Key Takeaways
- Shutdown Impact
- Revenge Tax
- OBBBA Relief for Car Lenders
- Tips Deduction
- Cost Recovery Questions
- Math Errors on Returns
- Nonprofit Pressures
- In the Courts
- Nuts
Shutdown Impact
IRS Says Tax Refund Payments Will Be Limited by Shutdown – Erin Slowey, Bloomberg ($):
The IRS in an online update Tuesday said that taxpayers who file individual returns electronically without errors will still receive their refund, but everyone else will face delays. This comes after the IRS furloughed nearly half of its agency the week of Oct. 8, keeping on almost 40,000 workers critical to its operations.
Trump Tells GOP to Stand Firm: ‘We Will Not Be Extorted’ – Emily Birnbaum & Jennifer A. Dlouhy, Bloomberg ($):
“Our message has been very simple: We will not be extorted on this crazy plot of theirs,” Trump said Tuesday at an event in the White House’s Rose Garden, where he hosted Senate Republicans for lunch in a display of party unity.
Lawmakers See Pressure to End Shutdown Building Around Nov. 1 – Jack Fitzpatrick, Bloomberg ($):
Funding shortfalls and other deadlines for health care, military pay, and nutrition benefits will collide on or around the first of next month, potentially creating new bipartisan urgency for lawmakers to end the shutdown set to enter its fourth week on Wednesday.
Republican Push for Healthcare Tax Credit
Moderate Republicans Push for Healthcare Tax Credit Extension – Katie Lobosco, Tax Notes ($):
“Millions of Americans are facing drastic premium increases due to short-sighted Democratic policymaking. While we did not create this crisis, we now have both the responsibility and the opportunity to address it,” the lawmakers wrote in an October 21 letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
Revenge Tax
'Revenge Tax' May Reappear If Pillar 2 Talks Stall, Pros Say – Natalie Olivo, Law 360 ($):
The GOP dropped its proposed revenge tax after the Group of Seven nations announced in June that U.S. multinationals won't face Pillar Two taxes because the U.S.' international tax system is capable of operating "side by side" with the global framework. But if progress slows on implementing this agreement, the proposal may "come back to life," according to Anne Gordon, vice president for international tax policy at the National Foreign Trade Council.
OBBBA Relief for Car Lenders
Transition Relief Given for OBBBA Car Interest Deduction – Benjamin Valdez, Tax Notes ($):
Notice 2025-57, 2025-45 IRB 1, issued October 21, allows certain lenders to meet the reporting obligations for interest received on a qualified car loan in calendar year 2025 if they provide the buyer with a statement indicating the total amount of interest received.
IRS Issues Guidance to Lenders Reporting Car Loan Interest – Erin Slowey, Bloomberg ($):
Notice 2025-57 provides some transitional guidance for lenders that are required to file information returns with the IRS for 2025, stating they will have met their reporting obligations if they make a statement available to the buyer indicating the total amount of interest received.
IRS Publishes Guidance for Car Loan Interest Reporting – Asha Glover, Law 360 ($). “Businesses may satisfy this year's reporting requirement for the deduction by making a statement available to car buyers indicating the total amount of interest received on specified passenger vehicle loans in 2025, according to Notice 2025-57.”
Tips Deduction
Areas of Concern Pile Up on Tips Deduction Guidance – Trevor Sikes, Tax Notes ($):
Under section 224, enacted in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (P.L. 119-21), single filers who earn up to $150,000 annually or married couples who earn up to $300,000 can deduct up to $25,000 in qualifying tipped income. The proposed regs (REG-110032-25) describe what is and isn’t an eligible tip for purposes of the deduction by defining qualifying payment methods, exclusions, and jobs that customarily receive tips.
CPA Group Calls for Transition Relief for Tips, OT Deductions – Asha Glover, Law 360 ($):
The AICPA, in the letter dated Friday, urged the IRS and U.S. Department of the Treasury to include a safe harbor in upcoming transitional relief guidance that allows individuals and tax preparers to rely on alternative information provided to determine the deductions. The AICPA also requested that future guidance allow businesses to use alternative reporting methods and documentation to satisfy reporting requirements for the tips and overtime deductions, according to the letter.
Cost Recovery Questions
Cost Recovery Questions Abound Amid Government Shutdown – Nathan J. Richman, Tax Notes ($):
Taxpayers still need some answers on how to apply the research cost recovery changes from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act and have only a few pieces of guidance on the 2025 reconciliation bill (P.L. 119-21), leaving many questions for potential guidance, participants in the American Bar Association Section of Taxation meeting said October 21.
Math Errors on Returns
Senate Passes Bill to Notify Taxpayers of Math Errors on Returns – Tyrah Burris, Tax Notes ($):
The Internal Revenue Service Math and Taxpayer Help Act (H.R. 998) passed by unanimous consent in the Senate October 20 and now heads to President Trump for his signature.
The legislation would require the IRS to provide a description of math or clerical errors in plain language along with any adjustments needed to be made to the return. It would require the agency to send the notice to the taxpayer’s last known address.
Bill to Clarify IRS Error Notices Cleared for Trump’s Signature – Chris Cioffi, Bloomberg ($):
After clearing the Senate by unanimous consent Monday evening, the bipartisan legislation heads to President Donald Trump’s desk for a signature. It passed the House earlier this year as part of an ongoing effort in Congress to address some common tax administration challenges.
Nonprofit Pressures
Nonprofits Face Pressure from GOP Tax Changes, Aides Say – Stephen K. Cooper, Law 360 ($):
The new law overhauls the 1.4% tax on endowment earnings created under the GOP's Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 that is imposed on colleges and universities with at least 500 tuition-paying students and endowments over $500,000 per student. The new law also raises the excise tax on investment income, with tiers rising from 4% to 8% for schools holding $2 million or more per student. It also raises the student-count threshold to 3,000 tuition-paying students.
In the Courts
TEFRA Petition Deadline Is Jurisdictional, Tax Court Says – Mary Katherine Browne, Tax Notes ($). “The Tax Court dismissed a late-filed petition from a partnership’s nontax partner after determining that the court’s jurisdiction in partnership cases is linked to a timely filed petition.”
Partnership Can’t Upend Tax Code to Fight Tax Court Deadline – Tristan Navera, Bloomberg ($). “Congress didn’t intend for equitable tolling to apply to partnerships organized under the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, the US Tax Court said in a precedential opinion.”
Medtronic Seeks Panel Rehearing of Transfer Pricing Decision – Tristan Navera, Bloomberg ($). “Medtronic Inc. is asking a three-judge panel of the Eighth Circuit to rethink a recent transfer pricing decision siding with the IRS on how to value its transfer of intellectual property to a Puerto Rican subsidiary.”
CPA Admits $1.7M Tax Fraud, Pandemic Loan Charges – Julie Manganis, Law 360 ($). “A Massachusetts certified public accountant has agreed to plead guilty to failing to disclose to the IRS nearly $1.7 million in off-the-books compensation to an employee and making false certifications to obtain pandemic relief loans.”
What Day is it?
Its National Nut Day! Don’t feel like celebrating a nut? Then, wish the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 a happy birthday as it’s the 39th anniversary of the Tax Revenue Act of 1986! *Insert confetti here*
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