Tax Press Releases

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced availability of the winter 2012 issue of the Statistics of Income Bulletin, which features preliminary data for 143 million individual income tax returns filed for tax year 2010.  The Statistics of Income (SOI) Division produces the SOI Bulletin on a quarterly basis.  Articles included in the publication provide the most recent data available from various tax and information returns filed by U.S. taxpayers. This issue of the SOI Bulletin also includes articles … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service today warned senior citizens and other taxpayers to beware of an emerging scheme tempting them to file tax returns claiming fraudulent refunds.  The scheme carries a common theme of promising refunds to people who have little or no income and normally don’t have a tax filing requirement. Under the scheme, promoters claim they can obtain for their victims, often senior citizens, a tax refund or nonexistent stimulus payment based on the American Opportunity Tax … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today announced that interest rates will remain the same for the calendar quarter beginning April 1, 2012.  The rates will be:  three (3) percent for overpayments (two (2) percent in the case of a corporation); three (3) percent for underpayments; five (5) percent for large corporate underpayments; and one-half (0.5) percent for the portion of a corporate overpayment exceeding $10,000. The 3 percent rate also applies to estimated tax underpayments for the second calendar … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today released revised Form 941 enabling employers to properly report the newly-extended payroll tax cut benefiting nearly 160 million workers. Under the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012, enacted yesterday, workers will continue to receive larger paychecks for the rest of this year based on a lower social security tax withholding rate of 4.2 percent, which is two percentage points less than the 6.2 percent rate in effect prior to … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service has awarded over $9 million in matching grants to Low Income Taxpayer Clinics (LITCs) for the 2012 grant cycle (Jan. 1, 2012, through Dec. 31, 2012). LITCs are organizations that represent low-income taxpayers in federal tax controversies with the IRS for free or for a nominal charge and/or provide tax education and outreach for taxpayers who speak English as a second language. Through the LITC program, the IRS awards matching grants of up to … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today issued guidance that allows certain estates of married individuals who died during the first six months of 2011 an extension of the deadline to make the portability election. The portability election passes along a decedent’s unused estate and gift tax exclusion amount to a surviving spouse. An extension is available to estates of married individuals with assets of $5 million or less, but only if the decedent died in the first six months … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today updated existing rules on permissible communications between the Office of Appeals and other parts of the IRS. The updated rules are in Revenue Procedure 2012-18, posted today on IRS.gov. The updates are necessary because the IRS has made changes to some of its business practices and adopted new ones since the existing rules were issued in October 2000. These rules address ex parte communications, which are communications between the Office of Appeals and … Continue reading →

WASHINGTON — The IRS today issued guidance that now allows partnerships to provide Schedule K-1, Partner’s Share of Current Year Income, Deductions, Credits, and Other Items electronically to recipients. Certain entities, such as partnerships, are required annually to file K-1s with the IRS and provide a copy to their partners. The new rules can make it easier for partnerships to provide this necessary information to their partners, and will reduce the expense associated with printing and mailing K-1s to partners … Continue reading →

IR-2012-19 — IRS Extends Comment Period for Guidance on Indian Tribal Government Programs IRS Newswire Feb. 13, 2012 Issue Number:    IR-2012-19IRS Extends Comment Period for Guidance on Indian Tribal Government Programs IR-2012-19, Feb. 13, 2012WASHINGTON – The IRS is extending the time limit for commenting on guidance the agency issued regarding the application of the general welfare exclusion to Indian tribal government programs. Comments may now be submitted through March 14, 2012.On Nov. 15, 2011, the IRS issued Notice 2011-94, which … Continue reading →