Key Tax Developments, Quarter 2, 2017

Here are some of the major tax developments from 2017’s 2nd quarter that may affect you, your family, or your business:

IRS gives taxpayers more time to make expensing election deductions

Due to taxpayer confusion about making expensing elections, the IRS announced that taxpayers may make these elections on amended returns for tax years beginning after 2014 for any eligible property during which the property went into service during that tax year.

IRS releases next year’s inflation adjustments for health savings accounts (HSAs)

For 2018, the individual deduction limit for an HSA is $3,450 for individuals with self-only coverage and $6,900 for individuals with family coverage. Each of these limits increases by $1,000 if the individual is 55 or older.  Beginning in 2018, an HDHP is a health plan with an annual deductible that is not less than $1,350 for self-only coverage or $2,700 for family coverage.Additionally, annual out-of-pocket expenses must not exceed $6,650 for self-only coverage or $13,300 for family coverage.

IRS’s private debt collection program kicks off

Beginning in April the IRS began notifying individuals with overdue federal tax that their accounts were being assigned to one of four private collection agencies (PCAs). They also warned taxpayers to be wary of scammers posing as PCAs, cautioning that any legitimate calls would focus on debts the taxpayers would have been aware of for a number of years and would have been contacted by the IRS in writing about in the past.

Reissued proposed regulations explain new partnership uniform audit rules

After a “regulatory freeze” earlier this year, the IRS has now reissued proposed regulations explaining new partnership uniform audit rules related to The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015.

Healthcare bill moves through Congress

On July 13, the Senate leadership released its healthcare draft bill, the Better Care Reconciliation Act of 2017 (BCRA), as amended, for consideration. The bill failed in the Senate several weeks later. As of the publishing of this article, no further movement has been made towards repealing or replacing the ACA, but we will provide updates as they are available.

Call Burkett Burkett & Burkett, Certified Public Accountants, P.A. with any questions you may have or for assistance navigating these changes. Read the full article here.