On July 22, 2024, the IRS announced tax relief for individuals and businesses in 67 Texas counties affected by Hurricane Beryl, including the postponement of certain tax filing and payment deadlines for taxpayers in designated areas. Specifically, this relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines until Feb. 3, 2025, for such deadlines that occurred from July 5, 2024 through Feb. 3, 2025 (the “postponement period”). This relief also provides extensions for other tax-related actions to help those affected meet their obligations without additional penalties or interest.

The IRS has published a draft version of the Form 6765 Credit for Increasing Research Activities, also known as the R&D Tax Credit. The draft Form 6765 requests much of the same information that the Service began requiring for amended returns in 2022, detailed in our blog New Filing Requirements for R&D Credit.

In the fall of 2021, the IRS announced through a memo from the IRS Office of Chief Counsel that there would be New Filing Requirements for R&D Credit when a taxpayer submits a claim for a refund. The requirements went into effect for all claims after 1/10/2022.

The IRS released IR-2024-169 yesterday, summarizing its review of Employee Retention Credit (“ERC”) claims. Of the 1 million claims representing greater than $86 billion reviewed, the IRS determined:

• 10-20% of claims are in the highest-risk category, showing “clear signs of being erroneous”;
• 60-70% of highest risk claims show an “unacceptable level of risk” and will be subject to additional review; and
• 10-20% of claims are deemed “low risk” with no eligibility warning signs.

The House of Representatives voted Wednesday, January 31, to pass a bipartisan tax bill that would benefit millions of taxpayers. The vote, which passed 357 to 70, approved a $78 billion tax package, known as the Tax Relief for the American Families and Workers Act of 2024 or H.R. 7024. H.R. 7024 would restore crucial research and experimentation (“R&E”) deductions for taxpayers as well as provide other needed business tax and small business relief.