The IRS expects to issue guidance on the Code Sec. 199A passthrough deduction in July, Acting IRS Commissioner David Kautter has said. Kautter outlined the timeline of various guidance proposals at the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Taxation May Meeting in Washington, D.C.
The IRS expects to issue guidance on the Code Sec. 199A passthrough deduction in July, Acting IRS Commissioner David Kautter has said. Kautter outlined the timeline of various guidance proposals at the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Taxation May Meeting in Washington, D.C.
Proposed Guidance
More specifically, the proposed guidance on the passthrough deduction is expected to be released by the end of July, an IRS spokesperson told Wolters Kluwer on May 15. "The goal of the guidance is to get things out that are complete," the IRS spokesperson said, reiterating Kautter. "But, it will not cover every question that taxpayers have," the spokesperson added.
Passthrough Deduction
The new passthrough deduction was enacted under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) ( P.L. 115-97) last December. The new law provides a 20-percent deduction for income from passthrough entities. The deduction is limited by certain controversial factors including business activities, wages paid by the business, and property values.
Questions Expected
Generally, Kautter anticipates initial follow-up questions from taxpayers and practitioners after the proposed guidance is released, the IRS spokesperson told Wolters Kluwer. Kautter has said that it would be better to get the guidance out in "fairly good shape," to allow for public comment and input, rather than taking more time to draft the guidance internally, according to several reports. Kautter has reportedly said that not everyone may agree with that approach, but that a "better product" will likely be created because of it.
Congressional lawmakers on Capitol Hill continue to focus on tax reform. Republicans and Democrats alike have been discussing the effects of tax reform, albeit reaching different conclusions.
Congressional lawmakers on Capitol Hill continue to focus on tax reform. Republicans and Democrats alike have been discussing the effects of tax reform, albeit reaching different conclusions.
Tax Reform Hearings
The Ways and Means Committee held a hearing during the week of May 14, marking the first in a series of upcoming committee hearings on tax reform. The Ways and Means hearings are each expected to examine the effects of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) ( P.L. 115-97).
Small Businesses. Ways and Means Tax Policy Subcommittee Chairman Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., has announced the second tax reform hearing in the series is scheduled for May 23. The subcommittee hearing is expected to focus on the TCJA’s impact on small businesses.
Senate. The Senate Finance Committee (SFC) examined early impressions of the TCJA in a hearing last month. SFC Chairman Hatch, R-Utah has indicated to Wolters Kluwer that he is also currently examining House proposals to reform the IRS.
TCJA Criticism
Meanwhile, Ways and Means Democrats remain united in their opposition against the new tax law. Ranking member Richard Neal, D-Mass., released a Democratic Progress Report which details areas in which Democrats believe the TCJA has fallen short.
The Republican tax law has not put the middle class first or provided relief for small businesses, the progress report notes. Rather, it has provided large " tax cuts to big corporations and wealthy executives," the report added.
Additionally, Democrats have criticized the TCJA for significantly adding to the federal deficit. Neal called the new law "fiscally irresponsible,"during a Ways and Means hearing held during the week of May 14.
However, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., called Democratic tax policy ideas and criticisms of the TCJA "bizarre," during a May 17 press briefing. Democrats are in "denial" about the "thriving economy," according to Ryan.
"If you saw yesterday’s Ways and Means hearing, Democrats are still using the same old doom-and-gloom talk that they were using six months ago," Ryan said. "It was bizarre before, and it is even more bizarre now, when Democrats are openly calling for tax increases, which will do nothing but harm our economy," he added.
To that end, several House Democrats have called for raising the corporate tax rate, including certain Ways and Means members during the full committee hearing. Under the TCJA, the corporate tax rate was lowered from 35 to 21 percent.
