President Trump signed the “Taxpayer First Act”, H.R. 3151, into law on July 1, 2019. The Taxpayer First Act may be one of the most significant “taxpayer rights” laws since the adoption of the Internal Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998. The key feature of the new law is its requirement that, within the next 12 months, the IRS submit to Congress a “written comprehensive customer service strategy”, and within 24 months “make available the updated guidance and training materials [under the strategy] … [which will be] easily understood … and provide ...
The IRS issued guidance in 2014, through Notice 2014-21, on how to report income from virtual or “crypto” currency transactions. The IRS has since developed a “Virtual Currency Compliance” program focusing on U.S. taxpayers who may not be reporting, or correctly reporting, virtual currency transactions. The IRS has now announced it will be issuing notices to over 10,000 specific U.S. taxpayers warning these recipients that they have been identified as having engaged in virtual currency transactions and their U.S. tax compliance obligations. There are three (3) target ...
With the adoption by Congress of the 2018 Farm Bill, which decriminalized the cultivation and growing of industrial hemp and related products, states now, including South Carolina, have adopted and expanded programs authorizing the growing of industrial hemp and also the processing of products from the plant, most notably CBD oil.
The South Carolina Hemp Farming Act, adopted in March 2019, authorizes state residents to apply with the SC Department of Agriculture (SCDA) to grow and/or process industrial hemp in the state; however, under the present status of the law, only ...
On July 17, 2019, the Internal Revenue Service (the “IRS”) released Notice 2019-45 which expands the list of permissible preventive care benefits for high deductible health plan (“HDHP”) purposes. Among other requirements, an individual must be covered by a HDHP in order to establish a Health Savings Account (“HSA”).
A HDHP is a health plan with certain minimum deductible and maximum out-of-pocket expense requirements. Under a HDHP, the plan typically does not provide any benefits until the minimum deductible for the year is satisfied. However, certain preventive ...
On June 13, the Departments of Labor, Treasury and Health and Human Services jointly released final regulations dealing with health reimbursement accounts (“HRAs”). These regulations fulfill the Trump administration’s directive to “increase the usability of HRAs, to expand employers’ ability to offer HRAs to their employees, and to allow HRAs to be used in conjunction with nongroup coverage.”
Background.
HRAs are employer-funded account-based plans from which employees may be reimbursed for qualifying medical expenses. HRAs, like other account-based plans ...
Insurance carriers and employer sponsors of health plans were not exactly thrilled with the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. You might say, the Affordable Care Act was viewed as the “wicked witch.” Although the Affordable Care Act has managed to survive, the PCORI fee ̶̶ a limited duration fee applicable to policy and plan years ending after October 1, 2012 and before October 1, 2019 ̶ is gasping its last breath.
The Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) is a nonprofit organization created by the Affordable Care Act to support clinical effectiveness ...
Under the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Congress enacted the new Section 199A 20% profit deduction for owners of pass-through businesses, and which include Subchapter S corporations, LLCs, sole proprietorships, and even certain trusts. Section 199A is intended to provide a deduction to owners of these pass-through business entities who do not otherwise benefit from the new 21% flat tax Congress has given to corporations under the new tax law.
The 20% pass-through deduction is not applicable generally to certain businesses that provide services, such as doctors, lawyers ...
The Alabama Supreme Court recently issued an opinion providing guidance on how computer software and related services are taxed by the State of Alabama for sales tax purposes. This is the first such opinion in this area by the Alabama Supreme Court in over 20 years.
In Ex Parte Russell County Community Hospital, LLC, Medhost of Tennessee, Inc. (“Medhost”) sold Russell County Community Hospital (“Hospital”) computer software and the accompanying hardware/equipment, and which Medhost later installed. In its invoice to the Hospital, Medhost did not itemize the software and ...
The Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) will be releasing guidance on the tax treatment and reporting requirements of “virtual currencies” (i.e., cryptocurrencies) very soon, according to Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Charles (“Chuck”) Rettig.
Commissioner Rettig’s statement was prompted by a letter sent to him on April 11, 2019 by a bipartisan group from the House of Representatives. The letter urged the IRS to issue guidance on the tax consequences and basic reporting requirements for virtual currencies. In particular, the Representatives’ letter ...
In South Carolina, a maximum or “capped” sales tax of $500 ($300 for sales on or before June 30, 2017) is imposed on the sale of motor vehicles and certain other vehicles. Under the facts of a recent South Carolina Administrative Law Court (ALC) decision, a South Carolina motor sports dealer sold all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and side-by-side vehicles (UTVs) and paid the maximum tax on these sales. The South Carolina Department of Revenue (DOR) audited the dealer and determined the maximum tax did not apply to these ATV/UTV sales because they were not qualifying motor vehicles in ...