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Long-awaited recent guidance from the IRS on abandoned property illustrated why 1099 reporting can be so complicated. Simply put, there are gaps in reporting regulations that sometimes go unfilled—and then produce surprises when the IRS does fill them. One of those gaps involved abandoned property on deferred income products—essentially, pensions, annuities or insurance policies people […]

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act eliminated the Affordable Care Act (ACA) individual mandate effective in 2019. But with states bringing mandates back on their own, state-by-state reporting could be the next trend in ACA compliance. When the new tax law dropped the requirement for individuals to carry health insurance or pay a fine, widespread […]

So, the Supreme Court just legalized sports gambling all over the United States, right? Not exactly. In fact, not at all. But the Court’s recent decision does open the door for states to legalize sports betting and, as is the case with many news developments, it could have a massive impact on tax information reporting. […]

The wave of retiring baby boomers is causing IRA reporting, carried out mainly through form 1099-R, to be a tricky process for some organizations. The numbers are staggering, with 10,000 boomers retiring every day for the next 12 years. That’s a lot of forms 1099-R and 5498. The building volume of forms to mail to […]

The evolution of cryptocurrencies isn’t necessarily going as planned. The virtual “coins,” which aren’t really coins at all, were supposed to disrupt the very concept of money itself. With no central bank, no governmental oversight and no physical manifestation, cryptocurrencies provided a perfect method for some investors to skirt regulation and dodge tax authorities. And […]

Form 1099-SA, Distributions From a Health Savings Account (HSA), Archer Medical Savings Account (MSA) or Medicare Advantage MSA, and Form 5498-SA, HSA, Archer MSA or Medicare Advantage (MA) MSA Information, are tax information reporting documents related to health savings accounts. These forms are tied together because Form 1099-SA is used to report distributions to an […]

Many businesses engage in special sweepstakes or other forms of promotion marketing to create more visibility to their brands. While this is a great way to improve lead generation and conversion, companies must consider the tax information reporting obligations. This is not only important so businesses avoid IRS penalties by submitting the appropriate forms, but […]

Sovos experts will join their peers from the IRS and the tax industry at the 2018 Tax Reporting and Withholding Conference April 23-25 in Arlington, Virginia. The conference, which will take place at the Pentagon City Ritz-Carlton, will cover a wide range of issues related to tax compliance and regulations. On April 24, Sovos Solution […]

John Sileo, who has spoken at the Pentagon and to Visa, Pfizer and the FDIC – among many other institutions – will headline the Sovos Intelligent Reporting Summit in Denver in October. A leading expert on cybersecurity and identity theft, Sileo draws on his experience as a victim of identity theft to entertain and teach […]

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is still in place and carries with it compliance requirements and the potential for steep financial penalties. ACA forms are due to the IRS April 2, 2018 if filed electronically. Penalties for late filing are severe. Failure to file information returns will result in a penalty of $260/return with a […]

Caroline Bruckner is the managing director of the Kogod Tax Policy Center at the Kogod School of Business at American University in Washington, DC. She is heavily involved in consulting with Congress on tax policy and in 2016 published the study Shortchanged: The Tax Compliance Challenges of Small Business Operators Driving the On-Demand Platform Economy. […]

The evolving saga of tax information reporting for cryptocurrency exchanges took another turn recently when the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) declared that cryptocurrency trading platforms must register as national security exchanges. With the SEC’s new requirements, trading platforms must either register or be exempt from registration, or risk operating illegally. Effectively, the regulatory body […]

Organizations reporting tax information to Vermont might have been surprised to find that the state is no longer part of the Combined Federal/State Filing (CF/SF) program for form 1099. Previously, organizations could report 1099 information to the IRS, and the IRS would send that information directly to the department of revenue in Vermont. The reporting […]

The 1099-K reporting threshold changes enacted in Massachusetts and Vermont have started to have repercussions for states, online businesses and companies doing tax reporting. In conflict with IRS requirements, Massachusetts and Vermont changed the threshold for reporting 1099-K transactions from $20,000 and 200 transactions to just $600 with no minimum number of transactions. These transactions […]

On Jan. 20, the federal government shut down right in the middle of tax reporting season. The brief shutdown, likely to be resolved by Jan. 23, offered some insight into what happens when the IRS loses funding during reporting season. While the latest shutdown will likely be short, another could loom, as the proposed funding […]

The newly implemented Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, better known as the new tax law, dropped the backup withholding rate for payments reported on form 1099 from 28 percent to 24 percent effective Jan. 1, although many organizations might not have noticed. The IRS announced the withholding adjustment in Notice 1036 in early January. The […]

One box on IRS form 1098 has the potential to cause confusion for organizations this tax filing season, demonstrating how frustrating staying compliant with 10-series reporting requirements can be. The Mortgage Insurance Premium (MIP) deduction allows taxpayers to deduct mortgage insurance they paid in a given year. However, Congress has not yet passed a provision […]

The end of 2017 brought a flurry of activity around the ACA, some of which generated confusion. Despite statements to the contrary, the ACA is still the law of the land, and employers are still required to report ACA information to the IRS or face financial penalties. Here is an update on the state of […]