e-News for Tax Professionals

The IRS this week announced additional protections for tax professionals to increase security for the Centralized Authorization File (CAF) program and placed new procedures on requesting client transcripts by phone. The IRS has also taken related security steps to change how tax pros can order transcripts by phone through the Transcript Delivery System (TDS). Transcripts can now be deposited into tax professional?s Secure Object Repository (SOR) mailbox by calling the Practitioner Priority Service line. The IRS will continue to communicate with national tax professional organizations and others in the tax community as work continues.

2.? Tax Pros: Register now for the 2024 IRS Nationwide Tax Forum

The IRS encourages tax professionals to register now for the 2024 IRS Nationwide Tax Forum, coming this summer to Chicago, Orlando, Baltimore, Dallas and San Diego.

The Nationwide Tax Forum is the IRS?s largest annual outreach event designed and produced for the tax professional community. This year?s agenda will feature more than 40 sessions on tax law and ethics as well as hot topics like beneficial ownership information, cybersecurity, tax scams and schemes, digital assets and clean energy credits. Attendees at the forums will also learn how the IRS is evolving to meet their needs and those of their clients. ?This is a historic time at the IRS, with change taking place across the agency with our ongoing transformation work,? said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. ?This summer you?ll have a chance to learn more about these changes. We encourage you to register soon. Some of these locations will fill up quickly.?

For more information and to register online, visit IRS Nationwide Tax Forum.?

3.? How to know that private collection agency calling your client is legitimate

Tax pros: Taxpayers who owe taxes might get a call from a private collection agency working on behalf of the IRS. The recently released YouTube video, ?Here?s How to Know that Private Collection Agency Calling You is Legit? explains how to know it?s an IRS authorized private collection agency calling and not a scammer. For more information on private debt collection, visit the frequently asked questions on IRS.gov.

4.? Upcoming webinars for tax practitioners

The IRS offers the upcoming live webinars to the tax practitioner community:

Tax Implications of Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing for Business Entities on May 15, at 1 p.m. ET. Earn up to 2 CE credits (Federal Tax). Certificates of completion are being offered.
Tax Considerations for H-2A Visa Holders (Agricultural Workers) and Employers on June 6, at 2 p.m. ET. Earn up to 1 CE credits (Federal Tax). Certificates of completion are being offered.

For more information or to register, visit the Webinars for Tax Practitioners webpage.

5.? Help your clients save money on utility bills and receive a tax credit

Encourage your clients to learn more about eligibility and qualifications for home and residential energy credits. The credit amounts and types of qualifying expenses were expanded by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. Taxpayers who make energy improvements to a residence may be eligible for home energy tax credits. The IRS has created for individuals an easy-to-understand ePoster that you can post or distribute to clients.

Efficient Home Improvement Credit For more information, please visit IRS.gov/HomeEnergy.

6.? Tax-exempt organizations: May 15 deadline approaching

Ahead of the May 15 deadline, the IRS urged thousands of tax-exempt organizations to file their taxes. The annual filing due date for Form 990, 990-EZ or 990-PF must be filed by the 15th day of the fifth month after the end of your organization's accounting period. Thus, for a calendar year taxpayer, Form 990, 990-EZ or 990-PF is due May 15 of the following year. A number of online workshops are offered by the IRS to assist organizations in meeting their filing requirements.

7.? IRS sends final May 17 deadline reminder for tax year 2020 returns

The IRS reminded taxpayers who failed to file their 2020 tax returns that if they do so by May 17, they might be eligible for a refund. The IRS estimates more than $1 billion in refunds remain unclaimed. There's no penalty for failure to file if a refund is due. However, a return claiming a refund must be filed within three years of its due date for a refund to be allowed. After the expiration of the three-year period, the refund statute generally prevents the issuance of a refund check and the application of any credits, including overpayments of estimated taxes or withholding amounts, to other tax years that are underpaid.?

8.? Proposed regulations that address foreign trust information reporting

The Department of Treasury and the IRS released proposed regulations for transactions with foreign trusts, as well as information reporting on transactions with foreign trusts and large foreign gifts that are reported using Forms 3520 and 3520-A. Recent feedback from stakeholders has highlighted potential opportunities for improvement with respect to the IRS?s penalty processes related to Forms 3520 and 3520-A. As such, the IRS has assembled a working group to further evaluate its penalty processes associated with Forms 3520 and 3520-A to identify opportunities for improvement, reduce burden and incentivize voluntary compliance. We plan to have further details on the group?s recommendations soon.?

9.? IRS issues FAQs on disaster relief related to retirement plans, IRAs

The IRS published frequently asked questions (FAQs) in Fact Sheet 2024-19, about regulations governing retirement plan loans, distributions from IRAs and retirement plans for specific individual affected by federally declared disasters. The FAQs relate to the SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022 provision that provides for ongoing disaster relief for certain distributions and loans in the case of federally declared major disasters.

10.? News from the Justice Department?s Tax Division

The Justice Department filed a civil injunction suit to permanently bar Florida tax return preparer Dieuseul Jean-Louis from preparing federal tax returns for others. The complaint alleges from 2019 through 2023, Jean-Louis prepared more than 2,000 fraudulent federal income tax returns. The United States has been harmed by Jean-Louis?s conduct, resulting in the significant loss in tax revenue of more than $2.3 million for the 2021 and 2022.?

11.? Technical Guidance

Revenue Procedure 2024-25 provides the 2025 inflation adjusted amounts for Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) as determined under section 223 of the Internal Revenue Code and the maximum amount that may be made newly available for excepted benefit health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs) provided under section 54.9831-1(c)(3)(viii) of the Pension Excise Tax Regulations.

Revenue Ruling 2024-11 provides the rates for interest determined under section 6621 of the code for the calendar quarter beginning July 1, 2024, will be 8% for overpayments (7% in the case of a corporation), 8% for underpayments and 10% for large corporate underpayments. The rate of interest paid on the portion of a corporate overpayment exceeding $10,000 will be 5.5%.

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