Senate
Likewise, Senate Democrats across the Capitol have proposed raising the corporate tax rate to 25 percent. Additionally, in a proposal released by Senate Democrats in March, the top individual tax rate would be reinstated to 39.6 percent. Under the TCJA, the top individual tax rate was lowered to 37 percent. These tax rate increases would pay for a $1 trillion infrastructure plan, according to the Democratic proposal.
Ways and Means Open Seat
In related news, Rep. Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, may be eyeing a seat in the House’s tax writing committee. The House Steering Committee has recommended Wenstrup to serve as a member of the Ways and Means Committee. Wenstrup is a doctor, war veteran, and small business owner. He would replace Rep. Patrick Meehan, R-Pa., who resigned last month.
The IRS’s "Achilles’ heel" is using outdated software originating from the 1960s, Acting IRS Commissioner David Kautter told Senate lawmakers. Kautter and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testified in a May 22 Senate Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee hearing.
The IRS’s "Achilles’ heel" is using outdated software originating from the 1960s, Acting IRS Commissioner David Kautter told Senate lawmakers. Kautter and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin testified in a May 22 Senate Appropriations Financial Services and General Government Subcommittee hearing.
System Shut Down
2.3 million cyber attacks are launched against the IRS each day, one million of which are sophisticated, Kautter told Senate appropriators. Kautter and Mnuchin testified before the Subcommittee on the Trump Administration’s fiscal year (FY) 2019 Treasury and IRS budget request.
Underscoring the numerous cyber threats against the IRS is its antiquated technology systems currently in use, Kautter said. "59 percent of IRS hardware and 32 percent of IRS software is obsolete," Kautter told Senate appropriators.
Tax Day Glitch. However, the outdated technology at the IRS was not the cause of the partial system shut down that occurred this year on Tax Day, April 17. For eleven hours, certain taxpayers were unable to electronically submit payments through the IRS’s Direct Pay feature. The particular hardware that failed on Tax Day, however, is only a year-and-a-half old, Kautter said.
Five-Year Plan
The IRS and Treasury are currently crafting a new five-year plan to update the IRS’s information technology (IT) systems, both Kautter and Mnuchin testified. A preliminary draft of the plan is expected within 90 days, Mnuchin said.
"The IRS has not done a good job in the past with regard to its technology dollars," Kautter said. However, the leadership team at the IRS is new, energetic, and knowledgeable, and will thus render a different result, he added.
Tax Reform
Technology is the most time consuming and expensive aspect of tax reform implementation, according to Kautter. Additionally, Kautter expects that guidance on all major aspects of tax reform under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) ( P.L. 115-97) will be out by fall. Recently, Kautter said that proposed guidance on the Code Sec. 199A pass-through deduction will be released in July.
Tax Gap
"In 2016, IRS estimated that the average annual gross tax gap—the difference between taxes owed and taxes paid on time—was $458 billion for tax years 2008-2010," Subcommittee Chairman James Lankford, R-Okla. said during his opening statement. However, the tax gap is most attributable to the "cash" economy, Kautter told lawmakers.
"An individual taxpayer making more than $1 million a year is seven times more likely to be audited than a taxpayer making under $200,000 a year," Kautter said. "The problems with the tax gap tend to be in the cash economy."
Budget
The Trump Administration’s FY 2019 budget request proposes a total of $12.3 billion for Treasury’s operations and bureaus. The budget request proposes $11.135 billion in IRS funding. This figure for the IRS includes "savings and reductions" of $24.5 million compared to the FY 2018 enacted levels, according to Kautter.
The FY 2019 budget request allocates IRS funding for the following:
- taxpayer services: $2.24 billion;
- operations support: $4.16 billion;
- enforcement: $4.63 billion; and
- business systems modernization: $110 million.
The Treasury Department and the IRS, along with the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services, issued a notice of clarification to more thoroughly explain their decision not to adopt recommendations made by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and certain other commenters regarding T.D. 9744. The challenged regulations govern the coverage of emergency services by group health plans and health insurance issuers under the ACA’s copayment and coinsurance limitations.
