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The latest post of “A Closer Look,” features what went on behind the scenes for the IRS to simultaneously execute a highly successful filing season while taking on significant new responsibilities to deliver Economic Impact Payments and implement other tax relief to help Americans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Continue reading here.

“A Closer Look” covers a variety of timely issues of interest to taxpayers and the tax community. It also provides a detailed look at key issues affecting everything from IRS operations and employees to issues involving taxpayers and tax professionals.

People can check here for prior posts and new updates.

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) today issued Notice 2020-75, which announces rules to be included in forthcoming proposed regulations.  Specifically, the proposed regulations will clarify that State and local income taxes imposed on and paid by a partnership or S corporation on its income are allowed as a deduction by the partnership or S corporation in computing its  non-separately stated taxable income or loss for the taxable year of payment, and therefore are not subject to the State and local tax deduction limitation for partners and shareholders who itemize deductions.  

The notice describing the forthcoming proposed regulations applies to these types of income taxes starting today, and also allows taxpayers to apply these rules to specified income tax payments made in a taxable year of a partnership or an S corporation ending after Dec. 31, 2017, and before the date the forthcoming proposed regulations are published in the Federal Register.

Updates on the implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) can be found on the Tax Reform page of IRS.gov.

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WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service today urged anyone who doesn’t normally file a tax return and has not yet received an #Economic #Impact #Payment (#EIP) to take advantage of “National EIP Registration Day,” on Tuesday, Nov. 10. National EIP Registration Day is part of the agency’s further concerted push with partners across the country to make sure every eligible American has registered before the Nov. 21 deadline to receive their Economic Impact Payment this year.

National EIP Registration Day will take place just a few days ahead of the Nov. 21 deadline for registering online to receive an Economic Impact Payment. This special event will feature support from IRS partner groups inside and outside of the tax community, including those that work with low-income and underserved communities. These groups will help spread the word about the new Nov. 21 deadline and, in some cases, provide special support for people who still need to register for the payments on IRS.gov.

Earlier this fall, the IRS sent nearly 9 million letters to people who appear to qualify for the Economic Impact Payments but don’t normally file a tax return. To help tax professionals and other partners reach out to these non-filers, the IRS has posted a zip-code level breakdown of the number of these letters. The letters, along with the special Nov. 10 event, urge people to use the Non-Filers: Enter Info Here tool, available exclusively on IRS.gov.

“Our partner groups have been vital to our efforts to reach many underserved communities,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. “Already, millions of Americans have successfully used the Non-Filers portal and received their Economic Impact Payment. Registration is quick and easy, and we urge everyone to share this information to reach as many people before time runs out on Nov. 21.”

Many partner groups have been working with the IRS, helping translate and making available Economic Impact Payment information and resources in 35 languages. The IRS is also conducting a multilingual push on social media to support the final registration drive.

Since the Non-Filers tool launched in the spring, nearly 8.3 million people who normally aren’t required to file a tax return have registered for the payments. The IRS continues to work to reach others who haven’t used the tool yet, which led to this fall’s mailing and the Nov. 10 registration event.

The tool is designed for people with incomes typically below $24,400 for married couples, and $12,200 for singles who could not be claimed as a dependent by someone else. This includes couples and individuals who are experiencing homelessness.

Normally, an eligible individual who registers will receive a $1,200 payment if they are single or $2,400 if married and file a joint return. If they have dependent children, they will normally also get an additional $500 for each qualifying child.

Anyone using the Non-Filers tool can speed up the arrival of their payment by choosing to receive it by direct deposit. Those not choosing this option will get a check.

Beginning two weeks after they register, people can track the status of their payment using the Get My Payment tool, available only on IRS.gov. For other EIP-related information, including answers to frequently asked questions, visit the Economic Impact Payment Information Center on IRS.gov.

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IR-2020-245, Oct. 26, 2020

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced the tax year 2021 annual inflation adjustments for more than 60 tax provisions, including the tax rate schedules and other tax changes. Revenue Procedure 2020-45 provides details about these annual adjustments.

Highlights of changes in Revenue Procedure 2020-45: The Consolidated Appropriation Act for 2020 increased the amount of the minimum addition tax for failure to file a tax return within 60 days of the due date. Beginning with returns due after Dec. 31, 2019, the new additional tax is $435 or 100 percent of the amount of tax due, whichever is less, an increase from $330. The $435 additional tax will be adjusted for inflation.

The tax year 2021 adjustments described below generally apply to tax returns filed in 2022.

The tax items for tax year 2021 of greatest interest to most taxpayers include the following dollar amounts:

