Scott Lawrence

Effective for tax years beginning after December 31, 2021, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (“TCJA”) of 2017 changed the treatment of Internal Revenue Code (“IRC”) Section 174 costs requiring that Research and Development (R&D) costs be capitalized and amortized over a period of 5-years for domestic expenses and 15-years for offshore expenses. Although many hoped that this unfavorable provision from the TCJA would be postponed or removed prior to December 31, 2021, the change remains in effect in 2022.

On March 21, 2022, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee ruled in favor of CIC Services, LLC (“CIC”) in their case against the IRS regarding Notice 2016-66 (the “Notice”). In CIC Services, LLC v. IRS (“CIC Services”), the ruling stated that IRS did not comply with the mandatory notice-and-comment requirements under the Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”) and the IRS’ issuance of the Notice was arbitrary and capricious as set forth under the APA.

On March 21, 2022, the US District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee ruled in favor of CIC Services, LLC (“CIC”) in their case against the IRS regarding Notice 2016-66 (the “Notice”). In CIC Services, LLC v. IRS (“CIC Services”), the ruling stated that IRS did not comply with the mandatory notice-and-comment requirements under the Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”) and the IRS’ issuance of the Notice was arbitrary and capricious as set forth under the APA.

In November 2021, the IRS issued Revenue Procedure 2021-45, which provided inflation adjustments for tax provisions that will be applicable for the 2022 tax year. The IRS calculates these adjustments annually based on changes in the Chained Consumer Price Index.

Each year, the IRS assesses thousands of tax penalties for filing tax returns, required forms and making payments late. Taxpayers frequently fail to challenge these penalties and in many cases, the taxpayer didn’t understand that a penalty had been asserted or the IRS mailed the penalty notice to the wrong address. 

For many manufacturing firms, balancing inventory costs is vital to the company’s success. However, it can be a guessing game that is difficult to predict. Playing a vital role in successfully managing growth through the company’s business strategy, sustainable inventory cost management requires an effective system.

The new lease accounting standard is here for private companies. The revised lease guidance was introduced by the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) in 2016 as Accounting Standards Update (ASU) 2016-02 creating Topic 842, Leases, of the Accounting Standards Codification (Topic 842 or the Lease Standard). Topic 842 is intended to “increase transparency and comparability among organizations by recognizing lease assets and lease liabilities on the balance sheet and disclosing key information about leasing arrangements.”