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The U.S. Tax Court lacks jurisdiction over a taxpayer’s appeal of a levy in a collection due process hearing when the IRS abandoned its levy because it applied the taxpayer’s later year overpayments to her earlier tax liability, eliminating the underpayment on which the levy was based. The 8-1 ruling by the Court resolves a split between the Third Circuit and the Fourth and D.C. Circuit.


The Internal Revenue Service collected more than $5.1 trillion in gross receipts in fiscal year 2024. It is the first time the agency broke the $5 trillion mark, according to the 2024 Data Book, an annual publication that reviews IRS activities for the given fiscal year.


The IRS has released guidance listing the specific changes in accounting method to which the automatic change procedures set forth in Rev. Proc. 2015-13, I.R.B. 2015- 5, 419, apply. The latest guidance updates and supersedes the current list of automatic changes found in Rev. Proc. 2024-23, I.R.B. 2024-23.


The Treasury Department and IRS have issued Notice 2025-33, extending and modifying transition relief for brokers required to report digital asset transactions using Form 1099-DA, Digital Asset Proceeds From Broker Transactions. The notice builds upon the temporary relief previously provided in Notice 2024-56 and allows additional time for brokers to comply with reporting requirements.


The IRS failed to establish that it issued a valid notice of deficiency to an individual under Code Sec. 6212(b). Thus, the Tax Court dismissed the case due to lack of jurisdiction.


A limited partnership classified as a TEFRA partnership was not entitled to exclude its limited partners’ distributive shares from net earnings from self-employment under Code Sec. 1402(a)(13). The Tax Court found that the individuals materially participated in the partnership’s investment management business and were not acting as limited partners “as such.”


Since passage of the Affordable Care Act, several key requirements for employers have been delayed, including reporting of health coverage offered to employees, known as Code Sec. 6056 reporting. As 2015 nears, and the prospects of further delay appear unlikely, employers and the IRS are preparing for the filing of these new information returns.


As the 2015 filing season approaches, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen is bracing taxpayers for more reductions in customer service unless the agency receives more funding. According to Koskinen, the IRS is facing its biggest challenge in recent years. Koskinen, who spoke at the annual conference of the National Society of Accountants in August, also predicted that taxpayers will have to wait until after the November elections to learn the fate of many popular but expired tax incentives.


No. Participatory wellness programs do not require a specific outcome in order for a participant to receive a reward.


Life expectancies for many Americans have increased to such an extent that most taxpayers who retire at age 65 expect to live for another 20 years or more. Several years ago, a number of insurance companies began to offer a new financial product, often called the longevity annuity or deferred income annuity, which requires upfront payment of a premium in exchange for a guarantee of a certain amount of fixed income starting after the purchaser reaches age 80 or 85. Despite the wisdom behind the longevity annuity, this new type of product did not sell especially well, principally for tax reasons. These roadblocks, however, have largely been removed by new regulations.


Code Sec. 162 permits a business to deduct its ordinary and necessary expenses for carrying on the business. However, Code Sec. 274 restricts the deduction of entertainment expenses incurred for business by disallowing expenses of entertainment activities and entertainment facilities. Many expenses are totally disallowed; other amounts, if allowed under Code Sec. 274, are limited to 50 percent of the expense.

One of the most complex, if not the most complex, provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is the employer shared responsibility requirement (the so-called "employer mandate") and related reporting of health insurance coverage. Since passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, the Obama administration has twice delayed the employer mandate and reporting. The employer mandate and reporting will generally apply to applicable large employers (ALE) starting in 2015 and to mid-size employers starting in 2016. Employers with fewer than 50 employees, have never been required, and continue to be exempt, from the employer mandate and reporting.

Mid-size employers may be eligible for recently announced transition relief from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's employer shared responsibility requirements. Final regulations issued by the IRS in late January include transition relief for mid-size employers for 2015. Mid-size employers for this relief are defined generally as businesses employing at least 50 but fewer than 100 full-time employees. Exceptions and complicated measurement rules continue to apply. The final regulations also describe the treatment of seasonal employees, volunteer workers, student employees, the calculation of the employer shared responsibility payment, and much more.


The IRS's final "repair" regulations became effective January 1, 2014. The regulations provide a massive revision to the rules on capitalizing and deducting costs incurred with respect to tangible property. The regulations apply to amounts paid to acquire, produce or improve tangible property; every business is affected, especially those with significant fixed assets.


Taxpayers must generally provide documentation to support (or to “substantiate”) a claim for any contributions made to charity that they are planning to deduct from their income. Assuming that the contribution was made to a qualified organization, that the taxpayer has received either no benefit from the contribution or a benefit that was less than the value of the contribution, and that the taxpayer otherwise met the requirements for a qualified contribution, then taxpayers should worry next whether they have the proper records to prove their claim.