Information Reporting

Last week, the Acting Director of IRS of Field Operations for the LB&I Foreign Payments Practice (“FPP”) announced that the IRS will launch a compliance campaign this summer focused on foreign financial institutions (“FFIs”) that are not satisfying their reporting obligations under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (“FATCA”).  Speaking at a tax controversy forum at NYU, Kimberly Schoenbacher indicated that the IRS will be sending notices to FFIs that failed to file Forms 8966 (FATCA Report) reporting assets held in accounts by U.S. persons.
Continue Reading IRS to Launch FATCA Compliance Campaign for FFIs

On May 31, the IRS released a legal memorandum, ILM 201922026, regarding the information return obligations of a common law employer when it appoints a pay agent in the middle of a calendar year.  In general, an employer may appoint a pay agent under section 3504 by using IRS Form 2678 (Employer/Payer Appointment of Agent) to appoint an agent.  An agent includes a fiduciary, agent, or other person (collectively an “agent”) that has control, receipt, custody, disposal, or otherwise pays the wages of an employee or group of employees, employed by one or more employers.  An agent is appointed to perform certain specified acts required by employers.
Continue Reading IRS Legal Memo Addresses Payroll Compliance when Employer Appoints Agent in the Middle of Calendar Year

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration released a partially redacted report on May 20 asserting that the IRS has failed to take steps to address nearly $2 billion in discrepancies between withholding reported on withholding tax returns and withholding reported on information returns.  The TIGTA report found that 7,265 taxpayers reported nearly $925 million in withholding on Forms 1099 and W-2G in 2016 but failed to file a Form 945, Annual Return of Withheld Federal Income Tax.  In the same year, another 3,163 taxpayers reported $760 million more in withholding on Forms 1099 and W-2G than they reported on the Form 945.  Conversely, the report found 3,527 taxpayers who reported a total of $241 million more in withholding on the 2016 Form 945 than they reported on Forms 1099 and W-2G.
Continue Reading TIGTA Chides IRS for Lax Non-Payroll Withholding Enforcement

On April 26, 2019, the IRS released PLR 201917002 concluding that an entity’s extension of credit, incidental to its sale of nonfinancial goods or performance of nonfinancial services, would not create an obligation under section 6050P to file a Form 1099-C if the entity subsequently discharged the indebtedness associated with the extension of credit.
Continue Reading IRS Issues PLR on Form 1099-C Reporting

For the second time in the past year, the IRS Office of Chief Counsel issued a ruling addressing how transactions are counted for purposes of applying the de minimis threshold applicable to third party settlement organizations (“TPSOs”) under section 6050W.  In recently released PLR 201907006, the IRS considered the facts related to a payment processing service provided by a taxpayer to online sellers.  After considering the facts, the IRS ruled that the taxpayer was a TPSO.  The IRS then turned to the second ruling request, namely, whether the number of transactions for purposes of the de minimis rules are determined based upon the number of payments processed on behalf of payers rather than the number of times the customer receives payments from the TPSO through the taxpayer’s platform.  The IRS again determined that the number of transactions is determined by reference to the number of buy-sell transactions between buyers and sellers processed by the TPSO.
Continue Reading IRS Again Addresses De Minimis Standard for Third Party Network Transactions

Dan Lauer, an IRS executive for SBSE, told an audience at the American Payroll Association’s Capital Summit on March 25 that the Service is launching a program in the summer of 2019 to pursue backup withholding failures.  Backup withholding is required under section 3406, and the current backup withholding rate is 24%.  Generally, backup withholding applies when a payor makes a reportable payment to non-corporate payees and does not possess the payee’s TIN.
Continue Reading IRS Targets Backup Withholding Compliance

The U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut has joined a growing debate among lower courts regarding the appropriate civil penalty applicable to willful FBAR violations through its ruling in United States v. Garrity.  The FBAR statute, regulations, instructions, and related guidance require that taxpayers…
Continue Reading Garrity Ruling is Latest in Growing Debate over Civil Penalties for FBAR Violations

Earlier today, the IRS released new percentage method withholding tables for 2018 implementing the changes to major withholding provisions following the enactment of tax reform legislation.  In the revised Notice 1036, the IRS provided new withholding tables utilizing the value of personal exemptions that would have existed in the…
Continue Reading IRS Releases Withholding Guidance

In response to public comments, the IRS today issued Notice 2018-08 that delays indefinitely withholding under new Code section 1446(f) with respect to dispositions of certain publicly traded partnerships.  Section 13501 of the enacted tax reform bill added a new Code section 1446(f) to impose a 10% withholding requirement on…
Continue Reading IRS Delays New Withholding Requirement for Dispositions of Publicly Traded Partnership Interests