Church Inquiries And Examinations By The IRS | A Look At Section 7611 And Its Exceptions

IRS Inquiries and Examinations, Generally – Sections 6201 and 7602. Generally, the IRS is authorized and required by 26 U.S.C. § 6201(a) “to make the inquiries, determinations, and assessments of all taxes” imposed by the Internal Revenue Code.

To execute on that requirement, Congress, via section 7602, granted the IRS broad latitude to issue summonses “‘[f]or the purpose of ascertaining the correctness of any return, making a return where none has been made, determining the liability of any person for any internal revenue tax …, or collecting any such liability.’” United States v. Clarke, 573 U.S. 248, 250 (2014) (quoting 26 U.S.C. § 7602(a)). The IRS has the authority to issue summonses to the subject taxpayer and to third parties who may have relevant information. See 26 U.S.C. § 7602(a)(2); Standing Akimbo, LLC v. United States, 955 F.3d 1146, 1154 (10th Cir. 2020). If a person or entity fails to comply with a summons, the IRS can bring an enforcement proceeding in a district court. 26 U.S.C. § 7604.

The IRS must have a good faith basis for issuing a summons under section 7602. To determine if a good faith basis exists, the courts evaluate these four factors: (1) whether the investigation will be conducted pursuant to a legitimate purpose, (2) whether the inquiry may be relevant to the purpose, (3) whether the information sought is not already within the IRS’s possession, and (4) whether the administrative steps required by the Internal Revenue Code have been followed. See United States v. Powell, 379 U.S. 48, 57-58 (1964).

Church Inquiries and Examinations, Section 7611. Section 7611 of the Code provides a different and unique statutory regime for inquiries and examinations of churches. Section 7611 restricts those inquiries and examinations, including the IRS’s ability to examine “church records,” and provides a detailed process for when and how those examinations may occur. See 26 U.S.C. § 7611(a), (h) (defining “church records” as “all corporate and financial records regularly kept by a church, including corporate minute books and lists of members and contributors.”). Under section 7611, the IRS may begin a church tax inquiry only if: (A) reasonable belief requirements and (B) specific notice requirements have been met.

Reasonable Belief Requirements. The “reasonable belief” requirements are met “if an appropriate high-level Treasury official reasonably believes (on the basis of facts and circumstances recorded in writing) that the church—(A) may not be exempt, by reason of its status as a church, from tax under section 501(a), or (B) may be carrying on an unrelated trade or business (within the meaning of section 513) or otherwise engaged in activities subject to taxation under this title.” Id. at § 7611(a)(2)-(a)(2)(B).
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IRS Quickly Moves Forward With Taxpayer Service Improvements; 4,000 Hired Plus 1000 More By End Of Year

The Internal Revenue Service announced significant progress to prepare for the 2023 tax filing season as the agency passed a milestone of hiring 4,000 new customer service representatives to help answer phones and provide other services.

These assistors have been hired over the last several months and are being trained to provide help to taxpayers, including answering phone questions. This is part of a much wider IRS improvement effort tied to the Inflation Reduction Act funding approved in August. The IRS continues working hard on implementing the landmark 10-year legislation, and updates on other improvement areas will be provided in the near future.

“The IRS is fully committed to providing the best service possible, and we are moving quickly to use new funding to help taxpayers during the busy tax season,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. “Our phone lines have been simply overwhelmed during the pandemic, and we have been unable to provide the help that IRS employees want to give and that the nation’s taxpayers deserve. But help is on the way for taxpayers. As the newly hired employees are trained and move online in 2023, we will have more assistors on the phone than any time in recent history.”

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Plug-In Electric Drive Vehicle Credit (IRC 30D)

The Treasury Department and the IRS issued Notice 2022-46 PDF requesting comments on any questions arising from the IRA amendments to the Clean Vehicle Credit. Comments should be submitted by November 4, 2022.

Updated information for consumers as of August 16, 2022

New Final Assembly Requirement

If you are interested in claiming the tax credit available under section 30D (EV credit) for purchasing a new electric vehicle after August 16, 2022 (which is the date that the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was enacted), a tax credit is generally available only for qualifying electric vehicles for which final assembly occurred in North America (final assembly requirement).

