COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF IRS AND FREE FILE ALLIANCE
Philadelphia - A federal appeals court has ruled that the electronic filing fees charged by Intuit, H&R Block Digital Tax Solutions, and other members of the Free File Alliance are not illegal and that the IRS's agreement with them did not violate antitrust laws.
The Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld two earlier rulings in a class-action lawsuit that contended that the 2002 and 2005 agreements between the IRS and the tax software vendors limiting free e-filing to at least 60 percent of taxpayers, and later 70 percent of taxpayers with a certain level of adjusted gross income, violated the Independent Offices Appropriations Act and the Sherman Antitrust Act. The appeals court agreed with the lower court that the IOAA claim does not apply to private companies like those in the Free File Alliance, but only to government agencies.
IRS EXTENDS MORATORIUM ON SHELTER PENALTIES
Washington, D.C. - Under pressure from Congress, the Internal Revenue Service has once again extended a moratorium on collection enforcement actions on certain types of tax shelter penalties, extending until June 1, 2010, the current moratorium on actions relating to tax shelter penalties assessed under Section 6707A. In addition, the IRS will continue to hold off on filing new notices of lien on amounts due solely related to Section 6707A penalties until June 1, 2010.
SERVICE EXTENDS UNCERTAIN TAX POSITION PROPOSAL
Washington, D.C. - The IRS has extended the comment period for a proposal that Commissioner Doug Shulman had announced in late January requiring the reporting of uncertain tax positions at the time a return is filed by business taxpayers that have over $10 million in assets, and that have a financial statement prepared under FIN 48 or a similar standard. The IRS had originally requested comments by March 29, but said in Announcement 2010-17 that the deadline has now been extended to June 1, 2010.
