News and miscellaneous legal topics – 2011

current | archived: 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003

Various legal items emphasizing Missouri and federal taxes, archived from the RSS ("rich site summary") feed xlm logo

Missouri House Approves Tax Amnesty Bill new 9/22/11

The Missouri House of Representatives approved a bill providing amnesty from assessment or payment of all penalties, additions to tax, and interest on delinquencies with respect to unpaid Missouri income taxes and sales and use taxes due on or before December 31, 2010.

A taxpayer must apply for amnesty, file a tax return for each tax period for which amnesty is requested, pay the unpaid taxes in full from January 1, 2012, to February 29, 2012, and agree to comply with state tax laws for the next eight years from the date of the amnesty agreement.

The amnesty would apply regardless of whether the taxes were previously assessed, except for penalties, additions to tax, and interest paid before January 1, 2012. The amnesty would not extend to any taxpayer who at the time of payment is a party to any criminal investigation or to any civil or criminal litigation pending in any U.S. or Missouri court for nonpayment, delinquency, or fraud relating to any tax imposed by the state.

If a taxpayer fails to comply with the state tax laws at any time during 8 years following the date of the agreement, all penalties, additions to tax, and interest that were waived under the agreement would become due and owing immediately.

A taxpayer's elects to participate in the amnesty program is an express and absolute relinquishment of all administrative and judicial rights of appeal. No tax payment received under the amnesty program would be eligible for refund or credit.

H.B. 2a, as passed by the Missouri House of Representatives, First Extraordinary Session, on September 9, 2011.

"So You Owe Taxes — Now What ?" new 9/17/11

I will join with Dr. Sandra Byrd, director of the Low Income Tax Clinic at MSU, MSU graduate students, and the Springfield Greene County Library auditorium at 7:00 P.M., Wednesday, September 28, 2011 to present a seminar on dealing with IRS collection.

New IRS video series "Owe Taxes ? Understanding IRS Collection Efforts" new 9/14/11

topics include:

Touring the IRS Kansas City Campus new 8/31/11

After attending the June 2, 2011 IRS Practitioner Liaison meeting, I toured the IRS Kansas City Campus (formerly "Service Center"), which is not generally accessible to the public.

IRS Tips on Keeping Good Records Now to Reduce Tax-Time Stress new 7/26/11

In most cases, the IRS does not require you to keep records in any special manner. Generally, you should keep any and all documents that may have an impact on your federal tax return. It’s a good idea to have a designated place for tax documents and receipts. More

IRS Multilingual Gateway lets you select the language of your choice

including Chinese, Korean, Russian, Spanish and Vietnamese. new 8/27/11

Here are seven things the IRS wants you to know about deducting costs related to your job search new 7/29/11

  1. To qualify for a deduction, the expenses must be spent on a job search in your current occupation. You may not deduct expenses you incur while looking for a job in a new occupation.
  2. You can deduct employment and outplacement agency fees you pay while looking for a job in your present occupation. If your employer pays you back in a later year for employment agency fees, you must include the amount you receive in your gross income, up to the amount of your tax benefit in the earlier year.
  3. You can deduct amounts you spend for preparing and mailing copies of your résumé to prospective employers as long as you are looking for a new job in your present occupation.
  4. If you travel to an area to look for a new job in your present occupation, you may be able to deduct travel expenses to and from the area. You can only deduct the travel expenses if the trip is primarily to look for a new job. The amount of time you spend on personal activity compared to the amount of time you spend looking for work is important in determining whether the trip is primarily personal or is primarily to look for a new job.
  5. You cannot deduct job search expenses if there was a substantial break between the end of your last job and the time you begin looking for a new one.
  6. You cannot deduct job search expenses if you are looking for a job for the first time.
  7. The amount of job search expenses that you can claim on your tax return is limited. You can claim the amount that is more than 2 percent of your adjusted gross income. You figure your deduction on Schedule A.

For more information about job search expenses, see IRS Publication 529, Miscellaneous Deductions. This publication is available on www.irs.gov or by calling 800-TAX-FORM (800-829-3676).

Two-Year Limit No Longer Applies to Many Innocent Spouse Requests IR-2011-80, July 25, 2011 new 7/26/11

The IRS will no longer apply the two-year limit to new equitable relief requests or requests currently being considered by the agency.

