Recently, an official from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), Director Jessica Lucas-Judy, testified about IRS oversight of private tax-exempt hospitals before the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee.

The IRS told a tale: A Taxpayer creates a secure Business Online Account at IRS.gov and lets us know which communications methods they prefer – email, paper mail or phone. The taxpayer selects email. They later receive an email explaining tax credits and deductions for which they may be eligible.

The IRS regularly makes rulings on situations that taxpayers face, and then publishes those rulings to give guidance to other taxpayers to follow when they find themselves facing similar situations. The recently published Revenue Ruling 2023-02 gives helpful guidance for estate planning.

Taxpayers and practitioners who interact closely with the IRS always have a multitude of suggestions and ideas regarding improvement of the IRS services. Because they are aware of this, the IRS allows individuals to provide suggestions through the Taxpayer Advocate Service and the Office of Taxpayer Reduction.

The IRS Inspector General reviewed federal employee tax compliance and their report is out. The report’s frustration with the lack of enforcement is palpable even in the title “The IRS Has Not Adequately Prioritized Federal Civilian Employee Nonfilers”.

When the IRS audits a tax return, the case file for the audit is stored in the Enterprise Case Management (ECM) system. The ECM system is used by the IRS “to modernize and consolidate legacy case management systems

The Supreme Court released an interesting labor law opinion, Helix Energy Solutions Group, Inc. v. Hewitt. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) requires “covered employees” to receive overtime pay for work over 40 hours a week.

Governor Newsom signed SBX1-2, the “Gas Price Gouging Law,” into law on March 28h. The law begins with a reflection on the gasoline price history in 2022, and then the new law declares: “Fundamental change is necessary to prevent future extreme price spikes and price gouging by oil companies.”