IRS

The Internal Revenue Service provided initial guidance to aid employers in establishing pension-linked emergency savings accounts, an outgrowth of the wide-ranging SECURE 2.0 Act of 2022.

It was an eventful 12 months for practitioners, with new legislation, regulations, court decisions and IRS pronouncements all impacting the tax landscape.

In a change that may affect financial advisors and tax professionals' clients, the agency reversed course on a position it took seven years earlier.

In parallel with stricter enforcement, the tax authority is improving service for taxpayers and tax pros, and working on its technology.

The service reported on its increased enforcement efforts on Friday, including collecting over half a billion dollars from millionaires who didn't pay their taxes.

The official start date of tax season for individual taxpayers will be on Jan. 29, but the Internal Revenue Service plans to accept business tax returns as soon as Jan. 16.

Response times for tax professionals are also a problem, according to the National Taxpayer Advocate's Annual Report to Congress.

The agency plans to restrict access to a system that provides borrower tax returns to mortgage lenders beginning June 30. Left out of the loop, small-business lenders say getting credit to borrowers will become more difficult as a result.

Jack Fisher, 71, pioneered an industry that gave inflated tax deductions to syndicates of investors who promised not to develop land.

New year, new priorities; advisory service roadblocks; GM sues Frisco; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.