Overview
OMB Finishes Review of Proposal to Remove Section 385 Regulations: The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has completed its evaluation of a proposal to remove regulations promulgated under section 385, which address the treatment of related-party debt for US tax purposes.
OECD Releases Fourth Round of BEPS Action 15 Peer Review Reports: Today, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released the fourth round of OECD BEPS Action 14 peer review reports on improving tax dispute resolution mechanisms. Each report assesses a country’s efforts to implement the Action 14 minimum standard as agreed to under the OECD BEPS Project. The reports relating to Australia, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Malta, Mexico, New Zealand, and Portugal published today contain over 130 targeted recommendations that will be followed up in stage 2 of the peer review process. A document addressing the implementation of best practices is also available for each jurisdiction that opted to have such best practices assessed.
TIGTA Reports Improved Procedures Needed to Prevent Fraudulent Use of Third-Party Authorization Forms: The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) released a report finding that IRS management has not implemented sufficient processes and procedures to authenticate the validity of Forms 2848, Power of Attorney and Declaration of Representative, and Forms 8821, Taxpayer Information Authorization. TIGTA’s review also identified that the IRS did not take sufficient action to prevent some taxpayer refunds from being erroneously issued to representatives. Among other things, TIGTA recommends that the IRS develop a confirmation letter program to ensure that taxpayers authorized the third-party access and revoke the authorizations for those representatives and designees that taxpayers did not authorize.