New Regulations Exempt Objecting Employers, Others from Contraceptive...
The Treasury, Health and Human Services, and Labor Departments have issued contraceptive mandate rules that are effective on October 6, 2017. The new regulations exempt objecting nongovernment...
View ArticleWeekly Report from Washington, D.C.
The Treasury Department announced the results of its much-anticipated review of eight recent tax regulations. Lawmakers continued to discuss tax reform and the IRS reminded taxpayers of the approaching...
View ArticleDC Talks Taxable Internet Services, Video Streaming
Sales of digital goods in the District of Columbia are subject to sales tax if they are: data processing services; or information services. In a notice, the Office of Tax and Revenue provides: a list...
View ArticleTexas Highlights Hurricane Harvey Tax Relief Measures
A Texas Comptroller newsletter highlights the sales and hotel occupancy tax relief measures for Hurricane Harvey victims and relief workers. Filing Extensions Businesses not required to report their...
View ArticleShareholders Liable as Transferees; Stock Sale Was Sham (Shockley, CA-11)
The Tax Court properly assessed transferee tax liabilities against the shareholders of a communications company. The stock sale was properly recast as an asset sale followed by a liquidating...
View ArticleCA Expands Tax Exclusion for Forgiven Student Loans
California has broadened its income tax exclusion for student loan debt that is canceled or repaid by the federal government. Between January 1, 2017, and January 1, 2022, the exclusion applies to...
View ArticleBill Introduced to Expand EITC, Child Tax Credit; White House Explores Child...
Sens. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., have introduced the Stronger Way Bill. This tax reform legislation addresses certain family-focused tax credits. The bill proposes enhancing both...
View ArticleIRS Updates Defined Benefit Plan Funding Method Change Procedures (Rev. Proc....
The IRS has updated its procedures for defined benefit plans changing funding methods and revoking an election related to interest rates. The revised procedures are effective January 1, 2018. However,...
View ArticleNonprofit Liable for Underpayment Interest from Date Exempt Status Revoked...
The retroactive revocation of a nonprofit credit counseling corporation’s exempt status restored the corporation to the position it would have been in if it had never had exempt status. Therefore, the...
View ArticleCalifornia Increases IFTA Rate
California has announced that the per gallon rate for the International Fuel Tax Agreement (IFTA) and the Interstate User Diesel Fuel Tax (DI) will increase to $0.57, on November 1, 2017. Previously,...
View ArticleCA Taxpayers Must Complete Use Tax Line on Returns
California Gov. Edmund G. Brown, Jr. has signed legislation that provides individual income tax returns and instructions to require that: taxpayers enter a number on the use tax line of personal income...
View ArticleNew Charitable Deduction Bill Eyed for Tax Reform Package; Reform Permanence...
Chairman Mark Walker, R-N.C. of the Republican Study Committee, has introduced tax legislation that would create a new charitable contributions deduction for those who do not itemize. The Universal...
View ArticleProposed Regulations Remove Code Sec. 754 Election Signature Requirement...
The IRS has released proposed regulations that would eliminate the signature requirement for making a Code Sec. 754 election (section 754 election). Taxpayers may rely on these proposed regulations....
View ArticleClergy Housing Allowance Violates Establishment Clause (Gaylor v. Mnuchin, DC...
A federal district court has once again decided that the exemption for minister housing allowance under Code Sec. 107(2) violates the Establishment Clause. The court determined that the statute...
View ArticleMTC Extends Tax Amnesty Deadlines
The Multistate Tax Commission (MTC) extended both the application and registration deadlines for its voluntary disclosure initiative for online marketplace sellers. The tax amnesty initiative provides...
View ArticleCA Can Tax Full Value of Jets That Fly Out-of-State
An assessment of personal property tax on the full value of the jets owned by an air taxi service was upheld by a California Appellate Court. The fact that the company’s jets touched down in other...
View ArticleTrump Touts Middle-Class Relief in Tax Reform Speech
President Trump, in an October 11 speech in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, focused on the message that his primary goal in pursuing tax cuts and reform is to help middle-class taxpayers. In contrast to...
View ArticleTrump Signs Executive Order Promoting Health Care Changes, Lifts HRA...
President Trump signed an executive order (EO) on October 12 entitled Promoting Healthcare Choice and Competition Across the United States. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., who has often been at odds with...
View ArticleCrowdsource Funding to Help Victims of the Las Vegas Massacre
Martin M. Shenkman, Esq., Bernard A. Krooks, Esq., and Jonathan G. Blattmachr, Esq., have written an article about crowdfunding to help disaster victims. Crowdfunding is the practice of funding a...
View ArticleCalifornia Extends Deadlines for Employers Affected by Wildfires
The California Employment Development Department (EDD) is extending deadlines for employers affected by the multiple fires that began on October 8 and 9, 2017. The extension applies for employers in:...
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