Issue Number: 2018-15
Inside This Issue
- The IRS Shared Two Important Updates on Section 965
- Security Summit: Beware of “IRS Refunds” Email
- Individuals with Foreign Assets Should Check their U.S. Tax Obligations
- Electronic Payment Options on IRS.gov
- Speed Up Correspondence Audits with Secure Messaging
- IRS Nationwide Tax Forums: Registration Now Open
- Technical Guidance
1. The IRS Shared Two Important Updates on Section 965
First, the IRS is adding more information to the Frequently Asked Questions page involving Section 965. This information, which will note April 13 updates, will be added shortly on IRS.gov.
In addition, Publication 5292, How to Calculate Section 965 Amounts and Elections Available to Taxpayers, is now available on IRS.gov and reflects changes the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act enacted. Publication 5292, for use in preparing 2017 returns, includes a Workbook to Assist in Calculating Section 965 Amounts. The publication also features the previously released Questions and Answers about Reporting Related to Section 965 on 2017 Tax Returns.
The IRS updates the Tax Reform page on IRS.gov with the latest updates related to the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
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2. Security Summit: Beware of “IRS Refunds” Email
As the April 17 tax deadline approaches, cybercriminals are stepping up their efforts. Taxpayers and tax professionals should be alert to new identity theft scams, including an email purporting to be from “IRS Refunds.” The “IRS Refunds” scam is a common tactic thieves use to trick people into opening a link or attachment associated with a fake page to try to steal personally identifiable information, such as Social Security numbers.
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3. Individuals with Foreign Assets Should Check their U.S. Tax Obligations
U.S. citizens and resident aliens with foreign assets, including individuals with dual citizenship, should confirm whether they have a U.S. tax liability and filing requirement.
Individuals with a foreign bank or financial account should also be aware that the upcoming tax filing deadline applies to Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, often referred to as FBARs. The 2017 FBAR Form 114 must be filed electronically with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network by April 17.
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4. Electronic Payment Options on IRS.gov
Taxpayers who owe are encouraged to pay electronically. Taxpayers can pay online, by phone or with their mobile devices using the IRS2Go app. You can get more information on the IRS.gov Payments page and in Publication 5034, Need to Make a Payment?, which is a flyer you can download and share with your clients.
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5. Speed Up Correspondence Audits with Secure Messaging
The IRS is testing the Taxpayer Digital Communications (TDC) Secure Messaging program to streamline correspondence audits. The TDC program focuses on audits involving Schedule A Itemized Deductions, the Child Care Credit and the Education Credit, which are processed by the IRS Philadelphia Campus. For approximately 19,000 of these audits, taxpayers and their tax professionals with valid powers of attorney (POA) can communicate with the IRS using secure messaging.
This program is by invitation only. If your client is under audit with the Philadelphia Campus and the audit letter says the client can use secure messaging to reply to the IRS, encourage your client to sign up using the website provided in their letter. Once your client registers via IRS Secure Access, you will be able to register under your own SSN and complete the request access verification process.
Before you can participate as a tax professional, your power of attorney must be filed on the IRS Centralized Authorization File (CAF) system. After you authenticate and the IRS verifies your power of attorney, you will have access to your own secure messaging mailbox.
Additional Information regarding secure messaging and other options is available on IRS.gov at Alternatives to Secure Messaging.
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6. IRS Nationwide Tax Forums: Registration Now Open
Registration is now open for the 2018 IRS Nationwide Tax Forums coming up this summer in Atlanta, National Harbor (Washington, D.C.), San Diego, Chicago and Orlando.
Join tax professionals from around the country for three days of tax law seminars, hands-on workshops and exhibits featuring new products and services.
Seminars are presented by IRS experts and national association partners including the American Bar Association, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the National Association of Enrolled Agents, the National Association of Tax Professionals, the National Society of Accountants and the National Society of Tax Professionals. Attendees can earn up to 18 continuing professional education (CPE) credits.
For more information and to register, visit the IRS Nationwide Tax Forum website at www.irstaxforum.com.
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7. Technical Guidance
Revenue Procedure 2018-26 provides certain remedial actions that issuers of state and local tax-exempt bonds and other tax-advantaged bonds may take to preserve the tax-advantaged status of the bonds when nonqualified uses of the bond proceeds occur.
Revenue Ruling 2018-11 provides the 2018 section1274A inflation-adjusted numbers for cash method debt instruments and qualified debt instruments.
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