Tax pros can attend up to 30 live-streamed webinars

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today released the seminar schedule for the 2020 IRS Nationwide Tax Forums and reminded interested tax professionals that registration information is available.

Seminar schedule

Held online this year, the Nationwide Tax Forums will begin on July 21 and continue through Aug. 20 with live-streamed webinars broadcast on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Registration enables attendees to participate in all of the webinars and earn up to 30 continuing education credits for one price. 

	11:00a – Noon EDT	2:00 – 3:00p EDT
Tuesday, July 21	Advocating for Immigrant Taxpayers	KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Wednesday, July 22	Advocating for Taxpayers with Collection Information Statements	Charities & Tax-Exempt Organizations Update
Thursday, July 23	The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015’s Centralized Partnership Audit Regime	Be Tax Ready – Understanding Eligibility Rules for EITC, AOTC, CTC and Head of Household Filing Status
Tuesday, July 28	Tax Security Panel: The Taxes-Security-Together Checklist	Cybersecurity for Tax Professionals - Advanced Session
Wednesday, July 29	Diligence in Practice before the IRS: Record-Keeping	Electronic Payments and Direct Deposits – New Options
Thursday, July 30	Federal Ethics for the Tax Professionals: Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) and Circular 230	Impact of Non-filing and Non-payment
Tuesday, Aug 4	IRS Key Enforcement Issues	Keys to Mastering Due Diligence Requirements and Audits
Wednesday, Aug 5	Other Income: Taxable or Not?	Preparation of Form 1040-NR, U.S. Nonresident Alien Income Tax Return
Thursday, Aug 6	Protect Yourself and Your Clients Against A New Wave of Criminals	Taxpayer Planning Issues After the Enactment of the 2019 Disaster Act and Secure Act
Tuesday, August 11	Representing the Taxpayer Without Records, Reconstructing Income and Expenses	Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) Update: Opportunity Zones
Wednesday, August 12	Retirement Plan Distributions, Loans and More	Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) Update: Qualified Business Income Deduction
Thursday, August 13	QBI Problems? We Have Solutions!	Update from the IRS Independent Office of Appeals
Tuesday, August 18	Currency: Virtual, Digital, Cyber, Crypto, Form 1040, Schedule 1 and How to Report	Worker Classification Issues – Hiring Freelancers Is Never Free and It May Cost You A Lot, Too
Wednesday, August 19	Creditos Reembolsables (SPANISH SESSION)	Construya su Plan de Seguridad de Datos para sus Contribuyentes (SPANISH SESSION)
Thursday, August 20	Tax Changes from a Forms Perspective	Cambios Tributarios desde la Perspectiva de Formularios (SPANISH SESSION)

Participation in a virtual IRS Nationwide Tax Forum webinar this summer will earn continuing education credit for enrolled agents, certified public accountants, Annual Filing Season Program participants, California Tax Education Council participants and Certified Financial Planners.

Held each summer for the past 30 years, the IRS Nationwide Tax Forums are the IRS's marquee outreach event for the tax professional community. The forums were scheduled to take place in six cities around the country this summer. But because of restrictions on travel and large gatherings, those in-person events have been canceled.

Virtual expo all

In keeping with the in-person forums, attendees at the virtual forums will have the opportunity to visit an online exhibit hall. Schedule information for the exhibit hall will be available on the registration website.

2020 registration and fees

The Early-Bird Registration deadline has been extended to June 30 at 5 p.m. EDT. Tax professionals who register by the deadline qualify for a rate of $240 per person, a $49 savings over the standard rate of $289.

Registration for the 2020 in-person forums began in March. Those who previously registered for the live locations may transfer their registration to the virtual format at no additional cost, or they may request a refund provided they do so by the June 30 deadline.

Registration information is available at www.IRSTaxForum.com.

WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service today alerted nursing home and other care facilities that Economic Impact Payments (EIPs) generally belong to the recipients, not the organizations providing the care.
 
The IRS issued this reminder following concerns that people and businesses may be taking advantage of vulnerable populations who received the Economic Impact Payments.

The payments are intended for the recipients, even if a nursing home or other facility or provider receives the person’s payment, either directly or indirectly by direct deposit or check. These payments do not count as a resource for purposes of determining eligibility for Medicaid and other federal programs for a period of 12 months from receipt. They also do not count as income in determining eligibility for these programs.
 
The Social Security Administration (SSA) has issued FAQs on this issue, including how representative payees should handle administering the payments for the recipient. SSA has noted that under the Social Security Act, a representative payee is only responsible for managing Social Security or Supplemental Security Income (SSI) benefits. An EIP is not such a benefit; the EIP belongs to the Social Security or SSI beneficiary. A representative payee should discuss the EIP with the beneficiary. If the beneficiary wants to use the EIP independently, the representative payee should provide the EIP to the beneficiary.

The IRS also noted the Economic Impact Payments do not count as resources that have to be turned over by benefit recipients, such as residents of nursing homes whose care is provided for by Medicaid. The Economic Impact Payment is considered an advance refund for 2020 taxes, so it is considered a tax refund for benefits purposes.
 
The IRS noted the language in the Form 1040 instructions apply to Economic Impact Payments: “Any refund you receive can't be counted as income when determining if you or anyone else is eligible for benefits or assistance, or how much you or anyone else can receive, under any federal program or under any state or local program financed in whole or in part with federal funds. These programs include Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Medicaid, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly food stamps). In addition, when determining eligibility, the refund can't be counted as a resource for at least 12 months after you receive it.”
 
Additional information about EIPs and representative payees involving Social Security and Supplemental Security Income benefits can be found at www.ssa.gov/coronavirus/#reppayee.

Additional information on EIPs can be found at www.irs.gov/eipfaq.

