IRS commissioner Danny Werfel told the Senate Finance Committee that a tax bill passed by the House in January would help the IRS combat fraud in employee retention credit claims.

In light of the continuing challenges taxpayers are facing with the corporate alternative minimum tax, the IRS granted a waiver of the addition to tax for failure to pay estimated corporate AMT “in the interest of sound tax administration.”

The IRS winds up its annual list of 12 scams and schemes by covering two broad categories: bogus tax-avoidance strategies and schemes with an international element.

Two sets of proposed regulations issued by the IRS provide guidance on the implementation of the new excise tax and on rules for the procedure and administration applicable to the reporting and payment of the tax.

The IRS said it will not include the rebates provided under the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 in individual purchasers’ gross income or in the cost basis of the property purchased.

In a letter to the Treasury secretary and the FinCEN director, the AICPA called for enforcement of beneficial ownership information reporting regulations to be suspended until after lawsuits are settled.

This term, the Supreme Court will answer the questions regarding the estate tax treatment of life insurance proceeds received by a closely held business and its shareholder redemption obligations. It heard oral arguments last week.

The IRS opened its annual Dirty Dozen list with scams that trick recipients into clicking a suspicious link, filling out personal and financial information, or downloading malware onto their computer.

The appropriations act enacted over the weekend that kept the federal government from shutting down included $12.3 billion for the IRS, but also codified an agreed-upon $20 billion cut in money allocated by the Inflation Reduction Act.

On the deadline for businesses to offer to repay erroneous employee retention credit claims under the voluntary disclosure program (VDP), the IRS said assessments account for $572 million of the revenue, with the VDP and the claim withdrawal process accounting for the rest.

The IRS would reduce the notice of third-party contact with respect to the determination or collection of the taxpayer’s tax liability to 10 days from 45 days in several circumstances involving statutory periods for assessments and collections that expire in one year or less.

Allowing taxpayers to communicate with the IRS almost entirely online will free the agency’s workers to handle other tasks, Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a speech Monday.

The U.S. Justice Department filed an appeal Monday challenging the district court’s decision that the law, which requires businesses to report beneficial ownership information, is unconstitutional.

The plaintiffs who won a summary judgment that bars enforcement of the Corporate Transparency Act against them said the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network should pause beneficial ownership information reporting requirements for all businesses.

While acknowledging that the law is well intentioned, the opinion from a U.S. district court in Alabama said Congress lacked authority to enact the business ownership information reporting requirement.

IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said Thursday that the effort will begin with compliance letters going out to high-income taxpayers in 125,000 cases where third-party information indicated federal tax returns have not been filed since 2017.

The Service said that U.S. withholding agents are administratively exempt from the requirement to e-file Forms 1042 during calendar year 2024, while foreign agents are exempt in calendar years 2024 and 2025.

The rules in the Small Entity Compliance Guide apply to access for some financial institutions and cover security and confidentiality, authorized use, administration of requests, and violations.

Under the Sec. 6417 direct-pay election, tax-exempt organizations, including not-for-profits and governmental agencies, can claim certain energy credits on their federal income tax returns, but to claim them for 2023, the direct-pay election must be made on a timely filed 2023 federal income tax return.

IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said Wednesday that the audits will focus on business vs. personal use of aircraft by large corporations, large partnerships, and high-income taxpayers.