumped to $601 billion in tax year 2020 and $688 billion in tax year 2021, the IRS said in Publication 5869, released last week, adding that the figures do not cover areas such as corporate income tax and noncompliance with pandemic credit rules.