WASHINGTON – The Internal Revenue Service today issuedinterim guidance regarding the treatment of qualified transportation fringe benefit expenses paid or incurred after Dec. 31, 2017.

The new rules assist taxpayers in determining the amount of parking expenses that are no longer tax deductible. They also help tax-exempt organizations determine how these nondeductible parking expenses create or increase unrelated business taxable income (UBTI).

The IRS acknowledges that this guidance falls late in the year and taxpayers that own or lease parking facilities may have already adopted reasonable methods in 2018 to determine the amount of their nondeductible parking expenses. Taxpayers may rely on the guidance or, until further guidance is issued, use any reasonable method for determining nondeductible parking expenses related to employer-provided parking. 

A key part of this guidance is a special rule, enabling many employers to retroactively reduce the amount of their nondeductible parking expenses. Under

Latest webcasts for charities and nonprofits

Four new presentations are available for 501(c)(3) organizations. Additional charities and nonprofits topics are onIRSvideos.gov.

• Charities and Nonprofits: A Quick Resource Guide
• Did you lose your tax-exempt status? Why it happens and how to fix it
• Easy Form 1023-EZ
• File Error-Free Forms 990

Recent IRS notices affecting Exempt Organizations

• Notice 2018-55 Tax reform imposes a 1.4 percent excise tax on the investment income of certain educational institutions.
• Notice 2018-67 An exempt organization with more than one unrelated trade or business must calculate unrelated business taxable income separately for each trade or business.

Issue snapshots

Issue Snapshots are IRS employee job aids that provide analysis and resources along with audit tips and issue indicators for technical tax issues. Visit Issue Snapshots for a complete listing of issue snapshots for Exempt Organizations.

IRSAC expands to cover more areas of the IRS; IRPAC and ACT to join centralized advisory committee in 2019 The IRS announced that the Internal Revenue Service Advisory Committee’s (IRSAC) role will expand in 2019 to have a wider portfolio and will incorporate the Information Reporting Program Advisory Committee (IRPAC) and the Advisory Committee on Tax Exempt and Government Entities (ACT). Although ACT will no longer exist, the IRS emphasizes that TE/GE issues will remain a priority area in the expanded IRSAC.

401(k) contribution limit increases to $19,000 for 2019; IRA limit increases to $6,000 The Internal Revenue Service announced cost of living adjustments affecting dollar limitations for pension plans and other retirement-related items for tax year 2019.

The IRS has launched an easy-to-use webpage, IRS.gov/taxreform, with information about how the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act affects your taxes, with a special section focused on tax exempt entities.

The tax reform page features three areas designed specifically for:

• Individuals – For example, standard deduction increase, child tax credit, withholding. Use the Withholding Calculator to make sure you’re withholding enough tax from your paycheck.
• Businesses – For example, depreciation, expenses and qualified business income deductions.
• Tax Exempt Entities – For example, tax reform affecting retirement plans, tax-exempt organizations and governments.

Under the Tax Exempt Entities tab, you’ll find highlights of how tax reform affects retirement plans, tax-exempt organizations and tax-advantaged bonds.

Retirement plans

• Rollovers of retirement plan loan offsets – If your plan offsets an outstanding loan balance when you leave employment, you have until the due date of your individual
  

The Fiscal Year 2019 Program Letter explains TE/GE’s compliance program consisting of:

The Program Letter (referred to as a Work Plan or Priority Letterin prior fiscal years) outlines TE/GE’s commitment to improving customer experience and reducing taxpayer burden, while cultivating a strong work force.

Similar to the FY 2017 Accomplishments summary, TE/GE will release a summary of its FY 2018 accomplishments when all the data is available.

Congrats to our Team Members, Gino Serra, Frank Wolff, and Keith Kehrer, for inclusion in the 2019 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America© in the Nonprofit / Charities Law category. Congrats to our Team Members Kimberly Civins, Michael Bland, Renee Gabbard, Shannon Barks, John Ready, Steve Daiker, Larry Brody, John Schaperkotter and Kathy Sherby for inclusion in the 2019 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America© in the Trusts and Estates category.

The Best Lawyers in America© is the oldest lawyer-rating publication in the U.S., and inclusion in Best Lawyers is based entirely on peer-review.

To simplify compliance for grantors and contributors to tax-exempt organizations, the IRS recently issued an updated revenue procedure (Rev. Proc. 2018-32) that combines previously scattered guidance on deductibility and reliance issues. The new revenue procedure explains when grantors and contributors may rely on a listing of an organization on an IRS database of organizations eligible to receive contributions under Sec. 170 for purposes of determining whether the grants or contributions may be deductible under Sec. 170.

Searchable Databases

The IRS maintains and updates two different publicly available databases on organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions under Sec. 170. The first lists organizations that are eligible to receive tax-deductible charitable donations (eligible organization list), and the second is an extract of certain information concerning tax-exempt organizations from the IRS electronic Business Master File (the EOB MF Extract).

Historically, the eligible organization list was maintained in print form in IRS Publication 78.

Many employers hire third-party payroll service providers to perform their payroll processing functions and tax-related duties, including making employment tax deposits.

Watch Monitoring your outsourced payroll duties on EFTPS to learn about:

• Using an EFTPS Inquiry PIN to monitor tax deposits
• The benefits of creating a separate EFTPS account
• Setting up EFTPS notifications

The employer, generally, remains liable for any unpaid employment taxes, including any penalties and interest resulting from any underpayment, even if they use a third-party payroll service provider. Note, this may not apply to employers using Certified Professional Employer Organizations (CPEO).

Please visit Outsourcing payroll and third-party payers andwww.EFTPS.gov for additional information.

The 10 members of the ACT presented their 2018 report to the IRS in a public meeting in Washington, DC on June 7, 2018, on five issues:

• Employee Plans: Recommendations regarding the re-opening of the IRS Determination Letter Program
• Employee Plans: Recommendations regarding missing participants in retirement plans
• Exempt Organizations: Recommendations regarding incentivizing universal e-filing for Forms 990
• Indian Tribal Governments: Recommendations regarding sharing of taxpayer information with tribal government tax programs
• Tax Exempt Bonds: Recommendations regarding encouraging self-compliance by issuers of tax-advantaged obligations/tax exempt bonds

The Internal Revenue Service released a new five-year Strategic Plan outlining goals to improve taxpayer service and tax administration.

The Fiscal Year 2018-2022 IRS Strategic Plan will serve as a roadmap to help guide the agency’s programs and operations. The plan will also help meet the changing needs of taxpayers and members of the tax community.

The strategic plan, developed with input from external partners as well as IRS employees, focuses on six goals that will help improve customer service: