Issue Number: 2017-28
Inside This Issue
1. Don’t Take the Bait: Avoid Spear Phishing Emails
2. YouTube: Phishing-Malware
3. July 19 Webinar: What You Need to Know about Practicing before the IRS
4. Upcoming Modernized e-File System Maintenance
5. Technical Guidance
1. Don’t Take the Bait: Avoid Spear Phishing Emails
The IRS, state tax agencies and the tax industry warn tax professionals to beware of spear phishing emails, an increasingly common tactic used by cybercriminals to target practitioners.
Spear phishing emails, which are often tailored to individual practitioners, result in stolen taxpayer data and fraudulent tax returns filed in the names of individual and business clients.
Information about spear phishing kicks off a new “Don’t Take the Bait” awareness campaign. This is the first of a special 10-part series that will run each week through mid-September.
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2. YouTube: Phishing-Malware
Find out how to protect your clients from emails that claim they are from the IRS by watching this YouTube video.
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3. July 19 Webinar: What You Need to Know about Practicing before the IRS
Registration is open now for this new webinar featuring Office of Professional Responsibility Director Stephen Whitlock on Wednesday, July 19 at 2 pm ET.
Topics include:
- Regulations governing tax practice before the IRS (Circular 230, Rev. 6/2014)
- Due diligence obligations of tax professionals
- Overview of other key Circular 230 provisions
- Practitioner responsibilities to clients and the tax administration system
- Best practices for all tax professionals
- Office of Professional Responsibility policies and procedures
The webinar will feature a live question and answer session at the end of the presentation.
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4. Upcoming Modernized e-File System Maintenance
The Modernized e-File (MeF) Production and Assurance Testing Systems (ATS) will be unavailable on Saturday, July 22 and again on Saturday, Aug. 5. The IRS will conduct system maintenance on these two Saturdays from 7:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. ET. Please refrain from accessing the MeF Production and ATS Systems to transmit submissions, get acknowledgements, retrieve state submissions, send state acknowledgements or submit any other service requests during these times.
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5. Technical Guidance
Revenue Procedure 2017-43 revises procedures for applying for Treasury Department approval of a suspension of benefits under a multiemployer defined benefit pension plan that is in critical and declining status under section 432(e)(9). Effective for applications submitted on or after Sept. 1, 2017, the revenue procedure modifies and supersedes Rev. Proc. 2016-27 and is intended to facilitate the Treasury Department’s review in light of its experience in processing benefit suspension applications.
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