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Lynn Nichols delivers the federal tax update for the week.  To find all of the FICPA CPE events on tax related topics around the state including your local FICPA chapter please click here.  The podcast this week covers the following topics:          

Doc numbers below each citation are reference numbers for Tax Analysts’ Tax Notes Today. We recommend Tax Notes Today as an excellent source of news and informed commentary on Federal tax issues.]

1. Proposed Regs Update Circular 230 Practice Standards
   (REG-138367-06; 9/14/2012
   Treasury Department has issued proposed regulations updating the Circular 230 practice standards.
   [Doc 2012-19202]
   
   
2. Tax Treatment and Effect on Shareholder Basis When S Corporation Distributes Encumbered Assets in Liquidation
   (ILM 201237017; 5/3/2012; rel. 9/14/2012)
   In a legal memorandum, the IRS concluded that when an S corporation distributes encumbered assets to a shareholder in exchange for the shareholder's stock in the corporation on complete liquidation, the shareholder's basis in the stock is not adjusted to reflect the assumption of liability associated with the distributed asset.
   [Doc 2012-19189]
   
   
3. S Status not Affected by Administrative Dissolution 
   (LTR 201237001; 5/1/2012; rel. 9/14/2012)
   The IRS ruled that an S corporation's administrative dissolution under state law did not terminate its status as an S corporation.
   [Doc 2012-19173]
   
   
4. Parent Corporation May Change From Impermissible Principal Accounting Method
   (LTR 201237012; 6/8/2012; rel. 9/14/2012)
   The IRS ruled that the principal method of accounting is impermissible for a corporation's service liabilities and granted the corporation permission to change its method so that the liabilities will be deducted in the year in which the reg. section 1.461-1(a)(2)(i) all-events test is satisfied.
   [Doc 2012-19184]
   
   
5. Settlement Officer Did Not Abuse Discretion When Deciding to Proceed With Levy
   (Joseph Anthony Coleman v. Commissioner; No. 5506-11 L; unpublished; 9/19/2012)
   The Tax Court, in an unpublished order, sustained an IRS determination to proceed with a levy to collect unpaid taxes against a permanently disabled individual, finding no abuse of discretion in the settlement officer's refusal to place his account in currently not collectible status.
   [Doc 2012-19563]
   
   
6. Transition Guidance on Employer Insurance Mandate May be Coming Soon
   (Tax Notes Today; 9/21/2012; Article by Matthew Dalton
   The government is considering transition relief for the employer insurance mandate enacted in the 2010 healthcare reform law, according to Stephen Tackney, IRS deputy associate chief counsel (Tax-Exempt and Government Entities), who spoke at an American Law Institute Continuing Legal Education course in Washington on September 20.
   [Doc 2012-19624]