Key Takeaways
- Government shutdown.
- IRS to remain open amid shutdown.
- Treasury releases OBBBA Opportunity Zone guidance.
- Tariffs on lumber and furniture announced.
- EV credit expires.
- IRS to partially rework Corporate AMT Proposed Regs.
- International Coffee Day!
Government Shutdown
Opportunity Zones
Notice 2025-50 PDF provides clarification on two important One, Big, Beautiful Bill provisions: the definition of “rural area” and the application of the substantial improvement threshold for certain improvements to property located in a QOZ that is comprised entirely of a rural area.
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Notice 2025-50 applies to all tangible property located in a QOZ that is comprised entirely of a rural area on or after July 4, 2025, and that has been, or is in the process of being, substantially improved. The Treasury Department and the IRS intend to issue future guidance on the forthcoming round of opportunity zones authorized by the OBBB, including the nomination and designation procedures.
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Notice 2025-50 applies to all tangible property located in a QOZ that is comprised entirely of a rural area on or after July 4, 2025, and that has been, or is in the process of being, substantially improved. The Treasury Department and the IRS intend to issue future guidance on the forthcoming round of opportunity zones authorized by the OBBB, including the nomination and designation procedures.
Tariffs
Trump Orders Lumber, Furniture Tariffs To Begin Oct. 14 - Dylan Moroses, Law 360 Tax Authority ($):
Imported softwood lumber will be subject to a 10% tariff, while upholstered wood products entering the U.S., such as furniture, will face a 25% tariff, as will imported kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities beginning Oct. 14, according to the order.
EV Credit
Automakers Brace for EV Sales Plunge After Tax Credit Expires - Ryan Felton and Christopher Otts, Wall Street Journal:
The EV credit, which expired Tuesday, has lifted battery-powered car sales for years. Without it, Ford Chief Executive Jim Farley predicted, EV market share will fall by more than half to between 4% and 5% of total sales by the end of the year.
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Ford and GM said Tuesday they would both keep incentivizing battery-powered car sales to help contain the fallout of the credit ending. A GM spokesman said the company is working with dealers on a way to extend the $7,500 credit for leases for an unspecified time. Reuters reported Monday that the automakers were signing up dealers for programs that would effectively extend the credit.
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Ford and GM said Tuesday they would both keep incentivizing battery-powered car sales to help contain the fallout of the credit ending. A GM spokesman said the company is working with dealers on a way to extend the $7,500 credit for leases for an unspecified time. Reuters reported Monday that the automakers were signing up dealers for programs that would effectively extend the credit.
The $7,500 EV Tax Credit Gone Is Gone. Who Will Bear The Higher Costs? - Nathan Goldman, Forbes:
The notion that EV manufacturers will need to decide between decreased demand and decreased profit margin suggests that the automobile manufacturers will take a hit to their earnings one way or another due to the disappearing EV tax credit. Put differently, if demand declines because the price is now higher (without a corresponding increase in after-tax earnings) then earnings will fall. Conversely, if the automobile manufacturers absorb the costs, then their profit margins will also decline. What is key for these companies is that they balance out the tax incidence of the reduced tax incentives.
Corporate AMT Proposed Regs
IRS To Rework Corporate AMT Proposed Regs - Kat Lucero, Law 360 Tax Authority ($):
The IRS will partially revoke proposed regulations introduced in September 2024 and replace them with new rules that aim to "reduce the compliance burdens and costs associated" with applying the levy to domestic corporate transactions, troubled companies and tax consolidated groups, the agency said in Notice 2025-46.
Treasury Revamps Corporate AMT Interim Guidance - Chandra Wallace, Tax Notes ($):
According to the notice, once final regulations for the corporate AMT are published, no corresponding part of the 2024 proposed regulations or of any forthcoming proposed regulations will apply for tax years prior to final publication.
Before publication of final regs, however, taxpayers generally may rely on the proposed rules as modified by interim guidance, the notice provides.
Before publication of final regs, however, taxpayers generally may rely on the proposed rules as modified by interim guidance, the notice provides.
Blogs and Bits
Notice 2025-53 postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred or will occur during the period from Sept. 30, 2025, through Sept. 30, 2026. Affected individuals and businesses in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza have until Sept. 30, 2026, to file returns and pay any taxes that are due during this period. In Notice 2023-71, Notice 2024-72 PDF and Notice 2025-53 PDF, the IRS is providing separate but overlapping relief to taxpayers who, due the terroristic action in Israel, may be unable to meet a tax-filing or tax-payment obligation, or may be unable to perform other time-sensitive tax-related actions.
What To Do On Your Taxes If Your IRS Form 1099 Is Wrong Or Missing - Robert Wood, Forbes:
It is useful to have a copy of each one that is issued, but if you know about the payment you received, you can just report the income, you don’t need the form. Reporting extra income that doesn't match a Form 1099 is not a problem. Only the reverse is a problem. You can also get an IRS transcript that will list all Forms 1099 reported to your Social Security Number. That should tell you about each IRS Form 1099 issued to you.
Final Regulations Streamline Interest Capitalization for Property Improvements - Ed Zollars, Current Federal Tax Developments:
These regulations are expected to primarily affect businesses with gross receipts exceeding the § 263A small business exemption threshold (currently $25 million, adjusted for inflation). The IRS estimates that of the roughly 30,000 taxpayers subject to § 263A, no more than 1%, or approximately 300 taxpayers, may file for a change in accounting method in any given year as a result of these final rules.
Tax Trouble
Diamond Mogul's Daughter Escapes Tax Claims In $41M Deal - Asha Glover, Law 360 Tax Authority ($) (defendant name omitted):
The government had originally sought to hold the family accountable for what the government alleged were multiple tax schemes carried out by Defendant and his two adult children. Under that agreement, issued in September 2023, Defendant agreed to a $63.2 million judgment, much of which the government said stemmed from his distribution of more than $40 million of his father's estate's assets to himself and others without first paying taxes.
The government's original complaint said Defendant's taxes amounted to over $88 million once penalties and interest were included. Defendant lived his final years under audit before dying in late 2008, and the complaint said he engineered "a series of sham transactions" designed to avoid the IRS and other creditors — a sham the government said his children perpetuated.
The government's original complaint said Defendant's taxes amounted to over $88 million once penalties and interest were included. Defendant lived his final years under audit before dying in late 2008, and the complaint said he engineered "a series of sham transactions" designed to avoid the IRS and other creditors — a sham the government said his children perpetuated.
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