A taxpayer whose equitable relief request was previously denied solely due to the two-year limit may reapply using IRS Form 8857, Request for Innocent Spouse Relief, if the collection statute of limitations for the tax years involved has not expired.

Taxpayers with cases currently in suspense will be automatically afforded the new rule and should not reapply.

The IRS will not apply the two-year limit in any pending litigation involving equitable relief, and where litigation is final, the agency will suspend collection action under certain circumstances.

By law, the two-year election period for seeking innocent spouse relief under the other provisions of section 6015 of the Internal Revenue Code, continues to apply. The normal refund statute of limitations also continues to apply to tax years covered by any innocent spouse request.

The change to the two-year limit is effective immediately, and details are in Notice 2011-70, posted today on IRS.gov.

IRS Nationwide “Fresh Start” Open House Set for Saturday July 16 new 7/14/11

A total of 74 Taxpayer Assistance Centers will be open in 34 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. local time. Taxpayers can find participating offices by visiting the Saturday Service Locations page on IRS.gov. This special event is particularly intended for people who want to make a “fresh start” by taking steps to have liens withdrawn. It also provides an opportunity to those who cannot visit an IRS walk-in office during regular weekday hours to speak with IRS personnel about their tax issues.

No Missouri offices are scheduled to be open. updated 7/15/11

Tax Court Affirms Treatment of State Tax Credits as Short-Term Capital Gains new 6/25/11

Transferable Colorado state conservation easement income tax credits sold by individuals were capital assets and the holding period for the credits began when the taxpayers received them, not when they acquired the real property that was subject to the conservation easement. The state conservation easement tax credits qualified as capital assets because the credits were NOT included in one of the Code § 1221 excluded property categories. Also, the credits were not a substitute for ordinary income because the credits did not represent a right to income.

The credits were never part of the taxpayers’ real property rights. The state granted the credits only after the easement donation was complete, so that the holding period for the credits began when the taxpayers received the credits from the state and not when they acquired the property.

McNeil v. Comm., U.S. Tax Court, CCH Dec. 58,631(M), T.C. Memo. 2011-109, T.C.M. , (May 23, 2011)

IRS Chief CounseI Explains Tolling Of Statute Of Limitations When It Issues Third-Party Summons new 6/25/11

IRS Chief Counsel has issued internal guidance that explains how to calculate the tolling (suspension) of the state of limitations under Code §§ 6501 and 6531, involving civil assessments or criminal prosecutions when the IRS issues a summons to a third-party who fails to comply with the summons. The suspension applies if the third-party does not fully comply with the summons within six months after it is served. The six-month period begins on the exact day the summons is served on the third-party. The end of the six months and the beginning of the suspension period start exactly six months after the summons is served. The suspension period is added onto the original Assessment Statute Expiration date (ASED) to calculate the new ASED (the last day on which the IRS could take a particular action against the taxpayer).

Generally, the IRS has three years to assess taxes in a civil proceeding or initiate criminal proceedings, although the limit can be longer (or indefinite) in more egregious circumstances.

The statutory period is suspended (and thus the limit is extended) for third-party summonses if:

CCA 201120001.

The 4th Circuit upholds 2 year statute of limitations on innocent spouse relief new 6/25/11

In Jones v. Comm., CA 4, 107 AFTR 2d ¶2011-930, the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the validity of Reg. § 1.6015-5(b)(1), applying 2-year deadline to Code § 6015(f) innocent spouse relief claims, and reversed and remanded the Tax Court decision to contrary, striking the regulation down and granting taxpayer's request for Code § 6015(f) relief that taxpayer filed outside 2-year deadline The 4th Ciruit found that Code § 6015(f) was sufficiently ambiguous to leave room for agency interpretation and that such interpretation, reflecting IRS determination that no deadline would create uncertainty and that instead 2-year timeline should apply, was reasonable. The Court rejected taxpayer's arguments that regulation was unnecessarily and inappropriately narrowed the relief that Congress had intended to provide in Code § 6015(f). However, taxpayer was entitled to be heard on her alternative argument that even if regulation were valid, she should still be given time extension under Reg. § 301.9100-3, and the case was remanded for consideration of that issue.

current | archived: 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003