In Announcement 2021-2, released on February 1, the IRS instructed lenders not to report loan relief payments made by the Small Business Administration under Section 1112(c) of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act. The Announcement reflects a provision in the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 (the “CAA”), excluding such payments from gross income … Continue Reading
On January 4, 2021, the Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2021-7 pertaining to the valuation of the personal use of employer-provided vehicles. The Notice permits employers who rely on the special valuation rule of Treasury Regulation § 1.61-21(d), known as the Automobile Lease Valuation (ALV) method, to retroactively apply the vehicle cents-per-mile method of Treasury Regulation … Continue Reading
Earlier this month, both houses of Congress passed the 2021 National Defense Authorization Act (“2021 NDAA”). Included in Title LXIV of the 2021 NDAA (Title 64 for those of us rusty on Roman numerals), are new information reporting requirements intended to identify individual beneficial owners of certain business entities. Subject to a number of exceptions, … Continue Reading
After months of gridlock, the House and Senate, on December 21, both passed another round of COVID relief legislation (H.R. 133). The 5,593-page bill, which gained momentum following the introduction of bipartisan compromise legislation, provides an enhanced employee retention credit (“ERC”), which is easier for employers to qualify during the first six months of 2021, … Continue Reading
On Friday, December 18, the IRS released final regulations under section 162(m) implementing the statutory changes made in 2017 by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Section 162(m), as amended, generally limits the deduction for compensation (also referred to as applicable employee remuneration) paid to the a publicly held corporation’s principal executive officer (“PEO”), principal … Continue Reading
For employers who decided to defer the employee share of Social Security taxes on wages paid from September 1 to December 31, 2020, pursuant to President Trump’s August 8 presidential memorandum, the employer’s obligation to collect those deferred amounts from employees’ paychecks is fast approaching. Included among our previous posts discussing the deferral, which was … Continue Reading
Yesterday, December 9, the IRS released final regulations implementing the Section 274(a)(4) and 274(l) deduction disallowances, adopted as part of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. Section 274(a)(4) disallows employer deductions for the cost of providing qualified transportation fringe (“QTF”) benefits provided to employees. Section 274(l) provides a broader deduction disallowance for expenses paid … Continue Reading
As previewed by the recent final Form W-4 regulations published in October (see earlier coverage), the IRS released a draft of Publication 15-T (Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods) on November 17. The publication provides a new computational method for employers who must continue to rely on pre-2020 Forms W-4 to determine the amount of federal … Continue Reading
On November 16, the IRS added two new FAQs to its website that address an issue that has been concerning employers since the CARES Act was adopted. For purposes of the employee retention credit (“ERC”), Section 2301(d) of the CARES Act includes an aggregation rule that treats all employers required to be aggregated under section … Continue Reading
On October 6, the IRS published final regulations addressing changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (the “TCJA”) to how an employee instructs an employer to withhold income taxes based on the employee’s Form W-4 (Employee’s Withholding Certificate). These final regulations were issued only 8 months after the proposed regulations were … Continue Reading
On Friday, October 30, the IRS provided guidance regarding the proper reporting on Form W-2 for employers who deferred the withholding of the employee share of Social Security tax under Notice 2020-65. (See earlier coverage.) Based on the IRS guidance, employers should report FICA wages up to the OASDI (Social Security) wage base in Box … Continue Reading
The IRS recently published new guidance on the tax withholding and reporting consequences associated with qualified retirement plan distributions to state unclaimed property funds. In Revenue Ruling 2020-24, the IRS clarified that distributions from qualified retirement plans to state unclaimed property funds are subject to both federal income tax withholding and 1099-R reporting requirements. In … Continue Reading
On October 9, the IRS published final Treasury Regulations addressing the deduction disallowance of expenses associated with providing entertainment, business meals, and other food and beverages in the Federal Register. The final regulations, which track the proposed regulations published on February 26, 2020, preserve, with certain limitations, taxpayers’ ability to deduct 50 percent of the … Continue Reading
On October 14, 2020, the IRS posted Tax Tip 2020-136 entitled, “Helpful information for taxpayers on backup withholding.” This particular Tax Tip serves as a great reminder for payers making payments for which backup withholding is required, especially if they are unaware of the troubling consequences of noncompliance.… Continue Reading
On October 2, 2019, Treasury and the IRS issued proposed regulations relating to the repeal of section 958(b)(4) by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”). On September 22, 2020, Treasury and the IRS issued final regulations largely following the proposed regulations, along with additional proposed regulations.… Continue Reading
On September 22, 2020, the IRS issued IRS Announcement 2020-12 to inform lenders that they should not file Forms 1099-C with the IRS or furnish copies of the Forms 1099-C to borrowers with respect to the forgiveness of covered loans made under the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”).… Continue Reading
The Treasury and IRS have published final regulations governing federal income tax withholding from periodic payments of deferred income made after December 31, 2020. The new regulations follow changes made by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) to the default withholding rate rules. Payors and plan administrators who hoped that the IRS … Continue Reading
Late Friday, the IRS released Notice 2020-65 providing guidance to employers regarding the implementation of President Trump’s presidential memorandum issued on August 8, 2020. The memorandum directed the Secretary of the Treasury to defer the withholding, deposit, and payment of employee Social Security taxes for the period from September 1 to December 31, 2020 (see … Continue Reading
The IRS recently announced that it erroneously sent failure-to-deposit (“FTD”) penalty notices to certain employers that reduced their employment tax deposits on Form 941 (Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return) in anticipation of claiming sick and family leave credits under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) or the employee retention credit (“ERC”) under the Coronavirus, … Continue Reading
On August 19, 2020, the IRS urged employers to exercise caution in selecting their payroll service providers (“PSPs”) following ongoing concerns that some disreputable PSPs may fail to deposit employment taxes, leaving businesses vulnerable to unpaid payroll taxes as well as penalties.… Continue Reading
On July 30, 2020, the IRS released guidance in the form of new frequently asked questions (“FAQs”) addressing the deferral of the employer portion of Social Security taxes under section 2302 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act. These FAQs are broad in nature, providing guidance on various considerations relevant to section … Continue Reading
On Saturday, August 8, President Trump signed a Presidential Memorandum directing the Secretary of the Treasury to “use his authority pursuant to [Code section] 7508A to defer the withholding, deposit, and payment of the tax imposed by [Code section] 3101(a) . . . on wages . . . paid during the period of September 1, 2020, through December 31, 2020,” subject … Continue Reading
On July 27, 2020, the IRS published Information Release 2020-169 announcing the issuance of new temporary and proposed regulations to implement procedures to assess, reconcile, and recapture any portion of the credits under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (“FFCRA”) and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (“CARES Act”) erroneously credited, paid, or … Continue Reading
On July 27, Senate Republicans introduced a series of bills intended as their opening salvo in what appears likely to be contentious negotiations among Senate Republicans, the White House, and House and Senate Democrats over the next legislative response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Along with another round of direct stimulus payments to individual taxpayers, extended … Continue Reading
