Issue Number: 2018-31
Inside This Issue
- Protect Your Clients, Protect Yourself: Beware of Spear Phishing Emails
- Proposed Regulations Implementing Section 965
- Register Now for the Orlando IRS Nationwide Tax Forum
- Updated Tax Relief for Texas Disaster Victims
- Updated Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act Registration System
- Technical Guidance
1. Protect Your Clients, Protect Yourself: Beware of Spear Phishing Emails
In the fourth part of the Tax Security 101 series, the IRS and its Security Summit partners remind tax professionals that spear phishing remains the most common way data thieves enter practitioner’s digital networks and steal client information. Tax professionals who fall victim to spear phishing tactics voluntarily disclose sensitive password information or voluntarily download malicious software, enabling thieves to breach their security systems.
For more information on how to avoid phishing scams, visit Protect Your Clients; Protect Yourself: Tax Security 101.
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2. Proposed Regulations Implementing Section 965
The IRS and the Department of the Treasury this week issued proposed regulations on Section 965 of the Internal Revenue Code. The proposed regulations affect United States shareholders, as defined under section 951(b) of the Code, with direct or indirect ownership in certain specified foreign corporations, as defined under section 965(e) of the Code. Section 965 levies a transition tax on post-1986 untaxed foreign earnings of specified foreign corporations owned by United States shareholders by deeming those earnings to be repatriated.
Written or electronic comments and requests for a public hearing on this proposed regulation must be received within 60 days of publication in the forthcoming Federal Register. For more information on the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and Section 965, visit the Tax Reform page on IRS.gov.
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3. Register Now for the Orlando IRS Nationwide Tax Forum
Registration for the IRS Nationwide Tax Forums in San Diego and Chicago is closed, but tax professionals who want to hear the latest on tax law updates from the IRS can still attend the Orlando Tax Forum Sept. 11-13. The Orlando Forum is the last of the season. Register now.
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4. Updated Tax Relief for Texas Disaster Victims
The IRS has updated tax relief for victims of severe storms and flooding inTexas to include Jim Wells County.
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5. Updated Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act Registration System
The IRS has updated the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA) Registration System to incorporate the certification of pre-existing accounts and periodic certification process. The updated Registration System also includes:
- A new option to submit a certification
- Updates to the account home page
- Updates to the Registration Form
- An updated list of FATCA classifications
Entities that have a certification requirement must update their FATCA classification. Entities that do not have a certification requirement should update their FATCA classification to avoid inapplicable certification related notices in the future. For more specific guidance, see Section 8 of Revenue Procedure 2017-16 or review the updated FATCA Online Registration User Guide.
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6. Technical Guidance
Revenue Procedure 2018-39 provides relief to taxpayers who took out private student loans to finance attendance at a school owned by Corinthian College, Inc. (CCI) or American Career Institutes, Inc. (ACI).
Notice 2018-58 addresses a change included in the 2015 Protecting Americans From Tax Hikes (PATH) Act, and two changes included in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Taxpayers, beneficiaries, and administrators of 529 and Achieving a Better Life Experience (ABLE) programs can rely on the rules described in this notice until the Treasury Department and IRS issue regulations clarifying these three changes.
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