The Treasury Department and the IRS, along with the Department of Labor and the Department of Health and Human Services, issued a notice of clarification to more thoroughly explain their decision not to adopt recommendations made by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) and certain other commenters regarding T.D. 9744. The challenged regulations govern the coverage of emergency services by group health plans and health insurance issuers under the ACA’s copayment and coinsurance limitations.
The ACEP had sued the federal government over the final regulations, which were issued in 2015 under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) ( P.L. 111-148). Among other things, ACEP argued that the federal government did not adequately respond to their public comments regarding the regulations. On August 31, 2017, the court sent the matter back to the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and Treasury to respond to the public comments from ACEP.
Greatest of Three Regulations
Under T.D. 9744, a plan or issuer satisfies the copayment and coinsurance limitations in the statute if it provides benefits for out-of-network emergency services in an amount equal to the greatest of three possible amounts:
- the amount negotiated with in-network providers for the emergency service furnished;
- the amount for the emergency service calculated using the same method the plan generally uses to determine payments for out-of-network services (such as the usual, customary, and reasonable charges), but substituting the in-network cost-sharing provisions for the out-of-network cost sharing provisions; or
- the amount that would be paid under Medicare for the emergency service.
Each of these amounts is calculated excluding any in-network copayment or coinsurance imposed with respect to the participant, beneficiary, or enrollee. This is sometimes referred to as the "Greatest of Three" or the "GOT" regulation because it sets a floor on the amount that nongrandfathered group health plans, and health insurance issuers offering nongrandfathered group or individual health insurance coverage, are required to pay for out-of-network emergency services under this provision at the greatest of the three listed amounts.
Clarification of Regulations
In their clarification, the departments state that the regulations provide a reasonable and transparent methodology to determine appropriate payments by nongrandfathered group health plans and health insurance issuers offering nongrandfathered group or individual health insurance coverage for out-of-network emergency services. In addition, the departments maintain that ACEP and other commenters did not provide adequate information to support their assertion that the methods used for determining the minimum payment for out-of-network emergency services under the GOT regulation are not sufficiently transparent or reasonable.
The IRS has issued a new five-year strategic plan to guide its programs and operations and to help meet the changing needs of taxpayers and members of the tax community. "Providing service to taxpayers is a vital part of the IRS mission and the new Strategic Plan lays out a vision of ways to help improve our tax system," remarked IRS Acting Commissioner David Kautter.
The IRS has issued a new five-year strategic plan to guide its programs and operations and to help meet the changing needs of taxpayers and members of the tax community. "Providing service to taxpayers is a vital part of the IRS mission and the new Strategic Plan lays out a vision of ways to help improve our tax system," remarked IRS Acting Commissioner David Kautter.
The Fiscal Year 2018-2022 IRS Strategic Plan focuses on six goals aimed at improving customer service:
- empowering and enabling all taxpayers to meet their tax obligations;
- protecting the integrity of the tax system by encouraging compliance through administering and enforcing the tax code;
- proactively collaborating with external partners to improve tax administration;
- cultivating a well-equipped, diverse, flexible and engaged workforce;
- advancing data access, usability and analytics to inform decision-making and improve operational outcomes; and
- driving increased agility, efficiency, effectiveness and security in IRS operations.
The Service further urged taxpayers to be aware of their fundamental rights under the Taxpayer Bill of Rights when dealing with the IRS.
The IRS Large Business and International (LB&I) Division has identified and selected six additional compliance campaigns. The IRS previously announced 13 campaigns on January 31, 2017, followed by an additional 11 on November 3, 2017, and five more on March 13, 2018. These campaigns help LB&I move in the direction of issue-based examinations. In addition, a compliance campaign process helps the organization decide which compliance issues present risks and the best way to respond to such risks.
