e-News for Tax Professionals Issue 2011-47

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Issue Number:  2011-47

Inside This Issue

1. IRS to Host Public Meeting Dec. 8 on Real-Time Tax System
2. IRS Seeks to Return $153 Million in Undelivered Checks to Taxpayers
3. YouTube: How to Get Your Check
4. Interest Rates Unchanged for First Quarter of 2012
5. Earn Continuing Professional Education Credits from the IRS Nationwide Tax Forums Online
6. Avoid Potential FTD Penalties
7. Archived W-2 Webinar Now Online
8. Technical Guidance

The IRS will kick off a series of public meetings  Thursday, Dec. 8 to gather feedback on how to implement a series of long-term changes to the tax system described by IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman in an April 2011 speech at the National Press Club.  The first meeting will take place on Dec.8 at 9:00 a.m. in the IRS Headquarters Building Auditorium, 1111 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, D.C. Those who would like to attend the meeting should e-mail the IRS at CL.NPL.Communications@irs.gov with the contact information for the attendees.

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In an annual reminder to taxpayers, the Internal Revenue Service announced that it seeks to return $153.3 million in undelivered tax refund checks. In all, 99,123 taxpayers are due refund checks this year that could not be delivered because of mailing address errors.

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In this YouTube video the IRS shows how you can see if you are due any of the $153 million worth of refund checks that have come back undelivered.

Watch this and other videos on the IRS’s YouTube Channel.

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The Internal Revenue Service announced interest rates will remain the same for the calendar quarter beginning Jan. 1, 2012. The rates will be:

• three (3) percent for overpayments [two (2) percent in the case of a corporation];
• three (3) percent for underpayments;
• five (5) percent for large corporate underpayments; and
• one-half (0.5) percent for the portion of a corporate overpayment exceeding $10,000.

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Earn continuing professional education (CPE) credits online, any time of day, from any location. The IRS Nationwide Tax Forums Online provides information for tax professionals, including 14 seminars filmed at the 2011 IRS Nationwide Tax Forums. Each online self-study seminar includes interactive video synchronized with PowerPoint presentation, downloadable slides and complete transcripts.

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Remind clients to use EFTPS for federal tax deposits to avoid returned payments and penalties.

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The recent webinar, Reporting Employer-Sponsored Health Plan Coverage on Form W-2, is now available on the IRS Video Portal.

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Revenue Procedure 2011-58 modifies Rev. Proc. 2009-20, 2009-1 C.B. 749, which provides an optional safe harbor allowing certain investors to claim a theft loss deduction for qualified losses from specified fraudulent investment arrangements for which authorities have charged the lead figure by indictment, information, or criminal complaint with a crime that meets the definition of theft for purposes of § 165.  Rev. Proc. 2011-58 addresses certain situations in which the death of a lead figure has foreclosed the possibility of criminal charges.  The rev. proc. extends the safe harbor in that event to certain cases in which a lead figure or associated entity is the subject of a state or federal government civil complaint alleging the elements of a specified fraudulent arrangement.

Announcement 2011-77 informs bankruptcy trustees (or debtors-in-possession) of a change of address for the Centralized Insolvency Operation that should be used for the submission of requests for tax refunds under section 505(a) of the Bankruptcy Code or requests for prompt determinations of any unpaid tax liability of the estate incurred during the bankruptcy case under section 505(b) of the Bankruptcy Code.

Notice 2011-96 provides a sample plan amendment that plan sponsors may adopt to satisfy § 436 of the Internal Revenue Code regarding limitations on the accrual and payment of benefits under certain underfunded single employer defined benefit plans.  The notice also extends both the deadline to amend a plan to satisfy § 436 and the period during which such an amendment is eligible for relief from the anti-cutback requirements of § 411(d)(6).

Notice 2011-99 provides a proposed revenue procedure in which the Internal Revenue Service will allow a taxpayer to use a simplified proportional method of accounting for original issue discount (“OID”) on pools of credit card receivables under § 1272(a)(6).  The proportional method is intended to reduce administrative burdens and controversy for taxpayers and the Service.

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