President signs payroll tax-cut bill
President Obama signed into law a payroll tax extension, maintaining the 2-percentage-point payroll reduction through year-end 2012 for employees and the self-employed. For more information on the payroll tax cut extension bill, go to IR-2012-27. The payroll tax cut extension is reflected in revised 2012 Form 941, available Form 941.
Cutting corporate-tax rates and loopholes eyed by Administration
According to the New York Times (2/22/12), President Barack Obama’s proposed overhaul of corporate taxes would reduce the basic tax rate from 35% to 28% while eliminating dozens of subsidies and loopholes. Manufacturers would be given incentives that bring their effective tax rate down to 25%, while a new minimum tax rate for multinational corporations would be established to curb “accounting games to shift profits abroad.” See the New York Times for details.
E-Verify Self Check worker eligibility available nationwide
The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) E-Verify Self Check is now available in all 50 states, as well as in Washington, D.C.; Guam; Puerto Rico; the U.S. Virgin Islands; and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands. E-Verify is a free, Internet-based system that determines the employment eligibility of new hires by comparing information from the worker’s Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, to Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Social Security Administration (SSA) records. For more information on USCIS Self Check, the site can be accessed at www.uscis.gov/selfcheck.
Energy savings for partial energy efficient commercial building deduction
IRS has provided additional guidance on the energy savings percentages that taxpayers can use to qualify for a partial Code Sec. 179D deduction for energy efficient commercial buildings. These new energy savings percentages, which are effective for property placed in service on or after Mar. 12, 2012, are: 25% for the interior lighting system; 15% for the heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and hot water systems, and 10% for the building envelope. See IRS Notice 2012-22 for more details.
IRS offers tips on new Form 8949 and Schedule D
The IRS issued a new tax tip for the use of the new Form 8949, Sales and Other Dispositions of Capital Assets, and Schedule D, Capital Gains and Losses; Form 8949 must be used to report most capital gains and losses from transactions relating to investment property. Previously, these transactions would have been reported on Schedule D or D-1. Additional tax tips with links to the subject forms can be viewed on the IRS website at IRS Tax Tip 2012-28.
IRS final regulations clarify whistleblower award computation
The IRS issued final guidance that clarifies the definition of proceeds of amounts collected and collected proceeds for whistleblower awards. Whistleblower provisions reward up to 30 percent of the proceeds collected to persons helping the IRS detect underpayments and violations of the tax laws. Details can be found in the Federal Register,
Rewards and Awards for Information Relating to Violations of Internal Revenue Laws.
Overpayment and underpayment rates unchanged for 2nd quarter 2012
IRS has announced that the interest rates for tax overpayments and underpayments for the calendar quarter beginning Apr. 1, 2012, will remain the same as for the first quarter of 2012. See IR-2012-28 for more details.
