Overview
OIRA Completes Review of Proposed QOZ Regulations: OIRA completed its review of proposed regulations relating to qualified opportunity zones under sections 1400Z-1 and 1400Z-2, as enacted by P.L. 115-97, commonly referred to as TCJA.
European Parliament Releases Studies on Free Ports and Shell Companies: The European Parliamentary Research Service released two studies, titled Money Laundering and Tax Evasion Risks in Free Ports and An Overview of Shell Companies in the European Union.
Miscellaneous Guidance Released:
Notice 2018-84 provides interim guidance clarifying how the suspension of the personal exemption deduction in section 151(d)(5) of the TCJA applies to certain rules under sections 36B and 6011 relating to the premium tax credit, and under section 5000A relating to the individual shared responsibility provision.
The IRS updated Publication 1281, Backup Withholding for Missing and Incorrect Name/TIN(s), to reflect a change made by the TCJA. As a result of this change, effective January 1, 2018, the backup withholding tax rate dropped from 28% to 24%.
The IRS recently updated the International Data Exchange Service (IDES) Data Preparation tools on GitHub.