1. Tax Relief for Hurricane Harvey and Irma Victims
As the hurricane season continues, IRS is working to provide relief to tax professionals and their clients. Extensions of time to file and other forms of tax relief are available to victims of hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Checkwww.irs.gov/hurricaneharvey and www.irs.gov/hurricaneirma for the latest updates.
2. IRS Urges Foreign Financial Institutions Participating in FATCA to Check Their Registrations
Foreign financial institutions should be sure to renew their Foreign Financial Institution (FFI) agreements if required. Entities that do not renew their agreements may be subject to a 30 percent tax on certain U.S. source payments and may be removed from the November FFI list. The renewal process must be completed by Oct. 24.
3. Announcement of Disciplinary Sanctions from the Office of Professional Responsibility
The IRS Office of Professional Responsibility publishes all disciplinary actions in the Internal Revenue Bulletin (IRB). Published sanctions include censure, suspension or disbarment from practice before the Internal Revenue Service. Individuals who have recently been disciplined are listed in IRB Number2017-35, dated Aug. 28. See pages 219-221.
4. Technical Guidance
Revenue Ruling 2017-20 provides the applicable federal rates for October 2017.
Revenue Procedure 2017-52 introduces an 18-month pilot program to accept letter ruling requests addressing the general federal income tax consequences of transactions intended to qualify as tax-free stock distributions.