Presented below is our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for the week of August 24, 2020 – August 28, 2020. 

August 24 2020: The IRS published a memorandum concerning guidance to the field on the criteria that should be applied in considering if a request for designation for litigation should be made to the Office of Chief Counsel. The memorandum also provides interim guidance on the requirements of Section 1001 of the Taxpayer First Act (TFA) with respect to the limitation on designation of cases as not eligible for referral to the IRS Independent Office of Appeals.

August 25, 2020: The IRS published a Summer 2020 Statistics of Income Bulletin. The Summer 2020 Bulletin focuses individual income tax shares, 2017; foreign recipients of US income, calendar year 2017; effects of post-filing adjustments on Statistics of Income (SOI) estimates; and implementation of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

August 25, 2020: The IRS published a practice unit focusing on the definition of foreign earned income for purposes of section 911.

August 26, 2020: The IRS published a notice and request for comments on Treasury Decision 8702 concerning certain transfers of domestic stock or securities by US persons to foreign corporations. The regulation relates to certain transfers of stock or securities of domestic corporations pursuant to the corporate organization, reorganization or liquidation provisions of the Internal Revenue Code (Code). Transfers of stock or securities by US persons in tax-free transactions are treated as taxable transactions when the acquirer is a foreign corporation, unless an exception applies under section 367(a). The regulation provides that no US person will qualify for an exception unless the US target company complies with certain reporting requirements. The comments should be received on or before October 26, 2020.

August 26, 2020: The IRS published a notice and request for comments on Treasury Decision 8612 concerning the availability of the gift and estate tax marital deduction when the donee spouse or the surviving spouse is not a US citizen. The regulation provides guidance to individuals or fiduciaries: (1) for making a qualified domestic trust election on the estate tax return of a decedent whose surviving spouse is not a US citizen in order that the estate may obtain the marital deduction; and (2) for filing the annual returns that such an election may require. The comments should be received on or before October 26, 2020.

August 27, 2020: The IRS published an announcement on the opening of the application period for the 2021 Compliance Assurance Process program. The application period runs September 1 to November 13, 2020. The IRS will inform applicants if they’re accepted into the program in February 2021.

August 28, 2020: The IRS published corrections to Treasury Decision 9900, which was published in the Federal Register on July 8, 2020. Treasury Decision 9900 contained temporary regulations that permit consolidated groups that acquire new members that were members of another consolidated group to elect in a year subsequent to the year of acquisition to waive all or part of the pre-acquisition portion of an extended carryback period under section 172 for certain losses attributable to the acquired members if there is a retroactive statutory extension of the net operating loss (NOL) carryback period under section 172. The corrections are effective on August 28, 2020.

August 28, 2020: The IRS released Internal Revenue Bulletin 2020-36, dated August 31, 2020, containing the following highlights: (1) Rev. Proc. 2020-38 (Administrative); (2) Announcement 2020-14, Notice 2020-60, and Notice 2020-64 (Employee Plans); and (3) Rev. Proc. 2020-39 (Income Tax).

August 28, 2020: The IRS published a news release announcing it will temporarily allow the use of digital signatures on certain forms that cannot be filed electronically in response to COVID-19.

August 28, 2020: The IRS issued guidance implementing President Donald Trump’s order to defer collection of some payroll taxes amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

August 28, 2020: The IRS released its weekly list of written determinations (e.g., Private Letter Rulings, Technical Advice Memorandums and Chief Counsel Advice).

Special thanks to Robbie Alipour in our Chicago office for this week’s roundup.

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