The IRS Large Business and International (LB&I) Division has identified and selected six additional compliance campaigns. The IRS previously announced 13 campaigns on January 31, 2017, followed by an additional 11 on November 3, 2017, and five more on March 13, 2018. These campaigns help LB&I move in the direction of issue-based examinations. In addition, a compliance campaign process helps the organization decide which compliance issues present risks and the best way to respond to such risks.
The additional campaigns were identified through LB&I data analysis, and suggestions from IRS employees. LB&I’s goal is to improve return selection, identify issues representing a risk of noncompliance, and make the greatest use of limited resources.
The six campaigns selected for the rollout are:
- Interest Capitalization for Self-Constructed Assets;
- F3520/3520-A Non-Compliance and Campus Assessed Penalties;
- Forms 1042/1042-S Compliance;
- Nonresident Alien Tax Treaty Exemptions;
- Nonresident Alien Schedule A and Other Deductions; and
- NRA Tax Credits.
The campaigns themselves fall within the Withholding & International Individual Compliance practice area.
The IRS intends to provide guidance on the new information reporting obligations for certain life insurance contract transactions under Code Sec. 6050Y. The proposed regulations will provide guidance on the modifications to the transfer for valuable consideration rules for life insurance contracts under Code Sec. 101(a). In addition, the IRS has delayed the reporting requirements under Code Sec. 6050Y until the final regulations are issued.
The IRS intends to provide guidance on the new information reporting obligations for certain life insurance contract transactions under Code Sec. 6050Y. The proposed regulations will provide guidance on the modifications to the transfer for valuable consideration rules for life insurance contracts under Code Sec. 101(a). In addition, the IRS has delayed the reporting requirements under Code Sec. 6050Y until the final regulations are issued.
Transfers for Value Rules
For transfers after December 31, 2017, the exceptions to the transfer for value rules do not apply to the transfer of a life insurance contract, or any interest in such a contract, that is a reportable policy sale. Thus, some portion of the death benefit ultimately payable under the contract may be includable in income. A "reportable policy sale" means the acquisition of an interest in a life insurance contract, directly or indirectly, if the acquirer has no substantial family, business, or financial relationship with the insured apart from the acquirer’s interest in the life insurance contract. A "reportable death benefit" is an amount paid at the death of the insured under a life insurance contract that was transferred in a reportable policy sale.
Reporting Requirements Delayed
The new reporting requirements of Code Sec. 6050Y apply to reportable death benefits paid and reportable policy sales made after December 31, 2017. However, the transition guidance delays any reporting under Code Sec. 6050Y until final regulations are issued.
Under Code Sec. 6050Y, information returns must be filed in the following situations:
- By anyone who acquires a life insurance contract, or any interest in a life insurance contract, in a reportable policy sale;
- By an issuer of a life insurance contract upon notice of a transaction required to be reported above, or upon any notice of a transfer of a life insurance contract, or any interest in a life insurance contract, to a foreign person; and
- By any payor of reportable death benefits.
Proposed Regulations
The proposed regulations will describe the manner by which and time at which the reporting requirements of Code Sec. 6050Y must be satisfied. They will also clarify which parties are subject to the reporting requirements and other definitional issues. For example, Treasury and the IRS intend to define the term "reportable policy sale" in the proposed regulations to include a viatical settlement. In addition, the proposed regulations will clarify the extent to which Code Sec. 6050Y applies to sales or acquisitions effected by transferors and transferees outside the United States, and to sellers and issuers that are foreign persons for purposes of these reporting rules.
The IRS is requesting public comment on the intended proposed regulations implementing these reporting requirements.
Holiday Newsletter Update for 2018 Filing Season
Dear Clients and Friends,
Seasons Greetings from the Beverly and Bucker family! We hope the holidays find you in good health and spirits. Speaking of seasons, tax season is rapidly approaching! We’ve had a few changes around our office and we’d like to update you.
