Last week, the IRS issued Notice 2023-11 providing relief procedures for foreign financial institutions (“FFIs”) in countries with Model 1 intergovernmental agreements (“IGAs”) that have failed to provide U.S. taxpayer identification numbers (“TINs”) for certain preexisting accounts. Preexisting accounts are defined in Model 1 IGAs as a financial account maintained by a reporting financial institution as of June 30, 2014. Those FFIs in eligible Model 1 IGA jurisdictions that comply with the procedures described in the notice will avoid being identified by the U.S. Competent Authority as being in significant non-compliance with the IGA. (A list of U.S. IGAs, including Model 1 IGAs, along with other useful information regarding the status of all IGAs may be found at the Treasury’s FATCA page.)
IRS
IRS Delays Gross Proceeds Reporting, Basis Reporting, and Transfer Statements between Brokers on the Disposition or Transfer of Digital Assets until Final Regulations are Issued
This afternoon, in Announcement 2023-2, the IRS announced that brokers are not required to report additional information with respect to dispositions of digital assets until the IRS and Treasury issue final regulations under sections 6045 and 6045A. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 (the “Act”) amended sections 6045 and 6045A to clarify and expand the rules regarding the reporting of information on digital assets by brokers. These provisions of the Act were intended to increase tax compliance through additional information reporting regarding transactions involving digital assets.…
IRS Publishes Last Minute Reprieve for Implementation of New Form 1099-K Reporting Threshold
Today, in Notice 2023-10, the IRS announced a delay in the new reduced reporting threshold for section 6050W applicable to third-party settlement organizations (TPSOs). Section 9674(a) of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 amended section 6050W(e) to provide that, for returns for calendar years beginning after December 31, 2021, a TPSO is required to report payments in settlement of third party network transactions with respect to any participating payee that exceed a minimum threshold of $600 in aggregate payments, regardless of the aggregate number of such transactions. Prior to the change, the threshold was $20,000 and 200 transactions. …
IRS Releases Form 1042-S Data Integrity Tool to Assist Withholding Agents in Complying With Withholding and Reporting Obligations
By Allison Baker & Michael M. Lloyd on
The Internal Revenue Service recently released an online tool to help U.S. withholding agents comply with withholding and reporting obligations on IRS Form 1042-S, Foreign Person’s U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding. Forms 1042-S are issued by withholding agents to non-U.S. beneficial owners of U.S. source FDAP income under Chapter 3 and to non-U.S. payees who receive U.S. source withholdable payments under Chapter 4. Given the complexity of the Form 1042-S, this tool provides withholding agents with an opportunity to screen their draft Forms 1042-S for errors prior to filing. The Form 1042-S Data Integrity Tool performs a quality review of data before IRS submission at no cost to the user.
Continue Reading IRS Releases Form 1042-S Data Integrity Tool to Assist Withholding Agents in Complying With Withholding and Reporting Obligations
IRS Issues Additional Guidance on Employee Retention Credit
Nearly 18 months into the pandemic, the IRS continues to issue guidance on the employee retention credit, a credit that was adopted in March 2020 and has been addressed in a number of articles on the Tax Withholding & Reporting Blog, most recently on August 3, 2021.
The latest guidance takes the form of Notice 2021-49 and Revenue Procedure 2021-33, which together address a range of topics, including how employers should treat cash tips for purposes of determining the amount of qualified wages, whether the credit may be claimed with respect to the same wages for which the employer receives the Code Section 45B credit, how the related individual rules work for determining qualified wages, and whether employers are required to file amended tax returns if they claim the employee retention credit retroactively. The Service has also outlined a safe harbor that employers may apply to exclude from gross receipts the amount of the forgiveness of any PPP loans or the amount of shuttered venue operator grants or restaurant revitalization grants.
