Regulatory Analysis

The House of Representatives is currently discussing H.R.3717, the “Small Business Owners’ Tax Simplification Act of 2017.” The purported aim of the bill would be to avoid burdening small business owners and to improve compliance. The bill would seek to accomplish through changing the reporting thresholds of both Form 1099-MISC (something that hasn’t been done […]

U.S. Senator Steve Daines (R-MT) has introduced Senate Bill 1898, the “Repeal and Refund Act,” a bill that seeks to retroactively repeal the individual mandate for health insurance. Through this bill, Americans who paid penalties for not having insurance coverage would be refunded. Currently, Senate Bill 1898 is still in committee and has no cosponsors.

North Carolina’s Department of Revenue recently updated their reporting requirements for filing W-2 and 1099 information. Per an announcement on the eNC3 website, the CD ROM specifications previously used for W-2 and 1099 reporting (DP-43 and DP-40, respectively) are no longer no longer valid.  Instead, electronic filers must use the eNC3 specifications listed on the eNC3 […]

Montana's Department of Revenue updated its Business Registration (“GenReg”) form. The updated form gives businesses the opportunity to register as a trust, if appropriate, as well as provides more expansive options for LLCs, so as to allow for more accurate information reporting.  The form also allows for online registration for W-2 and 1099 withholding, mineral […]

The IRS has released its 2017 versions of Forms 1094-B, 1094-C, 1095-B, and 1095-C. There were no changes to Form 1094-B. Form 1094-C had two changes: The removal of selection C, “Section 4980H Transition Relief,” from Line 22, and the removal of column (e) “Section 4980H Transition Relief Indicator” from Part III. There are no […]

The IRS has released the 2017 Instructions for Forms 1094-C and 1095-C. There are a couple of changes from their respective previous revisions: Changes to 2017 Instructions for Forms 1094-C and 1095-C   Now there is no section 4980H transition relief available for 2017 The instructions have thus removed discussion of section 4980H transition relief, […]

The IRS has released the 2017 Instructions for Forms 1094-B and 1095-B. There are a couple of changes from their respective previous revisions: Changes to 2017 Instructions for Forms 1094-B and 1095-B New Instructions Paper returns filed with the IRS must be printed in landscape format Penalties have increased slightly this year For returns required […]

The IRS has released Publication 1220 for Tax Year 2017. There are a number of changes from the previous version.   Specifically, several forms now have new field positions or instructions, the list of states that participate in the IRS’ Combined Federal/State Filing Program has been updated, instructions for the FIRE System have been updated, […]

Due to a VERY high volume of files coming into the IRS, the sending out of File Status Notifications by the IRS will take longer than usual over the next few days.

Connecticut recently released an updated version of CT-945, Annual Reconciliation of Withholding for Non-payroll Amounts (for TY 2017). CT-945 is the state-specific reconciliation form that is filed annually to report non-payroll amounts subject to Connecticut income tax withholding. There is one important change to the most recent version of this form, which has to do […]

The IRS released an advance version of Notice 2017-46 which details procedures for FFIs required to report U.S. TINs under FATCA Model 1 IGAs. In this advance notice, the IRS establishes that they will not determine that there is significant non-compliance with reporting obligations under an applicable Model 1 IGA during calendar years 2017, 2018, […]

The IRS released a notice detailing forthcoming changes to Chapter 3 of the Internal Revenue Code ("Code") regarding reporting on Form 1042-S. Specifically, the IRS reported that the amendment will narrow the circumstances in which a Foreign TIN and date of birth ("DOB") will be required.  A phase-in period will be adopted for FIs to […]

The Senate announced that the Graham-Cassidy bill to repeal the Affordable Care Act would not be brought forward to a vote. The bill was announced approximately two weeks ago and seemed to have some momentum. However, Senators McCain (R-AZ) and Paul (R-KY) quickly came out against the bill. On Monday, Senator Collins (R-ME) announced that she […]

The IRS recently issued a correction to their 2017 Instructions for Form 1042-S, Foreign Person’s U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding. The 1042-S is generally used to report payments from U.S. sources to foreign persons. The IRS corrections relate to income codes on page 21 of the 2017 Instructions for Form 1042-S. Income Code 54 […]

Missouri’s Department of Revenue has released electronic guidelines for electronic filings of W-2s and 1099s. This follows a prior announcement that employers filing 250 or more W-2s for tax year 2017 will need to file with the Department electronically by January 31, 2018. The Department will continue to accept W-2s from employers with fewer than […]

The IRS has recently released Proposed Regulation REG-105004-16, which would allow the use of truncated Taxpayer Identification Numbers (TINs) on Forms W-2 furnished to employees. The main thrust of this proposal would be to aid employers’ efforts to protect employees from identity theft, and these proposed regulations would amend existing regulations to permit employers to […]

The North Carolina Department of Revenue has released an information bulletin detailing important information about withholding tax as it relates to employers, pension payers, and other relevant parties. Of particular importance are changes relating to the filing of Form NC-3, the Annual Withholding Reconciliation form, and a change to the withholding rate for Tax Year […]

The Cayman Islands’ Department for International Tax Cooperation closed its AEOI portal on September 13. The portal was originally scheduled to be closed on August 31 in line with the Department’s deadline for AEOI reporting, but the Department kept the portal open until September 13 to accommodate late filers. The Department stated that it will […]