Insights

With the new year and the new decade comes new information that employers and participants will need to know in the employee benefits sphere.

The decade ended the way it began – with cybercrime in the headlines. As we ease into the 2020s, however, more ways to combat it and more laws to protect us against it are being devised.

Albert Einstein once said, “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.” Congress must be the most brilliant legislative body around because it has again made a number of tax law changes in the latest year-end appropriations bills.

The Taxpayer First Act of 2019 (Act) was signed into law last year. This legislation aims to expand and strengthen taxpayer rights and to reform the IRS into a more taxpayer-friendly agency by requiring it to develop a comprehensive customer service strategy, modernize its technology, and enhance its cyber security.

With the end of 2019 tax filing season, all calendar-year taxpayers have finally filed their first returns reporting Global Intangible Low Taxed Income inclusions.

Prior to recessing for the holidays, Congress passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act (Act). The Act was signed into law by the President on December 20, 2019, primarily to appropriate federal funds in order to avoid a government shutdown.

While aboard Air Force One on December 20, 2019, the President signed into law H.R. 1865 the “Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020.”

In our continuing efforts to cover tax matters of interest to businesses with global connections, the December 2019 edition of International Tax Insights contains the following articles.