• The standard deduction for married couples filing jointly for tax year 2021 rises to $25,100, up $300 from the prior year. For single taxpayers and married individuals filing separately, the standard deduction rises to $12,550 for 2021, up $150, and for heads of households, the standard deduction will be $18,800 for tax year 2021, up $150.
• The personal exemption for tax year 2021 remains at 0, as it was for 2020; this elimination of the personal exemption was a provision in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
• Marginal Rates: For tax year 2021, the top tax rate remains 37% for individual single
  taxpayers with incomes greater than $523,600 ($628,300 for married couples filing jointly).
  The other rates are: 35%, for incomes over $209,425 ($418,850 for married couples
  filing jointly); 32% for incomes over $164,925 ($329,850 for married couples filing jointly);
  24% for incomes over $86,375 ($172,750 for married couples filing jointly); 22% for incomes
  over $40,525 ($81,050 for married couples filing jointly); 12% for incomes over $9,950
  ($19,900 for married couples filing jointly). The lowest rate is 10% for incomes of single
  individuals with incomes of $9,950 or less ($19,900 for married couples filing jointly).
• For 2021, as in 2020, 2019 and 2018, there is no limitation on itemized deductions, as that limitation was eliminated by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
• The Alternative Minimum Tax exemption amount for tax year 2021 is $73,600 and begins to phase out at $523,600 ($114,600 for married couples filing jointly for whom the exemption begins to phase out at $1,047,200). The 2020 exemption amount was $72,900 and began to phase out at $518,400 ($113,400 for married couples filing jointly for whom the exemption began to phase out at $1,036,800).
• The tax year 2021 maximum Earned Income Credit amount is $6,728 for qualifying taxpayers who have three or more qualifying children, up from a total of $6,660 for tax year 2020. The revenue procedure contains a table providing maximum Earned Income Credit amount for other categories, income thresholds and phase-outs.
• For tax year 2021, the monthly limitation for the qualified transportation fringe benefit remains $270, as is the monthly limitation for qualified parking.
• For the taxable years beginning in 2021, the dollar limitation for employee salary reductions for contributions to health flexible spending arrangements remains $2,750. For cafeteria plans that permit the carryover of unused amounts, the maximum carryover amount is $550, an increase of $50 from taxable years beginning in 2020.
• For tax year 2021, participants who have self-only coverage in a Medical Savings Account, the plan must have an annual deductible that is not less than $2,400, up $50 from tax year 2020; but not more than $3,600, an increase of $50 from tax year 2020. For self-only coverage, the maximum out-of-pocket expense amount is $4,800, up $50 from 2020. For tax year 2021, participants with family coverage, the floor for the annual deductible is $4,800, up from $4,750 in 2020; however, the deductible cannot be more than $7,150, up $50 from the limit for tax year 2020. For family coverage, the out-of-pocket expense limit is $8,750 for tax year 2021, an increase of $100 from tax year 2020.
• For tax year 2021, the adjusted gross income amount used by joint filers to determine the reduction in the Lifetime Learning Credit is $119,000, up from $118,000 for tax year 2020.
• For tax year 2021, the foreign earned income exclusion is $108,700 up from $107,600 for tax year 2020.
• Estates of decedents who die during 2021 have a basic exclusion amount of $11,700,000, up from a total of $11,580,000 for estates of decedents who died in 2020.

• The annual exclusion for gifts is $15,000 for calendar year 2021, as it was for calendar year 2020.
• The maximum credit allowed for adoptions for tax year 2021 is the amount of qualified adoption expenses up to $14,440, up from $14,300 for 2020.

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WASHINGTON – The IRS released today an early draft of the instructions to Form 1065, U.S. Return of Partnership Income, for tax year 2020 (filing season 2021) that include revised instructions for partnerships required to report capital accounts to partners on Schedule K-1 (Form 1065).

The revised instructions are part of a larger effort by the agency to improve the quality of the information reported by partnerships to the IRS and furnished to partners to facilitate increased compliance.

The revised instructions indicate that partnerships filing Form 1065 for tax year 2020 are to calculate partner capital accounts using the transactional approach for the tax basis method. Under the tax basis method outlined in the instructions, partnerships report partner contributions, the partner’s share of partnership net income or loss, withdrawals and distributions, and other increases or decreases using tax basis principles as opposed to reporting using other methods such as GAAP.

According to IRS data, most partnerships already use the tax basis method although partnerships previously could report capital accounts determined under multiple methods. Partnerships that did not prepare Schedules K-1 under the tax capital method for 2019 or otherwise maintain tax basis capital accounts in their books and records (for example, for purposes of reporting negative capital accounts) may determine each partner’s beginning tax basis capital account balance for 2020 using one of the following methods: the Modified Outside Basis Method, the Modified Previously Taxed Capital Method, or the Section 704(b) Method, as described in the instructions, including special rules for publicly traded partnerships.

In anticipation of requesting more consistent and useful tax information from partnerships, the Department of the Treasury and the IRS released Notice 2020-43 seeking public comment on other possible methods to report capital accounts to partners. The IRS and the Treasury Department received numerous comments from taxpayers requesting that the tax basis method approach be retained. At the same time, the IRS did not receive practical alternative approaches to partner capital account reporting. Reporting using only one method assists the IRS in assessing compliance risk, and identifying potential noncompliance, while ensuring that compliant taxpayers’ returns are less likely to be examined.

To promote compliance with using the tax basis method described in the revised instructions, the Treasury Department and the IRS intend to issue a notice providing additional penalty relief for the transition in tax year 2020. The notice will provide that solely for tax year 2020 (for partnership returns due in 2021), the IRS will not assess a partnership a penalty for any errors in reporting its partners’ beginning capital account balances on Schedules K-1 if the partnership takes ordinary and prudent business care in following the form instructions to calculate and report the beginning capital account balances. This penalty relief will be in addition to the reasonable cause exception to penalties for any incorrect reporting of a beginning capital account balance.

The draft instructions are intended to give tax practitioners a preview of the changes and software providers the information they need to update systems before the final version of the updated instructions is released in December.

The IRS is now accepting comments for 30 days at LBI.1065.Comments@irs.gov

The IRS plans similar revisions, as applicable, to Form 8865, Return of U.S. Persons with Respect to Certain Foreign Partnerships.

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