The Department of Energy has provided a list of Model Year 2022 and early Model Year 2023 electric vehicles that may meet the final assembly requirement. Because some models are built in multiple locations, there may be vehicles on the Department of Energy list that do not meet the final assembly requirement in all circumstances.

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IRS Provides Tax Inflation Adjustments For Tax Year 2023

The Internal Revenue Service announced the tax year 2023 annual inflation adjustments for more than 60 tax provisions, including the tax rate schedules and other tax changes. Revenue Procedure 2022-38PDF provides details about these annual adjustments.

New For 2023

The Inflation Reduction Act extended certain energy related tax breaks and indexed for inflation the energy efficient commercial buildings deduction beginning with tax year 2023. For tax year 2023, the applicable dollar value used to determine the maximum allowance of the deduction is $0.54 increased (but not above $1.07) by $0.02 for each percentage point by which the total annual energy and power costs for the building are certified to be reduced by a percentage greater than 25 percent. The applicable dollar value used to determine the increased deduction amount for certain property is $2.68 increased (but not above $5.36) by $0.11 for each percentage point by which the total annual energy and power costs for the building are certified to be reduced by a percentage greater than 25 percent.
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Tax Scams

WASHINGTON – J. Russell George, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, announced the release of new public service announcements (PSAs) to educate taxpayers about the continuing threat of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) impersonation scams.

The English and Spanish-language PSAs are available on TIGTA’s YouTube Channel.

“IRS impersonation scams continue to plague Americans and have claimed victims in every State,” George said. “TIGTA’s new public service announcements share advice on how to recognize these scams. If you receive a suspicious phone call from someone claiming to be from the IRS, just hang up.”

Scammers undermine Federal tax administration by impersonating IRS employees in an effort to obtain personally identifiable information (PII) from unsuspecting taxpayers or to steal their money. Such impersonators may claim to be IRS employees on the telephone or may misuse IRS logos, seals, or symbols to create official-looking letters and e-mails.

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IRS On Identity Theft

The Internal Revenue Service today reminded all taxpayers – particularly those who are identity theft victims – of an important step they should take to protect themselves from tax fraud.

Some identity thieves use taxpayers’ information to file fraudulent tax returns. By requesting Identity Protection PINs from the Get an IP PIN tool on IRS.gov, taxpayers can prevent thieves from claiming tax refunds in their names.

Identity Protection PINs And How To Get One

An IP PIN is a six-digit number the IRS assigns to an individual to help prevent the misuse of their Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) on federal income tax returns. The IP PIN protects the taxpayer’s account, even if they’re no longer required to file a tax return, by rejecting any e-filed return without the taxpayer’s IP PIN

Taxpayers should request an IP PIN:

  • If they want to protect their SSN or ITIN with the IRS,
  • If they want to protect their dependent’s SSN or ITIN with the IRS,
  • If they think their SSN, ITIN or personal information was exposed by theft or fraudulent acts or
  • If they suspect or confirm they’re a victim of identity theft.

Taxpayers can go to IRS.gov/getanippin to complete a thorough authentication check. Once authentication is complete, an IP PIN will be provided online immediately. A new IP PIN is generated every year for added security. Once an individual is enrolled in the IP PIN program, there’s no way to opt-out.

The IRS may automatically assign an IP PIN if the IRS determines the taxpayer’s a victim of tax-related identity theft. The taxpayer will receive a notification confirming the tax-related ID theft incident along with an assigned IP PIN for future tax-return filings.

Taxpayers will either receive a notice with their new IP PIN every year in early January for the next filing season or they must retrieve their IP PIN by going to IRS.gov.

Tax-related Identity Theft And How To Handle It

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The IRS And Nominee Liability

Nominee Liability

Under the Internal Revenue Code, the IRS can satisfy a tax deficiency by imposing a lien on any “property” or “rights to property” belonging to the taxpayer.  The statutory language is broad and reaches virtually every interest in property that a taxpayer might have, with limited exceptions.  In fact, the IRS’s legal ability to reach “property” and “rights to property” can include not only property and rights to property owned by the taxpayer in the taxpayer’s name, but also property held by a third party if the third party is holding the property as a nominee of the delinquent taxpayer.

