Overview
US Supreme Court Denies Cert in Seminole Tribe Tax Case: Today, the US Supreme Court denied the Seminole Tribe of Florida’s petition for review of Florida’s tax on utility services. The denial allows the US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit’s August 2015 ruling – that the tax was not preempted because the legal incidence of the tax fell on the utility provider, not the end consumer – to stand.
IRS Hearing on Estate Tax Basis Consistency Rules Set for June 27: The IRS announced that a public hearing on proposed estate-tax regulations has been scheduled for June 27. The proposed regulations, REG–127923–15 (Mar. 21, 2015), require that the tax basis of assets received from a decedent to be consistent with the basis reported on the estate tax return. The regulations also require an executor to report “after-discovered or omitted property” on a federal estate tax return before the period of limitations expires or the final value will be zero (the so-called “zero-basis rule”).
Miscellaneous Guidance:
In Notice 2016-38, released today, the IRS issued June rates used to determine the present value of defined benefit plans for funding purposes pursuant to Section 430(h)(2). The notice also provides guidance on the corporate bond monthly yield curve and the 24-month average segment rates under Section 430(h)(2).