Overview
Tax Transparency Legislation to be Proposed by European Commission: The European Commission (EC) announced that it will propose legislation next month to provide for the automatic exchange of information on tax rulings. The EC stated that the proposal will be accompanied by a wider set of measures to increase tax transparency. The EC also announced that it will present a second package of measures dealing with corporate taxation this summer, which will take into account current initiatives by the G20 and OECD to address tax avoidance.
IRS Releases Guidance on ACA Penalty Relief for Small Employers: Today, the IRS released guidance on Affordable Care Act (ACA) penalty relief for small employers. Notice 2015-17 provides transition relief from the assessment of excise tax under Section 4980D for small employers who reimburse or pay a premium for an individual health insurance policy for an employee. The notice also addresses the treatment for federal tax and for market reform purposes of arrangements reimbursing premiums of two percent-shareholder employees of S corporations.
Miscellaneous Guidance:
Notice 2015-14 updates and amplifies the procedures for the allocation of credits under the qualifying advanced coal project program of Section 48A by announcing the immediate beginning of the 2015 reallocation round of the Section 48A Phase III program. Applications for allocations of these credits must be filed with the Department of Energy and the Internal Revenue Service by April 1, 2015.
Notice 2015-19 provides guidance on the corporate bond monthly yield curve, the corresponding spot segment rates used under Section 417(e)(3), and the 24-month average segment rates under Section 430(h)(2). The notice also provides guidance as to the interest rate on 30-year Treasury securities under Section 417(e)(3)(A)(ii)(II) as in effect for plan years beginning before 2008 and the 30-year Treasury weighted average rate under Section 431(c)(6)(E)(ii)(I).
Revenue Ruling 2015-4 provides various prescribed rates for federal income tax purposes including the applicable federal interest rates, the adjusted applicable federal interest rates, the adjusted federal long-term rate, and the adjusted federal long-term tax-exempt rate.