Inside This Issue
- IRS Automatically Waives Estimated Tax Penalty for Eligible 2018 Tax Filers
- Tax Pros: Report Data Theft Immediately; Create Recovery Plan
- Moriarty Selected as New Associate Chief Counsel for Income Tax and Accounting
- Additional Nebraska Disaster Victims Qualify for Tax Relief
- Maine Tax Return Preparer Pleads Guilty to Preparing False Tax Return
- Federal Court Shuts Down Palm Beach County, Florida Tax Return Preparers
- Technical Guidance
1. IRS Automatically Waives Estimated Tax Penalty for Eligible 2018 Tax Filers
The Internal Revenue Service is automatically waiving the estimated tax penalty for the more than 400,000 eligible taxpayers who already filed their 2018 federal income tax returns but did not claim the waiver.
2. Tax Pros: Report Data Theft Immediately; Create Recovery Plan
The Internal Revenue Service and its Security Summit partners remind tax professionals that they should report data theft immediately to the IRS and follow an established process for helping the IRS protect their clients.
If notified promptly, the IRS can help stop fraudulent tax returns from being filed in clients’ names, thereby avoiding refund delays and other problems for the affected tax professional. But this action requires the cooperation of the tax professional with the IRS.
3. Moriarty Selected as New Associate Chief Counsel for Income Tax and Accounting
The IRS Office of Chief Counsel announced John Moriarty has been selected as the new Associate Chief Counsel, Income Tax and Accounting. Moriarty has served as deputy associate chief counsel (ITA) since April 2012. He has helped guide ITA through the implementation of the recent Tax Cuts and Job Act (TCJA).
4. Additional Nebraska Disaster Victims Qualify for Tax Relief
Storm victims in Dawson County Nebraska now qualify for tax relief following a severe winter storm, straight-line winds, and flooding that took place beginning March 9.
Visit the IRS disaster relief page for more.
5. Maine Tax Return Preparer Pleads Guilty to Preparing False Tax Return
A Portland, Maine, tax return preparer pleaded guilty this week to one count of aiding and assisting in the preparation of a false tax return. Ashraf Eldeknawey admitted to willfully preparing a false 2015 tax return for two clients that intentionally included overstated self-employment income in order to claim the Earned Income Tax Credit and a fraudulently increased refund. Eldeknawey admitted his preparation of false tax returns caused a loss to the government between $40,000 and $100,000.
6. Federal Court Shuts Down Palm Beach County, Florida Tax Return Preparers
A federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, has issued an order permanently barring Jeffrey Cadet, Kersh Tax Service, LLC, and Kersha Lewis from preparing federal tax returns for others, or owning or operating a tax preparation business.
Revenue Ruling 2019-19 Concerns intendances where an individual receives a distribution check from a qualified plan and does not cash the check. The revenue ruling concludes that the individual’s failure to cash the check does not permit the individual to exclude the amount of the designated distribution from gross income under section 402(a) and does not alter the employer’s withholding obligations under section 3405 or Form 1099-R reporting obligations under section 6047(d).