What is a nominee?

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Spotlighting IRS Customer Service Challenges

The United States Senate Committee on Finance held a hearing on February 17, 2022 tax professionals and taxpayers should pay attention to right now. During this hearing they were “Spotlighting IRS Customer Service Challenges”. You can watch the hearing at this link. However, it is recommended you start by viewing the statements of the following individuals:

Senate Member Statements:

Mike Crapo Statement (R-ID)

Ron Wyden Statement (D-OR)

Witness Statements:

Erin Collins, National Taxpayer Advocate, IRS Testimony

Jessica Lucas-Judy, Director, Strategic Issues, US Gov Accountability

Jan Lewis, Chair, Tax Executive Committee, AICPA

You will find it very valuable reading these statements to understand what is going on behind the scenes, yet right out in the open during this hearing and testimony. Being informed is the best lesson.

IRS Suspends Letters

WASHINGTON – As part of ongoing efforts to provide additional help for people during this period, the IRS announced the suspension of more than a dozen additional letters, including the mailing of automated collection notices normally issued when a taxpayer owes additional tax, and the IRS has no record of a taxpayer filing a tax return.

These mailings include balance due notices and unfiled tax return notices. The IRS entered this filing season with several million original and amended returns filed by individuals and businesses that have not been processed due to challenges of the historic pandemic and is taking this step to help avoid confusion for taxpayers and tax professionals.

“IRS employees are committed to doing everything possible with our limited resources to help people during this period,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig. “We are working hard, long hours pushing creative paths forward in an effort to be part of the solution, rather than the problem. Our employees continue to expend every effort to balance a confluence of multiple, unprecedented demands − including successfully starting the filing season, working our inventory of unprocessed tax returns as well as looking for additional ways to minimize burden for taxpayers, tax professionals and businesses.

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IRS Issues Guidance Regarding The Retroactive Termination Of The Employee Retention Credit

The Internal Revenue Service today issued guidance for employers regarding the retroactive termination of the Employee Retention Credit. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which was enacted on Nov. 15, 2021, amended the law so that the Employee Retention Credit  applies only to wages paid before October 1, 2021, unless the employer is a recovery startup business.

Notice 2021-65 applies to employers that paid wages after September 30, 2021, and received an advance payment of the Employee Retention Credit for those wages or reduced employment tax deposits in anticipation of the credit for the fourth quarter of 2021, but are now ineligible for the credit due to the change in the law. The notice also provides guidance regarding how the rules apply to recovery startup businesses during the fourth quarter of 2021.

Employers Who Received Advance Payments
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Giving Tuesday: Important Charitable Giving Reminders For Taxpayers

Giving Tuesday is the kickoff of the season of charitable giving. The IRS encourages taxpayers to research charities before donating and to familiarize themselves with the expanded tax benefits that may come with giving to causes that mean something to them.

Taxpayers may be able to deduct donations to tax-exempt organizations on their tax return. As people are deciding where to make their donations, the IRS has a tool that may help. Tax Exempt Organization Search on IRS.gov is a tool that allows users to search for charities. TEOS provides information about an organization’s federal tax status and filings.

Here are some facts about the Tax Exempt Organization Search tool:

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Pre-Marital Agreements And The IRS

It is certainly not uncommon for one taxpayer with significant federal tax debts to want to marry another taxpayer without any tax debts at all.  In these instances, both taxpayers may naturally desire to enter into a pre-marital agreement to ensure that their respective assets and debts (including federal tax debts) are kept separate.  This is particularly so in so-called “community property states” where the presumption is that each taxpayer is deemed to have rights to one-half of the other taxpayer’s community property income and assets.

Taxpayers in these circumstances should understand that the IRS will not always respect a pre-marital agreement.  Rather, the IRS will, in many cases, carefully scrutinize the agreement itself and the surrounding circumstances to determine whether it can pierce through the agreement and reach the liable spouse’s community property share of assets.  Accordingly, taxpayers should, where warranted, consult with a tax professional to determine whether the pre-marital agreement complies with federal tax law and IRS guidance.

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