January 2017

Who should be issued 1099-MISC forms?

• Any individual, partnership, LLC or Trust to whom you paid $600 or more during the calendar year for services, rents, etc.  That includes, attorneys, architects, maintenance help, outside contractors, landlords ... anyone who performed a personal or professional type service, including us as an accounting firm. 
• Any attorney who was paid $600 or more regardless of business structure.
  

To prepare the 1099s, you will need the name, Tax Identification Number, address and amount paid during the calendar year. Remember that the deadline for 1099s to be issued to recipients is January 31, and beginning this year, forms also must be filed with the government by January 31. Please let us know if you have any questions or need help with filing Forms 1099.

Practitioners reacting to new procedures from the IRS Tax-Exempt and Government Entities Division for issuing information document requests (“IDR”) are welcoming the emphasis on clarity and consultation between revenue agents and taxpayers after the IDR is issued.  IDRs are used during the initial phases of the examination of a return.

The short time frames promulgated by the procedures appear to be part of an IRS trend of hastening its processes, as seen by its recent decision to move away from in-person appeals conferences in favor of conferences by telephone, according to Marcus S. Owens of Loeb & Loeb LLP, a former IRS EO director. “It all seems designed to help the IRS meet production goals and not so much to get to the right answer in what are complex matters involving people’s religion, education, politics, you name it — pretty sensitive, nonfinancial activities,” he said.

Read the entire article. 

Since July 1, 2014, smaller organizations have been able to apply for Section 501(c)(3) status electronically using Form 1023-EZ. Consisting of only 2½ pages, Form 1023-EZ eliminates the complexity and intimidation factor of the lengthy and tedious Form 1023. The basic eligibility requirements for using Form 1023-EZ include organization in the U.S., annual gross receipts of $50,000 or less (for the past three years and projected for the next three years), and total assets having a fair market value of no more than $250,000.

This article summarizes the resulting increase in the form’s usage:  positives, good news/bad news, and lessons learned.

Read the entire article.