Talking Tax

The focus of the tax community this week will be on a June 28 Senate Finance Committee hearing on the nomination of Charles Rettig for Internal Revenue Service commissioner. In other congressional business, some lawmakers are also pondering what they can do in the aftermath of a June 21 U.S. Supreme Court decision that removed a barrier to taxation of online sales. Capitol Hill reporters Allyson Versprille and Kaustuv Basu spoke with Talking Tax host Amanda Iacone June 25 about the Rettig hearing and other Hill news.

This summer is shaping up to be an important one for tax lawyers as they await regulations on some of the new tax law's most complicated provisions. Top Treasury Department officials have said guidance on the law's 20 percent deduction for pass-through businesses could come in early summer and proposed regulations on a one-time tax on companies' accumulated offshore earnings may follow shortly thereafter. House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady (R-Texas), who played a critical role in getting the new law passed, has met with Treasury officials, including Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy David Kautter, to discuss a regulatory road map for the remainder of 2018. Hill reporters Kaustuv Basu and Allyson Versprille spoke with Talking Tax host Amanda Iacone June 11 to discuss that meeting, the outlook for tax guidance, and other Capitol Hill news for the coming week.

The advent of blockchain’s ledger technology brings both opportunities and challenges for accountants. A set of working groups has been tasked this summer to sort through those technical challenges—as many as 200 issues have been identified so far. The groups are expected to make recommendations to the American Institute of CPAs later this year. Accountants' work is expected to change dramatically in the future because of the distributed ledger system. The initiative aims to help accountants prepare to use the technology and find market opportunities for them. Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com—a technology subsidiary of AICPA—and Ron Quaranta, chair of the Wall Street Blockchain Alliance, joined Bloomberg Tax’s Amanda Iacone on May 30 to talk about the working groups, the technical questions they are set to explore, and what accountants can expect.

Congress takes a look at IRS funding this week as lawmakers continue to hammer their partisan talking points on the 2017 tax act.

Tax professionals will descend on Washington, D.C., May 10 for the American Bar Association tax section's spring meeting. The conference serves as an opportunity for top government officials to address recent developments and get feedback from practitioners on the year's regulatory agenda. A topic on nearly everyone's mind this year is the new tax law enacted at the end of 2017. The tax section's chair, Karen Hawkins, joined Talking Tax host Allyson Versprille to offer a look into what those attending the conference can expect. Hawkins previously served as the director of the Internal Revenue Service Office of Professional Responsibility, but has rejoined the private sector as an educator and consultant.

The Senate could use Federal Aviation Administration legislation recently passed by the House as a vehicle for technical corrections to the 2017 tax act. The FAA bill (H.R. 4) that advanced April 27 would reauthorize the agency to collect aviation excise taxes and fund its operations with federal money deposited into the Airport and Airway Trust Fund, among other provisions. Programs would be authorized through 2023; the current authorization expires Sept. 30. The legislation now moves to the Senate for consideration, where lawmakers could easily tack on tax law technical corrections—such as a clarification to a provision on qualified improvement property or a revision to the effective date for using net operating losses—because the bill already contains tax provisions. Reporters Laura Davison, Allyson Versprille, and Kaustuv Basu spoke with Talking Tax host Matthew Beddingfield on April 30 about this potential opportunity. They also discussed current and future openings on the House Ways and Means Committee and messaging on the tax law (Pub. L. No. 115-97) heading into the midterm elections.

Congressional tax writers are aiming to shore up several tax issues—retooling the Internal Revenue Service, dealing with temporary tax provisions, and requiring online retailers to collect sales tax—left out of the 2017 tax act. The House just passed a package of bills that would establish an independent Office of Appeals at the IRS, boost cybersecurity, and update online systems. House Ways and Means Committee members also met to discuss the future of temporary tax credits and deductions, with an eye to release a plan by this summer about which should be made permanent and which should be eliminated. The U.S. Supreme Court also heard oral arguments in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., a case that seeks to undo the court’s 1992 ruling in Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, prohibiting states from collecting sales tax from vendors without an in-state physical presence. The decision, which may come in June, could cause Congress to address the issue, after years of debate about state sales taxes and e-commerce. The question, as often happens, is how will the Senate react to what the House sends them. Reporters Laura Davison, Allyson Versprille, and Kaustuv Basu spoke with Talking Tax host Matthew Beddingfield on April 20 about the possibility for these tax ideas to gain traction this year.

The IRS faces a long list of tasks if it plans to complete all of the items on its priority guidance plan to implement the new tax law. The Internal Revenue Service has highlighted several projects, including the pass-through deduction under tax code Section 199A and new international base erosion measures, to address by June 30, the end of the agency's business year. Pam Olson, the U.S. deputy tax leader and Washington National Tax Services practice leader at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, joined Talking Tax host Allyson Versprille on April 20 to discuss the status of regulations for the 2017 tax act (Pub. L. No. 115-97) and what taxpayers and practitioners should expect this summer. Before joining PwC, Olson was assistant secretary for tax policy at the Treasury Department. It may be difficult for the government to meet that end-of-June target if history is any indication, according to Olson. The IRS and Treasury have made good progress so far with guidance on the repatriation tax on foreign earnings and profits and the new limitation on the deductibility of business interest expense, she said.

On April 17, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the biggest state and local tax case in years. South Dakota v. Wayfair is a direct challenge to the high court’s 1992 ruling in Quill Corp. v. North Dakota, which prohibits states from imposing sales tax collection obligation on vendors lacking an in-state physical presence. The Justices explored a handful of topics during arguments, notably the role of Congress to regular inter-state commerce, the issue of compliance costs faced by small and medium-sized businesses, and how to define a new rule if they were to “kill Quill.” A decision is expected by June. Harley Duncan, leader of the state and local tax group of the Washington National Tax practice at KPMG LLP, sat down with Bloomberg Tax reporter Ryan Prete to analyze the oral arguments and discuss what sellers and states could face in the coming months while awaiting the decision.

For tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, the corporate tax rate under §11(b) was amended to remove the graduated rates in favor of a flat 21%. Additionally, for tax years beginning after December 31, 2017, §55(a) was amended, repealing the corporate alternative minimum tax. This led to questions regarding the applicable tax rates for a corporation whose tax year began before January 1, 2018 but after December 31, 2017. George Manousos and Jason Black of PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s Federal Tax Services out of Washington-National Tax Services joins talking tax’s host Joe Hagedorn to discuss the application of Internal Revenue Code’s §15 and how it applies to determine the applicable tax rate and alternative minimum tax rate for a fiscal year corporation. Additionally, George, Jason and Joe discuss the recently released IRS Notice 2018-38 which provides clarification on the application of §15.