F

Business may find they have questions about how 2017’s tax reform legislation affects their organization and their bottom line. IRS.gov is a great place to find answers. Here are several resources on the IRS website that address tax reform.

Tax reform provisions that affect businesses
This is the main page for businesses. Users can link from this page out to more resources with additional information, which is organized in sections by topic. These sections include a plain language description and links to news releases, notices and other technical guidance. Here are a few of the main tax topics on this page and the subtopics highlighted in each section:

• Income: taxation of foreign income, carried interest, and like-kind exchanges
• Deductions and depreciation: fringe benefits, moving expenses, standard mileage rates, deduction for pass-through businesses, and business interest expenses
• Credits: employer credit for paid family and medical leave, and the rehabilitation tax credit
• Taxes: blended federal income tax and withholding
• Accounting method changes
• Opportunity zones

This page also includes information for specific industries, such as farming, insurance companies, and aircraft management services.

Tax Reform Small Business Initiative
This one-stop shop highlights important tax reform topics for small businesses. From this page, users can link to several additional resources.

Tax reform resources
From this page, people can link to helpful products including news releases, tax reform tax tips, revenue procedures, fact sheets, FAQs and drop-in articles. Organizations can share these materials including the drop-in articles with employees, customers and volunteers to help them better understand tax reform.

Tax Cuts and Jobs Act: A comparison for businesses
This side-by-side comparison can help businesses understand the changes the new law made to previous law. It will help businesses then make decisions and plan accordingly. It covers changes to deductions, depreciation, expensing, tax credits, and other tax items that affect businesses.

Tax reform: What’s new for your business 
This electronic publication covers many of the TCJA provisions that are important for small and medium-sized businesses, their owners, and tax professionals to understand. This concise publication includes sections about:

• Qualified business income deduction
• Depreciation: Section 168 and 179 modifications
• Business-related losses, exclusions and deductions
• Business credits
• Corporate tax provisions
• S corporations
• Farm provisions
  
  

Share this tip on social media — #IRSTaxTip: Find out how tax reform affects your businesses’ bottom line at IRS.gov 
https://go.usa.gov/xEkSq

Back to Top

The United States Tax Court’s website (www.ustaxcourt.gov) announced that the Tax Court shut down operations on Friday, December 28, 2018, at 11:59 p.m. and will remain closed until further notice.  The IRS reminds taxpayers and tax professionals the Tax Court website is the best place to get information about a pending case. 

There are some important points for taxpayers and tax professionals to keep in mind. These are some questions and answers to help during the current appropriations lapse.

Q: What should I do if a document I mailed or sent to the Tax Court was returned to me?

A: The Tax Court website indicates that mail sent to the court through the U.S.  Postal Service or through designated private delivery services may have been returned undelivered.  If a document you sent to the Tax Court was returned to you, as the Tax Court website indicates, re-mail or re-send the document to the Court with a copy of the envelope or container (with the postmark or proof of mailing date) in which it was first mailed or sent. In addition, please retain the original.

My case was calendared for trial.  What does the Tax Court’s closure mean for my pending case? 

The Tax Court canceled trial sessions for January 28, 2019 (El Paso, TX; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; Philadelphia, PA; San Diego, CA; and Lubbock, TX), February 4, 2019 (Hartford, CT; Houston, TX; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; St. Paul, MN; Washington, DC; and Winston-Salem, NC) and February 11, 2019 (Detroit, MI; Los Angeles, CA; New York, NY; San Diego, CA; and Mobile, AL). The Tax Court will inform taxpayers who had cases on the canceled trial sessions of their new trial dates.

The Tax Court’s website indicates that it will make a decision about the February 25, 2019 trial sessions (Atlanta, GA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Los Angeles, CA; and Philadelphia, PA) on or before February 7, 2019.  Taxpayers with cases that are scheduled for trial sessions that have not been canceled or that have not yet been scheduled for trial should expect their cases to proceed in the normal course until further notice.

If my case was on a canceled trial session, when will I have an opportunity to resolve my case with Appeals or Chief Counsel after the government reopens? 

After the IRS and Chief Counsel reopen, we will make our best efforts to expeditiously resolve cases. 

Where can I get more information about my Tax Court case? 

If someone is representing you in your case, you should contact your representative. In addition, the Tax Court’s website is the best place for updates.  The IRS Chief Counsel and Appeals personnel assigned to your case may be furloughed and will not be available to answer your questions until the government reopens.  In addition, The American Bar Association (ABA) is conducting a webinar on January 28, 2019, and you can get more information from the ABA Tax Section website (www.americanbar.org/groups/taxation). Taxpayers seeking assistance from Low Income Taxpayer Clinics (LITCs) can find a list of LITCs on the Tax Court’s website (www.ustaxcourt.gov/clinics/clinics.pdf).

During the shutdown, does interest continue to accrue on the tax that I am disputing in my pending Tax Court case? 

Yes. To avoid additional interest on the tax that you are disputing in your pending Tax Court case, you can stop the running of interest by making a payment to the IRS.  Go to www.irs.gov/payments for payment options available to you.  The IRS is continuing to process payments during the shutdown.

What should I do if I received a bill for the tax liability that is the subject of my Tax Court case? 

If you receive a collection notice for the tax that is in dispute in your Tax Court case, it may be because the IRS has not received your petition and has made a premature assessment.  When the government reopens, the IRS attorney assigned to your case will determine if a premature assessment was made and request that the IRS abate the premature assessment. 

Back to Top