In the news.

Commissioner Danny Werfel describes an IRS that focuses on the wealthy and uses artificial intelligence to find discrepancies in large partnership filings.

The IRS issued guidance on the treatment of refunds of state or local taxes and certain other payments made by states made to individuals in 2023 and future years, including spillover payments made in 2023 under 2022 programs covered by IRS News Release IR-2023-23.

The new e-filing requirement, beginning in 2024, applies to businesses mandated to e-file certain other information returns, such as Forms 1099 series and Forms W-2.

The IRS issued proposed regulations related to the increased tax credit or deduction amounts for clean energy facilities and projects if taxpayers satisfy certain prevailing wage and registered apprenticeship requirements.

Employees who participate in a Sec. 401(k) or similar retirement plan and whose prior-year Social Security wages were over $145,000 have been given a two-year reprieve from the new requirement that any catch-up contributions they make to the plan must be designated as after-tax Roth IRA contributions.

Long-awaited proposed regulations, part of a broader effort by Treasury to close the tax gap and address tax evasion risks posed by digital assets, require brokers to report sales and exchanges of digital assets by customers.

Wait times increased about the same time as the IRS ended program that thwarted line-jumping services, say tax practitioners, who also questioned the training of new hires.

In a notice issued Friday, the IRS provided guidance to persons filing certain returns on how to seek religious exemptions, hardship waivers, and other administrative exemptions provided by the IRS, from electronic filing requirements.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration said the IRS is uncertain of the location of microfilm cartridges with tax information of both individuals and businesses.

New proposed regulations would update the regulations to reflect 50-plus years of statutory changes, remove regulations and certain transition rules that no longer have practical application, and eliminate obsolete or incorrect terms and cross-references.