The IRS posted a draft of a form that affected taxpayers will submit with their 2019 tax returns showing how they computed their qualified business income (QBI) deduction under Sec. 199A. Taxpayers who have QBI, qualified real estate investment trust (REIT) dividends, or qualified income from a publicly traded partnership (PTP) will use Form 8995, Qualified Business Income Deduction Simplified Computation, to report the computation. To read the full article in the Journal of Accountancy, click: Taxpayers Will File QBI Deduction Computation with IRS Next Year.
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The IRS issued guidance clarifying that taxpayers may generally continue to deduct 50% of the food and beverage expenses associated with operating their trade or business, despite changes to the meal and entertainment expense deduction made by the tax law known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. According to the IRS, the amendments specifically deny deductions for expenses for entertainment, amusement, or recreation, but do not address the deductibility of expenses for business meals. To read the full article in the Journal of Accountancy, click: Meals Continue to be Deductible Under New IRS Guidance.
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The IRS issued a draft version of the 2019 Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, and instructions for the form, in an attempt to further simplify the task of determining income tax withholding for individual taxpayers after the passage of P.L. 115-97, known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA). The TCJA eliminated personal exemptions, increased the standard deduction, increased the child tax credit, limited or discontinued certain deductions, and changed the tax rates and brackets. To read the full article in The Tax Advisor, click: Draft 2019 Form W-4 and Instructions Posted.
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The IRS released a draft Form W-4, Employee’s Withholding Allowance Certificate, and its instructions, for individual taxpayers to use to determine their income tax withholding for 2019. To read the full article in The Tax Adviser, click: Draft 2019 Form W-4 and Instructions Posted.
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Under legislation enacted last year, the IRS is required to use private debt collection agencies to collect outstanding inactive tax liabilities. The IRS has awarded contracts to four companies to participate in the program in spring 2017. Sally Schreiber, JofA senior editor, explains what this all means. To read the full article in the Journal of Accountancy, click: Private Collection Agencies to Start Collecting Tax Debts in the Spring.
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With all it does to prevent fraudulent tax returns, the IRS still paid out $5.2 billion in identity theft refunds in 2013. As if that wasn’t a big enough headache, imagine all the bureaucratic backtracking tens of millions of Americans who had their identity and cash stolen had to go through. Actually, that sum is just an estimate because the General Accounting Office (GAO) says that it’s impossible to know the full extent of identity theft tax refunds because of the challenges associated with detecting the crime. What is known for sure is that Florida is headquarters for the…
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While CPAs and tax attorneys must currently meet professional standards for tax preparation and other services, a recent decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has ruled that the IRS has no authority to force continuing education or similar standards on tax preparers. The case stems from a 2011 IRS proposal of a system that would have established tax preparer registration and required all those who were paid for their services to pursue continuing education and submit to competency testing. The reason for federal oversight provided by the IRS included the claim that too many…