9/28/2021
Inside This Issue
Drought stricken farmers and ranchers have more time to replace livestock
Expanded tax benefits help individuals and businesses give to charity during 2021
New guidance for 2021 on reporting qualified sick and family leave wages
Tax relief for victims of Hurricane Ida
The IRS created a page dedicated to tax relief for Hurricane Ida. The page features information about the states the relief is available in, extended filing and payment due dates, and dyed fuel penalty relief.
September is National Preparedness Month. The IRS urges taxpayers to prepare for natural disasters.
Drought stricken farmers and ranchers have more time to replace livestock
Farmers and ranchers who were forced to sell livestock due to drought may have an additional year to replace the livestock and defer tax on any gains from the forced sales, according to the IRS.
Expanded tax benefits help individuals and businesses give to charity during 2021
The IRS explains how expanded tax benefits can help both individuals and businesses give to charity before the end of this year.
The expanded benefits include increased limits on eligible cash contributions made by itemizers and on amounts deductible by businesses for certain donated food inventory.
Small Business Week recap
The IRS joined the Small Business Administration in support of its 2021 National Small Business Week. Small business owners, employers, and self-employed individuals should visit the Small Business Week page on IRS.gov. The page features:
Tax tips
News releases
Information on how to determine if a worker is an employee or self-employed
Information to share with employees about advance Child Tax Credit payments
A guide to starting a small business
As part of the IRS’s increased multilingual outreach, IRS.gov pages have links to any available translations on the right side, just below the title.
Free workshop helps small business owners understand and meet tax obligations
The Small Business Virtual Tax Workshop helps educate small business owners about their taxes. It’s free and available online 24/7.
New contracts awarded to private collection agencies; taxpayers may be contacted by one of three groups
The IRS awarded new contracts effective September 23,2021 to three private-sector collection agencies for collection of overdue tax debts.
New mailing address for some states when filing returns
The IRS will close its paper return processing center in Fresno, California, permanently at the end of September. Taxpayers located in Alaska, California, Hawaii, Ohio and Washington state who previously filed their federal tax returns with Fresno should now mail their returns to the Ogden, Utah, processing center. This article is also available in Simplified Chinese.
New guidance for 2021 on reporting qualified sick and family leave wages
The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service issued Notice 2021-53, which provides guidance to employers about reporting on Form W-2 the amount of qualified sick and family leave wages paid to employees for leave taken in 2021.
The guidance includes model language on how to report these amounts to employees and information relevant to self-employed individuals.
Interest rates remain the same for the fourth quarter 2021
The IRS announced that interest rates will remain the same for the calendar quarter beginning October 1, 2021.
A Closer Look: Pandemic; Small Business Week
Check out the two latest executive columns in “A Closer Look.”
IRS Making progress on key areas slowed by the pandemic, but more work remains
The latest executive column features Chuck Rettig, IRS Commissioner discussing how the IRS had to pause and modify operations during the pandemic. He also provides a glimpse of what the IRS is doing to help struggling taxpayers and to get caught up during this unprecedented time. “We have done the best we could under the circumstances, and we will continue to do our best as we face the current challenges,” said Rettig.
Celebrating resilience and renewal during national Small Business Week
This recent executive column features Darren Guillot, SB/SE Commissioner, Collection, and De Lon Harris, SB/SE Commissioner, Examination, discussing how the IRS is committed to assisting small businesses and self-employed individuals meet their tax obligations. “We will continue to work diligently to provide guidance and information on relief and tools for the small business community and ensure fairness in the tax system for all,” said Guillot.
A Closer Look covers a variety of timely issues of interest to taxpayers, small businesses and the tax community.
Other tax news
The following information may be of interest to individuals and groups in or related to small businesses:
October 15 deadline approaches for taxpayers who requested extensions to file 2020 tax returns
Advance Child Tax Credit
It's not too late for families who haven't filed a 2020 income tax return—including those who are not normally required to file to sign up for advance Child Tax Credit payments
Update address feature available on IRS online portal
Security Summit warns tax pros to
Watch for tell-tale signs of identity theft
Be wary of pandemic-related email schemes
Cost of home testing for COVID-19 is eligible medical expense; reimbursable under FSAs, HSAs
IRS accepting applicants for the Compliance Assurance Process for 2022