News

The Treasury Department announced that it is suspending enforcement of the Beneficial Ownership Information (BOI) reporting requirements. The rule requires the owners and part-owners of an estimated 32.6 million small businesses to register personal information, such as their name, birthdate, and address.

This is the latest change in the ever changing BOI Requirements.

Final regulations should be out by March 21, 2025- so stay tuned.

SAVE THE DATE!

2025 IRS Nationwide Tax Forum

Registration will open March 1, 2025.

You can reserve your hotel room at the forum location of your choice by selecting the links below.

City	Hotel	2025 Dates
Chicago, IL	Hyatt Regency Chicago	July 1 - 3
New Orleans, LA	Hyatt Regency New Orleans	August 5 - 7
Orlando, FL	Hyatt Regency Orlando	August 26 - 28
Baltimore, MD*	Hyatt Regency Baltimore Inner Harbor Sheraton Inner Harbor Hotel	September 9 - 11
San Diego, CA	Town and Country Resort	September 16 - 18

*The Baltimore Tax Forum is scheduled to take place at the Baltimore Convention Center. Both hotels listed above are connected to/within walking distance of the Convention Center.

Please note: Registration for the IRS Nationwide Tax Forum is NOT OPEN. Registration will open March 1, 2025.

FinCEN Extends Beneficial Ownership Information Reporting Deadline by 30 Days; Announces Intention to Revise Reporting Rule WASHINGTON, D.C. –– With the February 18, 2025, decision by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas in Smith, et al. v. U.S. Department of the Treasury, et al., 6:24-cv-00336 (E.D. Tex.), beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) are once again back in effect. However, because the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) recognizes that reporting companies may need additional time to comply with their BOI reporting obligations, FinCEN is generally extending the deadline 30 calendar days from February 19, 2025, for most companies.

Notably, in keeping with Treasury’s commitment to reducing regulatory burden on businesses, during this 30-day period FinCEN will assess its options to further modify deadlines, while prioritizing reporting for those entities that pose the most significant national security risks. FinCEN also intends to initiate a process this year to revise the BOI reporting rule to reduce burden for lower-risk entities, including many U.S. small businesses.

Updated Deadlines

• For the vast majority of reporting companies, the new deadline to file an initial, updated, and/ or corrected BOI report is now March 21, 2025. FinCEN will provide an update before then of any further modification of this deadline, recognizing that reporting companies may need additional time to comply with their BOI reporting obligations once this update is provided. 

• Reporting companies that were previously given a reporting deadline later than the March 21, 2025 deadline must file their initial BOI report by that later deadline. For example, if a company’s reporting deadline is in April 2025 because it qualifies for certain disaster relief extensions, it should follow the April deadline, not the March deadline.

• As indicated in the alert titled “Notice Regarding National Small Business United v. Yellen, No. 5:22-cv-01448 (N.D. Ala.)”, Plaintiffs in National Small Business United v. Yellen, No. 5:22-cv 01448 (N.D. Ala.)—namely, Isaac Winkles, reporting companies for which Isaac Winkles is the beneficial owner or applicant, the National Small Business Association, and members of the National Small Business Association (as of March 1, 2024)—are not currently required to report their beneficial ownership information to FinCEN at this time. 

Reporting companies can report their beneficial ownership information directly to FinCEN, free of charge, using FinCEN’s E-Filing system available at https://boiefiling.fincen.gov. More information is available at fincen.gov/boi.

Background

On January 7, 2025, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued an order staying FinCEN’s regulations implementing the BOI reporting requirements, precluding FinCEN from requiring BOI reporting or otherwise enforcing the CTA’s requirements.On February 5, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice—on behalf of Treasury—filed a notice of appeal of the district court’s order and, in parallel, requested a stay of the order during the appeal.

On February 18, 2025, the court agreed to stay its January 7, 2025, order until the appeal is completed. Given this decision, FinCEN’s regulations implementing the BOI reporting requirements of the CTA are no longer stayed. Thus, subject to any applicable court orders, BOI reporting is now mandatory, but FinCEN is providing additional time for companies to report.

