Content about Internal Revenue Service

Well over half of U.S. employers use 401(k)s and other defined contribution plans to encourage their employees to save for retirement, collectively spending more than $118 billion in match contributions and encouraging employees to save another $175 billion every year, according to a January 2013 report, "The Retirement Breach in Defined Contribution Plans: Size, Causes and Solutions."

A new report shows a 21% annual increase in cash balance "hybrid" retirement plans in the United States between 2009 and 2010 (the most recent year for which IRS reporting data is available), almost double the previous year’s 11 percent growth rate. Cash balance plans continued to outpace all other sectors of the retirement plan market, according to the 2012 Cash Balance Research Report from Kravitz, a provider of retirement plan management services.

In a definitive answer to questions about 1099K reporting requirements, which relates to debit and credit card receipts, the IRS has said it will not require retailers and businesses to separately reconcile reimbursement information, such as cash back, sales taxes, state and local deposits, and other non-income related dollars from the gross receipts.

The IRS letter came in response to an inquiry from the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), an Arlington, Va., trade group.

Cleveland-based Sherwin-Williams reached a settlement of the Internal Revenue Service's audit of Sherwin-Williams' employee stock ownership plan ("ESOP") that will lead to a charge of $75 million.

Sherwin-Williams has fully resolved all IRS issues for the 2003 through 2009 tax years, the company said. 

Sherwin-Williams received a Notice of Proposed Adjustment from the IRS on May 20, 2011, challenging the ESOP-related federal income tax deductions claimed by Sherwin-Williams and proposing substantial excise taxes and penalties.

A probe of the hiring and wage practices of some of the nation’s largest home builders has widened to include the Internal Revenue Services and labor officials from nearly a dozen states, according to an article in the Wall Street Journal. 

The National Lumber and Building Material Dealers Association (NLBMDA) praised the actions of the United States Senate for passing the crucial 1099 Repeal Legislation. The Senate passed H.R.4, the Comprehensive 1099 Taxpayer Protection and Repayment of Exchange Subsidy Overpayments Act without changing anything in the House-passed bill. 

The bill now goes to the desk of President Obama.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 314 to 112 on March 3 to repeal   Form 1099 reporting requirements that would create a mountain of paperwork for small businesses. The requirement, passed last year as part of the healthcare bill and scheduled to start in 2012, would require businesses to file an IRS Form 1099  for each vendor they purchase $600 in goods or services from in any given tax year.