Revenue Ruling 2020-14 provides various prescribed rates for federal income tax purposes including the applicable federal interest rates, the adjusted applicable federal interest rates, the adjusted federal long-term rate, the adjusted federal long-term tax-exempt rate. These rates are determined as prescribed by § 1274. 

The rates are published monthly for purposes of sections 42, 382, 412, 642, 1288, 1274, 7520, 7872, and various other sections of the Internal Revenue Code. 

Revenue Ruling 2020-14 will be in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2020-28, dated July 6, 2020.

Notice 2020-45 provides guidance on the corporate bond monthly yield curve, the corresponding spot segment rates used under § 417(e)(3), and the 24-month average segment rates under § 430(h)(2) of the Internal Revenue Code.  In addition, this notice provides guidance as to the interest rate on 30-year Treasury securities under § 417(e)(3)(A)(ii)(II) as in effect for plan years beginning before 2008 and the 30-year Treasury weighted average rate under § 431(c)(6)(E)(ii)(I), as reflected by the application of § 430(h)(2)(C)(iv). 

Notice 2020-45 will be in Internal Revenue Bulletin 2020-27, dated June 29, 2020.

Later this summer, for the first time taxpayers will be able to file their Form 1040-X, Amended U.S Individual Income Tax Return electronically.

Making this form electronically fileable has been a long-time goal for the IRS. It will greatly benefit the tax professional community and taxpayers.

The new electronic option will allow the IRS to receive amended returns faster while minimizing errors normally associated with manually completing the form. It will also provide the IRS with more complete and accurate data to help customer service representatives answer taxpayer questions.

When the electronic filing option becomes available, taxpayers will only be able to amend tax year 2019 Forms 1040 and 1040-SR returns electronically. In general, taxpayers will still have the option to submit a paper version of the Form 1040-X and should follow the instructions for preparing and submitting the paper form.

Whether an amended return is filed electronically or manually, taxpayers can still use the "Where's My Amended Return?" online tool to check the status of their amended return.

 

Share this tip on social media -- #IRSTaxTip: Taxpayers will soon be able to file amended tax returns electronically. https://go.usa.gov/xwZVT

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service today provided tax relief for certain taxpayers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic involved in new markets tax credit transactions.

The taxpayers receiving relief through today's guidance are community development entities (CDEs) and qualified active low-income community businesses (QALICBs) investing and conducting businesses in low-income communities.

Notice 2020-49 (PDF) provides a CDE or QALICB with relief for certain specified time-sensitive acts that are due to be performed between April 1, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2020, in order to meet requirements under section 45D of the Internal Revenue Code and its regulations. A CDE or QALICB may perform these acts by Dec. 31, 2020. The additional time is provided for the following time-sensitive acts:

Making investments

If a CDE is due to invest cash received in a qualified low-income community investment (QLICI) on or after April 1, 2020, and before Dec. 31, 2020, that cash investment is treated as invested in a QLICI to the extent it is invested by Dec. 31, 2020.

Reinvestments

If a CDE is due to reinvest certain amounts of cash or payment in a QLICI on or after April 1, 2020, and before Dec. 31, 2020, the amounts are treated as continuously invested in a QLICI to the extent the amounts are so reinvested by Dec. 31, 2020.

Expending amounts for construction of real property

If a QALICB is due to expend the proceeds of a capital or equity investment or loan by a CDE for construction of real property on or after April 1, 2020, and before Dec. 31, 2020, such proceeds are treated as a reasonable amount of working capital of the QALICB if so expended by Dec. 31, 2020.

Additional information about tax relief for businesses affected by the COVID-19 pandemic can be found on IRS.gov.

Notice 2020-49 postpones to December 31, 2020, the due dates for making investments, making reinvestments, and expending amounts for construction of real property under § 45D of the Internal Revenue Code (Code) due to be performed or expended on or after April 1, 2020, and before December 31, 2020. 

Revenue Procedure 2020-16 provides an automatic procedure for a State or local government in which an empowerment zone is located to extend the empowerment zone designation made under section 1391(a) of the Internal Revenue Code (Code).  Specifically, the automatic procedure under section 3.01 of this revenue procedure provides that a State or local government that nominated an empowerment zone is deemed to extend until December 31, 2020, the termination date designated by that State or local government in its empowerment zone nomination (designated termination date), as described in section 1391(d)(1)(B).  Section 3.02 of this revenue procedure provides a procedure for such State or local government to decline this deemed extension of its designated termination date.

It will be published in IRB 2020-27, dated Monday 06/29/2020.

WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service today provided guidance for employers whose employees forgo sick, vacation or personal leave because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Notice 2020-46 provides that cash payments employers make to charitable organizations that provide relief to victims of the COVID-19 pandemic in exchange for sick, vacation or personal leave which their employees forgo will not be treated as compensation. Similarly, the employees will not be treated as receiving the value of the leave as income and cannot claim a deduction for the leave that they donated to their employer.

Employers, however, may deduct these cash payments as a business expense or as a charitable contribution deduction if the employer otherwise meets the respective requirements of either section. 

Notice 2020-46 provides further details for employers with leave donation programs.

Additional information about tax relief for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic can be found on IRS.gov.

Notice 2020-46 provides guidance under the Internal Revenue Code on the federal income and employment tax treatment of cash payments made by employers under leave-based donation programs to aid victims of the ongoing Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic as described in the notice.  The notice provides that cash payments employers make to charitable organizations that provide relief to victims of the COVID-19 pandemic in exchange for sick, vacation, or personal leave which their employees forgo will not be treated as wages (or compensation, as applicable).

Notice 2020-46 will be in IRB:  2020-27, dated June 29, 2020.