First, I would like to introduce myself to any clients that I have not had the opportunity to meet. My name is Ryan Beverly and I am the new President / General Manager. I have worked at Beverly and Bucker for 20 years and have experience in every department of this company. I am an enrolled agent, meaning I am a federally-authorized tax practitioner who has technical expertise in the field of taxation. I look forward to using my qualifications to assist you.
On March 20th of this year, we lost the President of our company, Diane Beverly, to cancer. We are devastated by the loss of such a wonderful woman. Diane was like a mother to me and she taught me everything I know about taxes and accounting. I followed in her footsteps in many ways, through music and in tax preparation. She will be greatly missed. We are very grateful for the letters and condolences that you all have sent us. To honor her, the company has remained in the family. While my Aunt Diane has been preparing me to operate this business for many years, we did not expect this change to happen so soon. In light of the circumstances, we look forward to providing our clients with the same care and dedication as Diane did.
Among the many changes that our company has gone through in 2017, we have also gained a new member to our family. My daughter, Norah Diane Beverly, was born on October 30th. Thank you for all the letters of congratulations. She is a blessing.
Some aesthetic upgrades have been made around the office. We hope you like them. We’re doing everything we can to streamline our process so that we can provide better service to our clients. We have also updated our website. Please visit our new site at www.beverlytax.com.
Now let’s talk taxes! While there are potential changes coming from congress, nothing has been finalized yet. So until then, here’s what you need to be aware of for the upcoming tax season.
Insurance: Everyone will need to bring a “proof of health insurance form” 1095-A, 1095-B, 1095-C that shows that you had health insurance in 2017 for every person on the tax return. This includes dependents that do not live with you, or the penalties will apply and add to your tax bill. If you used the insurance exchange from the Marketplace, you will receive form 1095-A. If you have insurance through an employer plan or have the direct individual/family plan through the insurance company, you will receive a 1095-B form. The 1095-C form is for those who have insurance through a self-insured company plan. If another person insures you or any child that you will be claiming, you must have a copy of the 1095 form to avoid having a penalty added to your taxes.
Businesses: If you are a business owner or are self-employed, it’s best to submit your company income and expenses in advance of tax return preparation. In many cases, our accounting department will need to complete year-end statements for your company that are then used to prepare your tax return. Note that partnership and S-Corp business returns are due March,15th therefore, we would prefer to have your info as soon as possible.
Investments: If you have investments and receive the brokerage statement in mid-March, we recommend that you drop off your tax papers or make your appointment before receiving these forms. This allows us to prepare the majority of your return in advance. We will be able to apply the brokerage statements as soon as they arrive and complete your return. If you wait to drop off all of your forms before receiving this statement, your taxes may need to be filed for extension.
Appointments: We recommend that you set up your appointment before you receive all of your tax documents. If you are unable to find a convenient appointment time, you do have the option to drop off your documents so that we may prepare them for you.
Drop off: Drop off returns will be prepared in your absence and we will contact you with any questions or concerns by phone or email. Please be sure to provide accurate contact information. Many clients find that dropping off their returns is quick and convenient. We know taxes can be stressful so we aim to make them as stress free as possible.
Client Organizer: Client organizers serve as a type of checklist for your tax information. If we’ve prepared your returns in the past, your organizer will show items that you have provided in prior years. Please contact us to request a client organizer if needed. We can send the organizer via mail or email, or you can pick one up in person.
Please call to set up an appointment soon as they fill up quickly. If you cannot find an appointment with your preferred tax preparer, please know that we are all here to prepare accurate tax returns and get you the best results. We have a great staff that is focused on providing you with quality service.
I want to thank you all for your patience and understanding during what has been a challenging year. I had hoped that losing Diane this past tax season would not have affected our service to you, but it was inevitable. She was an important part of all of our lives. This tax season we will be back on track and ready to help you file your returns with the same spirit and care that you’ve experienced for many years.
Happy Holidays,
K. Ryan Beverly EA
