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Issue Number:  2016-4

Inside This Issue

1. New on IRS.gov
2. IRS Seeks Applications for Information Reporting Program Advisory Committee
3. Tax Design Challenge Begins April 17; Public Invited to Imagine the Taxpayer Experience of the Future
4. Interest Rates for the Second Quarter of 2016
5. IRS Marks National Small Business Week (May 1 – 7) with Four New Webinars and Promotes them using Thunderclap
6. Technical Guidance

• Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit
• Form 14039 (SP), Identity Theft Affidavit (Spanish version)
• Pub. 1223, General Rules and Specifications for Substitute Forms W-2c and W-3c
• Pub. 4164, Modernized e-file Guide for Software Developers and Transmitters
• Pub. 4436, General Rules and Specifications for Substitute Form 941, Schedule B (Form 941), Schedule D (Form 941), and Schedule R (Form 941)

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The IRS is requesting membership applications for the Information Reporting Program Advisory Committee (IRPAC), a federal advisory committee that advises the IRS on various tax administration issues.

The IRPAC presents a report to the IRS Commissioner at a public meeting each fall. Members are appointed to three-year terms, but terms are staggered so that approximately one-third of the committee membership changes each year. Nominations are currently being accepted for up to eight appointments that will begin in January 2017.

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Join people from across the country in the first-ever Tax Design Challenge to imagine the taxpayer experience of the future. The IRS and the Challenge cosponsor, the Mortgage Bankers Association, invite you to submit your design for the Taxpayer Account of the future between April 17 and May 10.

The goal is to make it easier for taxpayers to manage their tax responsibilities and use their own tax data to make informed and effective decisions about their personal finances. Throughout the competition participants will have the opportunity to work with over two dozen mentors, including strategists and designers who have built products at Google, the United States Digital Service and more.

Winning designs may receive a share of over $20,000 in prize money, funded exclusively by the Mortgage Bankers Association. 

Visit www.taxdesignchallenge.com to register and get more information, including the eligibility rules and terms and conditions for participating.

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IR-2016-41, March 16, 2016: The IRS announces that interest rates have increased for the calendar quarter beginning April 1, 2016. The rates will be:

Four percent for overpayments (three percent in the case of a corporation) One and one-half percent for the portion of a corporate overpayment exceeding $10,000 Four percent for underpayments Six percent for large corporate underpayments   Under the Internal Revenue Code, the rate of interest is determined on a quarterly basis. For taxpayers other than corporations, the overpayment and underpayment rate is the federal short-term rate plus 3 percentage points.

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The IRS marks National Small Business Week (May 1 to 7) with a series of educational webinars for small businesses and the self-employed. Watch these programs and learn how to be tax compliant and help your businesses thrive.

Register now for:

• Tax Tips for your New Business – May 2
• Staying Afloat: Planning for Emergencies Before they Happen – May 3 
• Worker Classification: Employee or Independent Contractor? – May 4
  (Webinar in Spanish; Este seminario será transmitido en español.)  
• Tip Reporting and Tips vs. Service Charges – May 5 

Thunderclap

The IRS is starting an online campaign to share news of these webinars.

We’re using a platform called Thunderclap, and inviting you to add your Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr support.

Thunderclap is a "crowd-speaking" platform that lets individuals and companies rally people together to spread a message.

Supporters on Thunderclap sign-up and agree to share a key message on social media.

Then, providing the originator reaches its target goal of people on board, Thunderclap will automatically send preset information about that topic to supporters at a specific date and time.

It is completely safe and will automatically post exactly one message on your own social media account.

Here’s how to sign up for the IRS Small Business Week Thunderclap:

• Follow this link: http://thndr.me/wuPspB 
• Click on support with … Facebook / Twitter / Tumblr
• Authorize Thunderclap to post this one-time message to your social media platform by clicking on the “Support With” tabs. You will need to input your social media username and password  

When we have 100 or more participants, the message will be set to go out the first business day of National Small Business Week: Monday, May 2, 2016, at 11 a.m. ET.

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Notice 2016-26  - The Department of Treasury and Internal Revenue Service invite public comment on recommendations for items that should be included on the 2016-2017 Priority Guidance Plan.

The Treasury Department's Office of Tax Policy and the Service use the plan each year to identify and prioritize the tax issues that should be addressed through regulations, revenue rulings, revenue procedures, notices, and other published administrative guidance

Please submit recommendations by May 16, 2016, for possible inclusion on the original 2016-2017 Priority Guidance Plan.

Notice 2016–22 provides guidance and transition relief for employers claiming the Work Opportunity Tax Credit as extended and amended by the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015.

Specifically, the notice provides employers with transition relief with respect to the 28-day deadline for requesting certifications from a designated local agency for individuals (other than qualified long-term unemployment recipients) hired on or after January 1, 2015 and on or before May 31, 2016.

The notice also provides guidance on the new qualified long-term unemployment recipient targeted group, and transition relief with respect to qualified long-term unemployment recipients hired on or after January 1, 2016 and before May 31, 2016.

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