Issue Number:  2017-31

Inside This Issue

1.     Planned Outage for all e-Services Users

2.     Registration Deadlines Approaching for Washington, D.C., Las Vegas Nationwide Tax Forums

3.     Security Summit Alert: Tax Pros Warned of New Scam to Steal Their Passwords

4.     Don’t Take the Bait, Step 4: Defend against Ransomware

5.     Tax Relief Available for Michigan Storm Victims

6.     Aug. 30 webinar: Reporting Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts on the Electronic FBAR

7.     IRS Withholding Calculator

8.     Technical Guidance

 

1.  Planned Outage for all e-Services Users

The IRS is in the final stages of a technology upgrade for e-Services. Please plan ahead as there will be some temporary use issues that will occur as we make this transition:

1. There will be a complete outage of all e-Services tools, including Registration, Transcript Delivery System (TDS), and TIN Matching, from 6 p.m. EDT, Thursday, Aug. 17, until 6 a.m. EDT, Monday, Aug. 21. Applications also will be offline and resume Aug. 22, except for state users. E-Services must be taken offline to complete the platform transition and to perform testing. This outage will affect all users, including bulk users such as IVES and TIN Matching.

2. All State tax agency users will be unable to submit new e-file and TDS applications for state coordinators or change existing e-file and TDS applications for state coordinators from Aug. 17 until late October. This temporary issue will not affect state access to transcripts. If there is a critical need to add or remove an individual from a state application, states may contact their IRS government liaison representative who will notify appropriate IRS personnel.

3. Affordable Care Act Information Return (AIR) filers may resume submission of applications for Transmitter Control Codes starting on Aug. 22. The application process for AIR users has been offline since July because of the e-Services platform transition.

4. A redesigned e-Services landing page will launch Aug. 21.

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2.  Registration Deadlines Approaching for Washington, D.C., Las Vegas Nationwide Tax Forums

Time is running out to register for the National Harbor (Washington, D.C.) and Las Vegas Nationwide Tax Forums. The standard rate of $255 expires two weeks before each Forum – Aug. 8 for National Harbor and Aug. 15 for Las Vegas. Registration after those dates will still be available but at a higher rate of $370. The National Harbor Forum is scheduled for Aug. 22-24, while the Las Vegas Forum takes place Aug. 29-31.

Each IRS Nationwide Tax Forum offer practitioners continuing education seminars, case resolution and an exhibition featuring dozens of vendors and service providers. To register, visit irstaxforum.com.

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3.  Security Summit Alert: Tax Pros Warned of New Scam to Steal Their Passwords

The Internal Revenue Service, state tax agencies and the tax industry today warned tax professionals to be alert to a new phishing email scam impersonating tax software providers and attempting to steal usernames and passwords.

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4.  Don’t Take the Bait, Step 4: Defend against Ransomware

Ransomware attacks are on the rise worldwide as bad actors here and abroad infiltrate computer systems and hold sensitive data hostage.

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5.  Tax Relief Available for Michigan Storm Victims

Victims of the Severe Storms and Flooding that took place beginning on June 22 in parts of Michigan may qualify for tax relief from the Internal Revenue Service.

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6.  Aug. 30 webinar: Reporting Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts on the Electronic FBAR

Just in time for those who need to file the FBAR by the Oct. 15 extended due date, the IRS offers this webinar on Aug. 30 at 2 p.m. ET.

Topics include:

• Identifying who must file the FBAR
• Determining what accounts must be reported on the FBAR
• Knowing when to file the FBAR
• Explaining how to file the FBAR
• Sharing answers to frequently asked questions

The webinar will feature a live question and answer session at the end of the presentation.

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7.  IRS Withholding Calculator

Learn how to check your client' s federal withholding tax using our online calculator on IRS.gov by watching this YouTube video.

Watch this and other videos on the IRS’s YouTube Channel.

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8.  Technical Guidance

Notice 2017-41 extends issuer voluntary reporting for 2017 catastrophic coverage enrolled in through an Exchange.  In addition, issuers may rely on this notice to voluntarily report catastrophic plan coverage enrolled in through an Exchange for coverage years after 2017 to the extent final regulations requiring issuer reporting of catastrophic plan coverage enrolled in through an Exchange are not applicable.

Notice 2017-41 will be in IRB 2017-34 dated Aug. 21.

Notice 2017-42 announces that Treasury and the IRS intend to amend the section 871(m) regulations to delay the effective/applicability date of certain rules in those final regulations and extends the phase-in period provided in Notice 2016-76, 2016-51 I.R.B. 834, for certain provisions of the section 871(m) regulations.

Notice 2017-42 will be in IRB 2017-34 dated Aug. 21.

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