JULY 2010 TAX BRIEFING

Addresses for Filing Elections and Statements:
Following the reorganization of the IRS (as required by the IRS Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998), the IRS issued Notice 2003-19 (2003-1 CB 703) to advise taxpayers of the revised addresses for filing elections, statements, returns, and other documents with the IRS. Since then, many of the locations listed in Notice 2003-19 for filing documents have changed and are no longer accurate. Accordingly, the IRS has revoked Notice 2003-19 . Instead, the address for filing many of the documents listed in Notice 2003-19 can be found (1) on www.irs.gov ; (2) in current IRS forms, instructions to forms, and publications; or (3) on a new IRS webpage accessible at www.irs.gov/file/article/0,,id=224931,00.html.

Bankruptcy Trustees Requesting Tax Refunds:
The IRS provided guidance to the trustee (or debtor- in-possession) representing a bankruptcy estate for properly requesting a tax refund, other than an application for a tentative carryback or refund adjustment under IRC Sec. 6411 . [ Editor's Note: The debtor in a Chapter 11 reorganization is a debtor-in-possession when the debtor remains in full control of all of the assets.] This guidance supersedes Rev. Proc. 81-18 (1981-1 CB 688) and applies to all cases commenced under the Bankruptcy Code except for Chapter 9 municipal debt adjustment cases and Chapter 15 ancillary and cross-border cases. Rev. Proc. 2010-27, 2010-31 IRB.

Gulf Oil Spill Assistance Day:
The IRS listed the Taxpayer Assistance Centers in seven Gulf Coast cities that will be open this Saturday, 7/17/10, to provide face-to-face assistance for taxpayers impacted by the BP oil spill. The following locations will be open from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Central Time: (1) 1110 Montlimar Drive, Mobile, Ala.; (2) 651-F West 14th St., Panama City, Fla.; (3) 7180 9th Ave. North, Pensacola, Fla.; (4) 2600 Citiplace Centre, Baton Rouge, La.; (5) 423 Lafayette St., Houma, La.; (6) 1555 Poydras Street, New Orleans, La.; and (7) 11309 Old Highway 49, Gulfport, Miss. Individuals with questions about the tax treatment of BP payments or who are experiencing filing or payment hardships because of the oil spill will be able to work directly with IRS personnel. News Release IR-2010-85.

Preventive Health Services:
Temporary regulations (found in TD 9493 ), issued in conjunction with regulations issued by other federal agencies, address preventive health services under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Group health plans and health insurance issuers offering group health insurance must provide coverage for, and may not impose any cost-sharing requirements (such as a copayment, coinsurance, or deductible) for, the enumerated list of items or services, which includes "immunizations for routine use in children, adolescents, and adults that have in effect a recommendation from the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with respect to the individual involved." Temp. Reg. 54.9815-2713T generally applies to plan years beginning on or after 9/23/10; however, see Temp. Reg. 54.9815-1251T for the application of these rules to grandfathered health plans.

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THE TAX COURT DISALLOWS THE EXCLUSION OF THE SALE OF HOME

In a tax court decision [David A. Gates and Christine A Gates, Petitioners v. Commissioner of the IRS, Respondent], held that taxpayers, who voluntarily demolished and constructed a new house on their property in order to enlarge and remodel their home, couldn't exclude the gain on the sale of the new house under the Code Sec. 121 exclusion for the sale of a principal residence. Although the taxpayers owned and used their old house as a principal residence for at least two of the five years before the sale, the Code Sec. 121 exclusion did not apply because they never lived in the new house and it was never used as their principal residence.

The Code Sec. 121 exclusion allows a taxpayer to exclude from income up to $250,000 of gain from the sale of a home owned and used by the taxpayer as a principal residence for at least two of the five years before the sale. The full exclusion does not apply if, within the two-year period ending on the sale date, the exclusion applied to another home sale by the taxpayer. Married taxpayers filing jointly for the year of sale may exclude up to $500,000 of home sale gain if (1) either spouse owned the home for at least two of the five years before the sale, (2) both spouses used the home as a principal residence for at least two of the five years before the sale, and (3) neither spouse is ineligible for the full exclusion because of the once-every-two-year limit.

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CONGRESS OKs EXTEND CLOSING DATE FOR HOMEBUYER CREDIT

On June 30, Congress passed H.R. 5623, the Homebuyer Assistance Improvement Act of 2010. The Act, which is now cleared for the President’s signature, provides first-time homebuyer credit relief to taxpayers who couldn’t meet a key June 30, 2010, closing date.

Under prior law, both the regular Code 36 first-time homebuyer credit of $8,000 and the reduced credit of $6,500 for long-term residents generally expired for homes purchased after Apr. 30, 2010. However, if a written binding contract to purchase a principal residence was entered into before May 1, 2010, the credit could be claimed if the purchase closed before July 1, 2010.

The Act amends Code Sec. 36(h)(2) to provide that if a written binding contract to purchase a principal residence was entered into before May 1, 2010, the credit may be claimed if the purchase is closed before Oct. 1, 2010. Thus, this extension allows homebuyers who signed a contract no later than the April 30th deadline to complete their closing by the end of September.

The three-month extension of the closing date provides tax relief for those who couldn't close on time because of backlogs at lenders and federal programs involved in homebuyer loans. In the words of the Act’s supporters, the three-month extension “will give time for all the new mortgages to be processed and not punish those homeowners who have been delayed through no fault of their own.”

The cost of the three-month closing reprieve is fully offset with revenue raisers, including these tax changes: expanding the bad check penalty under Code Sec. 6657 to cover electronic payments, effective for instruments tendered after the enactment date; and providing for disclosure of prisoner return information under Code Sec. 6103(k)(10) to state prisons, effective for disclosures after the enactment date.

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