SWEET & ASSOCIATES, P.C.
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WASHINGTON—The Internal Revenue Service will be resuming issuing collections notices to taxpayers that were previously suspending during the COVID-19 pandemic, although a date on when they will begin to be sent out has not been set.


The Internal Revenue Service will use 2018 as the benchmark year for determining audit rates as it plans to increase enforcement for those individuals and businesses making more than $400,000 per year.


The Supreme Court has held that the exception to the notice requirement in Code Sec. 7609(c)(2)(D)(i) does not apply where a delinquent taxpayer has a legal interest in accounts or records summoned by the IRS under Code Sec. 7602(a). The IRS had entered official assessments against an individual for unpaid taxes and penalties, following which a revenue officer had issued summonses to three banks seeking financial records of several third parties, including the taxpayers. Subsequently, the taxpayers moved to quash the summonses. The District Court concluded that, under Code Sec. 7609(c)(2)(D)(i), no notice was required and that taxpayers, therefore, could not bring a motion to quash. 


An IRS notice provides interim guidance describing rules that the IRS intends to include in proposed regulations regarding the domestic content bonus credit requirements for:


A married couple’s petition for redetermination of an income tax deficiency was untimely where they electronically filed their petition from the central time zone but after the due date in the eastern time zone, where the Tax Court is located. Accordingly, the taxpayers’ case was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.


Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Daniel Werfel said changes are coming to address racial disparities among those who get audited annually.


The American Institute of CPAs expressed support for legislation pending in the Senate that would redefine when electronic payments to the Internal Revenue Service are considered timely.


WASHINGTON—The Inflation Reduction Act Strategic Operating Plan was designed to be a living document, an Internal Revenue Service official said.

The plan, which outlines how the IRS plans to spend the additional nearly $80 billion in supplemental funds allocated to it in the Inflation Reduction Act, was written to be a "living document. It’s not meant to be something static that stays on the shelf and never gets updated, and just becomes an historic relic," Bridget Roberts, head of the IRS Transformation and Strategy Office, said May 5, 2023, at the ABA May Tax Meeting.


The IRS Independent Office of Appeals, in coordination with the National Taxpayer Advocate, has invited public feedback on how it can improve conference options for taxpayers and representatives who are not located near an Appeals office, encourage participation of taxpayers with limited English proficiency and ensure accessibility by persons with disabilities. Taxpayers can send their comments to ap.taxpayer.experience@irs.gov by July 10, 2023.


The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (PATH Act) accelerated the due date for filing Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement and Form W-3, Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements, and any returns or statements required by the IRS to report nonemployee compensation to January 31. The change is scheduled to take effect for returns and statements required to be filed in 2017. At this time, many employers and payroll providers are reprogramming their systems for the accelerated due date.


An employee or self-employed individual is allowed a deduction for the costs of meals and incidental expenses while traveling away from home for business purposes. The deduction of these costs usually requires the substantiation of the costs. However, there is an optional method provided for these taxpayers that avoids keeping receipts.