The Treasury Department's Office of Payment Integrity (OPI) deployed Artificial Intelligence(AI)-based fraud detection at the onset of Fiscal Year 2023, resulting in the recovery of over $375 ...
The IRS announced that compliance efforts around erroneous Employee Retention Credit (ERC) claims have topped more than $1 billion within six months. "We are encouraged by the results so fa...
The IRS has announced the federal income tax treatment of certain lead service line replacement programs for residential property owners. It is required by the federal and many state governmen...
The IRS has released guidance to help taxpayers understand what to do with Form 1099-K. Responding to feedback from taxpayers, tax professionals and payment processors, the agency had announced b...
The IRS has provided a waiver for any individual who failed to meet the foreign earned income or deduction eligibility requirements of Code Sec. 911(d)(1) because adverse conditions in a f...
Following the recent bridge collapse, Maryland says it will waive IFTA licensing/decal requirements for motor carriers hauling freight to or from a seaport until at least May 31. New license registrat...
For Pennsylvania property tax purposes, the Commonwealth Court reversed the trial court’s order overruling the taxpayers’ objections to the upset tax sale because the County Tax Claim Bureau (Bure...
West Virginia enacted legislation that provides a personal income tax exemption to private trust companies licensed in the state. A private trust company is a corporation or limited liability company ...
First, these few items need to be clarified.
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Basically, the ACA and the state exchanges (aka: marketplaces) are modeled after the health insurance program created in Massachusetts.
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ACA’s purpose is to make available affordable health insurance to 32 million uninsured citizens and legal residents.
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If you already have insurance (Blue Cross, Kaiser, Medicare, etc.), the ACA individual mandate is not aimed at you.
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The cost of medical insurance will increase for some people because ACA requires all 2014 health insurance policies to cover more items than were covered in prior year policies.
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It will take another two to three years for the details and complications of the ACA to work themselves out. We have just begun.
Considerations for 2013
Health Insurance Marketplaces (Mostly) Open for Business. On October 1, 2013, 15 states opened their insurance marketplaces. The federal government opened (with lots of problems) a marketplace, www.healthcare.gov, for the remaining 35 states. These Marketplaces have two primary purposes:
1. Provide a place where consumers can comparison shop for health insurance, in a similar way that an employee of a large employer can select from a menu of policies with different coverages and different out-of-pocket costs.
2. If insurance is unaffordable, the Marketplace provides “a premium assistance credit’ for some applicants that helps to pay health insurance premiums. A premium assistance credit is available
for those with household income below 400% of the federal poverty level. A single person with household income below $45,960 may qualify for help with his or her premiums if insurance is purchased at the Marketplace. A family of four with household income below $94,200 may qualify for help with their premiums if insurance is purchased at the Marketplace.
Important! Most of Us Do Not Need to Go to a Marketplace to Shop or Buy Health Insurance. If you have an insurance agent, he or she can shop for you. If your income exceeds the levels described above, you will get no premium assistance credit and thus can continue to buy your health insurance from your agent or insurance company.
Some People May Need a New Insurance Policy. ACA requires all 2014 insurance policies to provide minimum essential coverage, a term that means better and expanded coverage for a variety of enumerated items. Because of this requirement, many old policies were cancelled. The Marketplace or your insurance agent can help with finding a new policy. Remember one of the significant changes included in ACA is that insurance companies cannot refuse to provide you insurance because of preexisting conditions. This change will make it easier to get insurance for many. An individual covered by Medicare has a qualifying policy. There is no need to contact the Marketplace.
A New Net Investment Income tax is Part of ACA. Beginning in 2013 for taxpayers who have adjusted gross income of more than $200,000 single or $250,000 joint, there is a new 3.8% Net Investment Income tax on net investment income. Briefly, net investment income includes interest, dividends, capital gains, rents and passive income. It does not include active trade or business income, municipal bond income or pension distributions. If you want to know more about the Net Investment Income tax and how much it might cost you in additional tax, please call.
Looking ahead to 2014 and 2015
Individual Shared Responsibility Payment: Starting after March 31, 2014 (delayed from January 1, 2014), individuals who do not have affordable medical insurance coverage will be penalized. For 2014, the annual penalty for an uninsured person, who is not otherwise exempt, is the greater of $95 or 1% of household income. In 2015, the annual penalty is $325 or 2% of household income. In 2016, the annual penalty is $695 or 2 ½% of household income. The penalty is calculated and paid on your personal income tax return. A reconciliation is required on the return for any premium assistance credit paid by the Marketplace to your insurance company.
Employer Mandate: Starting January 1, 2015, businesses with 50 or more employees (FTEs) must offer an affordable health plan that meets the requirements of ACA to its full-time employees. Many details and definitions apply. If your business has 50 or more employees we must schedule time to meet and plan for the implementation of the ACA employer mandate.
Changes Are Still Coming. Every day, it seems, there is news about changes, challenges and delays to the implementation of ACA. Those will continue for months to come. We’ll update you as changes occur.