Continue Reading IRS Issues Additional Guidance on Employee Retention Credit
Making a Point: Tax Court’s Anikeev Decision Challenges Longstanding IRS Policy on Credit Card Rewards
In February, a U.S. Tax Court opinion in Anikeev v. Commisioner addressed challenging issues regarding the IRS’s existing policy with respect to the taxation of credit card rewards and other rebates. The case involves Mr. and Mrs. Anikeev, each of whom held a Blue Cash American Express Card (“Blue Card”) during 2013 and 2014, on which they accumulated a substantial amount of reward dollars through the use of their cards. At issue in Anikeev is whether the reward dollars were taxable income to the Anikeevs. Basing its decision on longstanding IRS policy, the court determined that the overwhelming majority of the rewards were not taxable to the Anikeevs, although the decision does address how the Service could potentially reform its policy regarding credit card rewards to prevent the same result in the future.
Continue Reading Making a Point: Tax Court’s Anikeev Decision Challenges Longstanding IRS Policy on Credit Card Rewards
American Rescue Plan Act Clarifies Scope of Form 1099-K Reporting and Reduces De Minimis Threshold
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (the “ARPA”) into law. The ARPA includes clarifying language regarding the scope of Form 1099-K (Payment Card and Third Party Network Transactions) reporting for third party payment networks and a change to the de minimis reporting standard applicable to third party settlement organizations (“TPSOs”) effective for returns required to be filed for 2022.
Continue Reading American Rescue Plan Act Clarifies Scope of Form 1099-K Reporting and Reduces De Minimis Threshold
A Look at IRS Guidance on the Employee Retention Credit: Part III—The IRS Seeks to Close the Barn Door
Almost a year after the employee retention credit was adopted as part of the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), and nearly a month after the final Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return, claiming the credit for 2020 was due, the IRS issued Notice 2021-20 (the “Notice”). This is the final article in our three-part series looking at how the IRS’s guidance on the employee retention credit has changed over the past ten months. This article focuses on how Notice 2021-20 builds on previous IRS guidance to narrow the scope of the credit and limit its availability. Part I focuses on the statute and approach the IRS took in interpreting statute when the IRS issued frequently asked questions (“FAQs”) in April 2020. Part II focuses on the initial signs of trouble for employers that first appeared in the updated FAQs in June 2020.
The Notice is the proverbial effort to close the barn door after the horse is out of the barn–and in this case, clear across the pasture. Although much of the guidance in the Notice reflects the (“FAQs”) that were posted to the IRS website beginning last April and that have been revised multiple times since, the Notice continues the trend that began last June of narrowing the availability and the amount of the employee retention credit—and in some instances, narrowing it in a way not contemplated by the permissive statutory language. (For our complete coverage of the employee retention credit and IRS guidance, click here.)…
Continue Reading A Look at IRS Guidance on the Employee Retention Credit: Part III—The IRS Seeks to Close the Barn Door
American Rescue Plan Act Goes to Biden for Signature: Includes Changes to Employee Retention Tax Credit, Employer-Provided Dependent Care, Paid Leave Credits, and Deduction Limitations for Executive Compensation
By Sarah Friedman, Jack Lund & S. Michael Chittenden on
On March 10, 2021, the House passed the fifth major COVID-relief legislation, the American Rescue Plan Act (the “Act”), which it originally passed last week before its amendment and passage by the Senate on March 6. President Biden is expected to sign the Act on Friday, March 12, 2021.
The Act adopts a new payroll tax credit that is similar to the employee retention credit, which was originally enacted as part of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”) and amended by the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “CAA”). The new credit will be in effect from July 1, 2021, through December 31, 2021. In addition, the Act significantly increases the exclusion for employer-provided dependent care assistance for 2021, and makes prospective changes to extend the availability of paid leave credits similar to those originally adopted as part of the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (the “FFCRA”) and that are set to expire on March 31. Finally, the Act will extend the deduction limitation under section 162(m) to additional employees.
Continue Reading American Rescue Plan Act Goes to Biden for Signature: Includes Changes to Employee Retention Tax Credit, Employer-Provided Dependent Care, Paid Leave Credits, and Deduction Limitations for Executive Compensation
A Look at IRS Guidance on the Employee Retention Credit: Part II—June Revisions Signal Potential Trouble Ahead
Almost a year after the employee retention credit was adopted as part of the Coronavirus, Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”), and nearly a month after the final Form 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return, claiming the credit for 2020 was due, the IRS issued Notice 2021-20 (the “Notice”), providing guidance on…