Increased Review of “Other Withholding” Claims – To protect taxpayers, the IRS is increasing its review of “Other Withholding” on Line 25C of Form 1040. To reduce potential delays in verifying the “Other Withholding” claimed, taxpayers are encouraged to attach the supporting documentation to their return. Key forms covered by Line 25c, “Other Withholding”, include Form 1042-S, Foreign Person's U.S. Source Income Subject to Withholding; Form 8805, Foreign Partner's Information Statement of Section 1446 Withholding Tax; Form 8288-A, Statement of Withholding on Dispositions by Foreign Persons of U.S. Real Property Interests; Form W2G, Certain Gambling Winnings; Form 8959, Additional Medicare Tax; and Schedule K1, Partner’s Share of Income, Deductions, Credits, etc.

The nation’s 2025 tax season will start on Monday, Jan. 27, and will feature expanded and enhanced tools to help taxpayers due to the agency’s historic modernization efforts. Since last tax season, the improvements include more access to tax account information from text and voice virtual assistants, expanded features on the IRS Individual Online Account, more access to dozens of tax forms through cell phones and tablets, and expanded alerts for scams and schemes that threaten taxpayers. The IRS is once again working to provide taxpayers expanded help in-person through more hours at Taxpayer Assistance Centers nationwide. The IRS also will be focused on continuing high levels of service on its main taxpayer phone lines, with a goal of up to 85% level of service. “These taxpayer-focused improvements we’ve done so far are important, but they are just the beginning of what the IRS needs to do,” said IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel. “More can be done with continued investment in the nation’s tax system.”

The IRS expects more than 140 million individual tax returns for tax year 2024 to be filed ahead of the Tuesday, April 15 federal deadline. More than half of all tax returns are expected to be filed this year with the help of a tax professional, and the IRS urges people to use a trusted tax pro to avoid potential scams and schemes.

Georgia Department of Revenue

Annual Notice of Interest Rate Adjustment

The Georgia Department of Revenue has issued a policy bulletin to announce the interest rate of 10.50%, accruing monthly, which will apply to interest-bearing refunds and past-due taxes for the 2025 calendar year. A copy of the bulletin can be found using this link:   Annual Notice of Interest Rate Adjustment.

Retired fire, EMS, and police personnel can reduce their taxable earnings by up to $3,000 for medical insurance premiums paid during a calendar year under the HELPS Retiree Act. ​

Prior to 2023, there was a requirement that the premium had to be deducted from the retiree’s pension check to qualify for the HELPS tax reduction. This is no longer the case following the adoption of the Federal Secure 2.0 retirement law.

• Premiums paid directly for health, accident, or long-term care insurance qualify for the tax credit.
• The reduction is claimed on the retiree's personal 1040 tax form on Line 5B or a similar adjustment. ​
• Married couples where both parties are retired police/fire/EMS may take a reduction of up to $6,000. ​
• The tax break is not available to surviving spouses.

A.J. Reynolds, EA, presented a 1 hour Virtual Webinar to GAEA on the Corporate Transparency Act which was recorded on Jan 29, 2024.

The link for the recording is shown below along with the links to the slide deck and links to his reference CTA / BOI material.

To view the recording, click on the Recording Link and supply the passcode (you may want to copy and paste the passcode for your convenience).

CTA Webinar with A. J.  Reynolds

 Passcode is QY1B*q4#

CTA and BOI Resource Material

CTA BOI Resource Information

CTA Act BOI Reporting Slides

From the IRS:

2.  New requirement for most businesses beginning Jan. 1, 2024

Beginning on Jan. 1, 2024, many corporations, limited liability companies and other entities created or registered to do business in the United States must report information about their beneficial owners—the persons who ultimately own or control the company—to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

FinCEN.gov/BOI provides guidance to help the small business community understand these requirements and includes:

• Answers to frequently asked questions,
• Infographics about key filing dates and key questions and
• An introductory video and more detailed informational video.

Contact FinCEN for more information and answers to any questions.

The IRS has released final regulations regarding certain user fees that tax return preparers have to pay.  The PTIN fee is now $11, plus $8.75 for the processing fee, for a total of $19.75.

In 2010 the total fee was $63 and in 2015 the IRS reduced it to $50.  After a flurry of lawsuits and appeals starting in 2017, the Courts determined that the charges need only to be reasonably related to the cost to the agency and the value to the recipient.   In 2023, the court concluded that the PTIN fees for fiscal years 2011 through 2017 were excessive.

TD 9980, October 4, 2023