This is just a quick summary and I’m sure it brings to mind many questions, please call and we’ll try to help.
Regards,
Maloney & Associates, P.L.L.C.
President Biden support extending the individual tax provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, many of which are set to expire next year, Department of the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.
President Biden support extending the individual tax provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, many of which are set to expire next year, Department of the Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said.
"The President has made it clear that he would oppose raising back the taxes for working people and families making under $400,000," Secretary Yellen testified before the Senate Finance Committee during a March 21, 2024, hearing to review the White House fiscal year 2025 budget proposal.
She then affirmed that "he would" support extending the individual tax provisions of the TCJA when asked by committee Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), who noted that the budget did not make any mention of this.
Yellen defended the fiscal 2025 budget request against assertions that taxes will indeed go up for those making under $400,000, contrary to President Biden’s promise, because the taxes that are targeted to wealthy corporations to ensure they are paying their fair share will ultimately be passed down to their consumers in the form of higher prices and lower wages.
"I think what the impact when you change taxes on corporations, what the impact is on families involves a lot of channels that are speculative," Yellen said. "They are included in models that sometimes the Treasury used for the purposes of analysis, in a tax that is levied on corporations, that has no obvious direct effect on households."
The proposed budget would increase the corporate minimum tax from the current 15 percent to 21 percent, as well as raise the tax rate on U.S. multinationals’ foreign earnings from the current 10.5 percent to 21 percent. The current corporate tax rate would climb to 28 percent and the budget would eliminate tax breaks for million-dollar executive compensation. It would also increase the tax rate on corporate stock buybacks from 1 percent to 4 percent, among other business-related tax provisions.
By Gregory Twachtman, Washington News Editor
Corporations and billionaires will be paying more in taxes if Congress follows recommendations President Biden gave during his State of the Union address.
Corporations and billionaires will be paying more in taxes if Congress follows recommendations President Biden gave during his State of the Union address.
President Biden highlighted a number of initiatives during the March 7, 2024, address. For corporations, he said that it is "time to raise the corporate minimum tax to at least 21 percent."
"Remember in 2020, 55 of the biggest companies in America made $40 billion and paid zero in federal income taxes," President Biden said. "Zero. Not anymore. Thanks to the law I wrote [and] we signed, big companies have to pay minimum 15 percent. But that’s still less than working people paid federal taxes."
Additionally, he alluded to further recommendations that will likely be included when the administration released its budget proposal, expected as early as the week of March 11, 2024. This includes limiting tax breaks related to corporate and private jets and capping deductions on certain employees at $1 million.
For billionaires, President Biden is looking to increase their tax rate to 25 percent.
"You know what the average federal taxes for those billionaires [is]?" he asked. “"They’re making great sacrifices. 8.2 percent. That’s far less than the vast majority of Americans pay. No billionaire should pay a lower federal tax rate than a teacher or a sanitation worker or nurse."”
President Biden said this proposal would raise $500 billion over the next 10 years and suggested some of that additional tax money would help strengthen Social Security so that there would be no need to cut benefits or raise the retirement age to extend the life of the Social Security program.
The IRS has launched a new initiative to improve tax compliance among high-income taxpayers who have not filed federal income tax returns since 2017.
The IRS has launched a new initiative to improve tax compliance among high-income taxpayers who have not filed federal income tax returns since 2017. This effort, funded by the Inflation Reduction Act, involves sending out IRS compliance letters to over 125,000 cases where tax returns have not been filed since 2017. These mailings include more than 25,000 to individuals with incomes exceeding $1 million and over 100,000 to those with incomes ranging between $400,000 and $1 million for the tax years 2017 to 2021. The IRS will begin mailing these compliance alerts, formally known as the CP59 Notice, this week.
Recipients of these letters should act promptly to prevent further notices, increased penalties, and stronger enforcement actions. Consulting a tax professional can help them swiftly file late tax returns and settle outstanding taxes, interest, and penalties. The failure-to-file penalty is 5 percent per month, capped at 25 percent of the tax owed. Additional resources are available on the IRS website for non-filers.
The non-filer initiative is part of the IRS's broader campaign to ensure large corporations, partnerships, and high-income individuals fulfill their tax obligations. Non-respondents to the non-filer letter will face further notices and enforcement actions. If someone consistently ignores these notices, the IRS may file a substitute tax return on their behalf. However, it's still advisable for the individual to file their own return to claim eligible exemptions, credits, and deductions.
An individual’s claim for innocent spouse relief was rejected for lack of jurisdiction because the taxpayer failed to file his petition within the 90-day deadline under Code Sec. 6015(e)(1)(A).
An individual’s claim for innocent spouse relief was rejected for lack of jurisdiction because the taxpayer failed to file his petition within the 90-day deadline under Code Sec. 6015(e)(1)(A). The taxpayer argued that the deadline to file a petition for a denial of innocent spouse relief was not jurisdictional and asked that the Tax Court hear his case on equitable grounds. However, the Tax Court noted that a filing deadline is jurisdictional if Congress clearly states that it is. The IRS argued that argues that the 90-day filing deadline of Code Sec. 6015(e)(1)(A) was jurisdictional because Congress clearly stated that it was and the Supreme Court’s decision in Boechler, P.C. v. Commissioner, 142 S. Ct. 1493, in addition to numerous appellate cases, supported this argument.
The Tax Court examined the "text, context, and relevant historical treatment" of the provision at issue and concluded that the 90-day filing deadline of Code Sec. 6015(e)(1)(A) was jurisdictional. On the basis of statutory interpretation principles, the jurisdictional parenthetical in Code Sec. 6015(e)(1)(A) was unambiguous. It did not contain any ambiguous terms and there was a clear link between the jurisdictional parenthetical and the filing deadline. Specifically, Code Sec. 6015(e)(1)(A) is a provision that solely sets forth deadlines. Further, it was unclear what weight, if any, should be given to the equitable nature of Code Sec. 6015. The statutory context arguments were not strong enough to overcome the statutory text. Accordingly, the Tax Court ruled that the 90-day filing deadline in Code Sec. 6015(e)(1)(A) was jurisdictional.
P.A. Frutiger, 162 TC —, No. 5, Dec. 62,432
The IRS has continued to increase the amount of information available in multiple languages. This was part of the IRS transformation work under the Strategic Operating Plan, made possible by additional resources provided by the Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169).
The IRS has continued to increase the amount of information available in multiple languages. This was part of the IRS transformation work under the Strategic Operating Plan, made possible by additional resources provided by the Inflation Reduction Act (P.L. 117-169). On IRS.gov, taxpayers can select their preferred language from the dropdown menu at the top of the page, including Spanish, Vietnamese, Russian, Korean, Haitian Creole, Traditional Chinese and Simplified Chinese. Additionally, the Languages page gives taxpayers information in 21 languages on key topics such as "Your Rights as a Taxpayer" and "Who Needs to File."
"The IRS is committed to making further improvements for taxpayers in a wide range of areas, including expanding options available to taxpayers in multiple languages," said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. "Understanding taxes can be challenging enough, so it’s important for the IRS to put a variety of information on IRS.gov and other materials into the language a taxpayer knows best. This is part of the larger effort by the IRS to make taxes easier for all taxpayers," he added.
If taxpayers cannot find the answers to their tax questions on IRS.gov, they can call the IRS or get in-person help at an IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center. Finally, hundreds of IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) programs have access to Over the Phone Interpreter services. VITA and TCE offer free basic tax return preparation to qualified individuals.
The IRS has granted to withholding agents an administrative exemption from the electronic filing requirements for Form 1042, Annual Withholding Tax Return for U.S. Source Income of Foreign Persons.
The IRS has granted to withholding agents an administrative exemption from the electronic filing requirements for Form 1042, Annual Withholding Tax Return for U.S. Source Income of Foreign Persons. Under the exemption:
- withholding agents (both U.S. and foreign persons) are not required to file Forms 1042 electronically during calendar year 2024; and
- withholding agents that are foreign persons are not required to file Forms 1042 electronically during calendar year 2025.
The exemption is automatic, so withholding agents do not need to file an electronic filing waiver request to use the exemption.
Electronic Filing of Form 1042
Under Code Sec. 6011(e), the IRS must prescribe regulations with standards for determining which federal tax returns must be filed electronically. In 2023, final regulations were published to implement amendments to Code Sec. 6011(e) that lowered the threshold number of returns for required electronic filing of certain returns. The regulations included requirements for filing Form 1042 electronically.
The final regulations provide that:
- a withholding agent (but not an individual, estate,or trust) must electronically file Form 1042 if the agent is required to file 10 or more returns of any type during the same calendar year in which Form 1042 is required to be filed;
- a withholding agent that is a partnership with more than 100 partners must electronically file Form 1042 regardless of the number of returns the partnership is required to file during the calendar year; and
- a withholding agent that is a financial institution must electronically file Form 1042 without regard to the number of returns it is required to file during the calendar year.
The final regulations apply to Forms 1042 required to be filed for tax years ending on or after December 31, 2023. This means that withholding agents must apply the new electronic filing requirements beginning with Forms 1042 due on or after March 15, 2024.
Challenges to Withholding Agents
Since the final regulations were published, the IRS received feedback from withholding agents noting challenges in transitioning to the procedures needed for filing Forms 1042 electronically. Withholding agents expressed concerns about the limited number of Approved IRS Modernized e-File Business Providers for Form 1042, and difficulties accessing the schema and business rules for filing Form 1042 electronically. Withholding agents that do not rely on modernized e-file business providers said that they needed more time to upgrade their systems for filing on the IRS’s Modernized e-File platform. Agents also noted challenges specific to foreign persons filing Forms 1042 regarding the authentication requirements necessary for accessing the platform.
In response to these concerns, the IRS used its power under the regulations to provide the exemption from the electronic filing requirement for Form 1042, in the interest of effective and efficient tax administration.