e-News for Tax Professionals Issue 2018-8

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Issue Number:  2018-8

Inside This Issue

1. Three Tax Benefits Retroactively Renewed for 2017; IRS Now Accepting Returns Claiming These Benefits
2. March 1 Tax Deadline Nears for Many Farmers, Fishers
3. Interest on Home Equity Loans Still Deductible Under New Law
4. Tax Reform Resources for Tax Professionals
5. Security Summit: Six Questions Preparers Should Ask Themselves about Office Security
6. Technical Guidance

Congress recently renewed for tax year 2017 numerous individual and business tax benefits that expired in 2016. The IRS is now processing returns claiming three of the most popular tax benefits that were renewed retroactively.

Taxpayers can now file returns claiming:

• Exclusions from gross income of discharge of qualified principal residence indebtedness (often, foreclosure-related debt forgiveness), claimed on Form 982,
• Mortgage insurance premiums treated as qualified residence interest, generally claimed by low- and middle-income filers on Schedule A, and
• Deductions for qualified tuition and related expenses claimed on Form 8917.

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Farmers and fishers should note the March 1 deadline to take advantage of special rules that allow them to forgo quarterly estimated tax payments.

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Despite newly-enacted restrictions on home mortgages, taxpayers will still generally be able to deduct interest on a home equity loan, home equity line of credit (HELOC) or second mortgage, regardless of the loan’s label, as long as the loan, line of credit or mortgage is used to buy, build or substantially improve a home.

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To help the tax community understand the recent Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), the IRS has created a landing page on IRS.gov highlighting provisions of the new law. The page includes a "one-stop" listing of legal guidance, news releases and frequently asked questions related to the TCJA. The page will be frequently updated. 

Also be sure to visit Basic Tools for Tax Professionals for information on your responsibilities as a tax pro, tools to file returns for your clients and more.

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Tax professionals can protect their clients’ information by simply looking around the office, because unsecured client data is not always on a computer. Securing office space is as important as securing computers. To assess how secure your office is, consider these six questions.

See Protect Your Clients, Protect Yourself for more information.

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Revenue Ruling 2018-06 provides various prescribed rates for federal income tax purposes including the applicable federal interest rates, the adjusted applicable federal interest rates, the adjusted federal long-term rate, the adjusted federal long-term tax-exempt rate. These rates are determined as prescribed by section 1274. 

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