Industry & Regulatory News

The IRS has released an alert reminding taxpayers that personal expenses for general health and wellness are not considered medical expenses for flexible spending account (FSA) and health savings account (HSA) purposes, and that reimbursement of non-medical expenses results in the arrangement no longer being qualified and all disbursements being includible in income.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a disaster declaration on March 2, 2024, for Vermont R1 severe storms and flooding, for the incident period of December 18 – December 19, 2023.

Representative Neal’s Automatic IRA Act of 2024 provides a practical solution for closing the retirement savings gap that affects millions of underserved workers. The proposal applies an automatic enrollment feature similar to state-facilitated auto IRA programs. This will enhance private-sector offerings, providing more people with the opportunity to save and removing barriers to plan adoption by small employers. And, by allowing contributions to be made to Roth IRAs, more individuals will have access to tax-free income to help pay for emergency expenses or enhance their retirement savings. Ascensus supports this common-sense approach toward meeting the challenges that many face when saving for retirement.

The IRS has announced the postponement of certain tax-related deadlines for victims of wildfires in the Spokane, Washington, area.

The IRS has announced the postponement of certain tax-related deadlines for victims of severe storms and flooding in San Diego, California.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a disaster declaration on February 27, 2024, for New Hampshire severe storm and flooding, for the incident period of December 17 – December 21, 2023.

The IRS has issued Notice 2024-26, providing an administrative exemption from the electronic filing requirement for Form 1042, Annual Withholding Tax Return for U.S. Source Income of Foreign Persons, otherwise required to be electronically filed in calendar year 2024.

Representative Adrian Smith (R-NE) has introduced H.R. 7407, the Small Business Dependent Care FSA Opportunity Act.

The IRS has announced the postponement of certain tax-related deadlines for victims of severe storms, tornadoes and flooding in Michigan.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a disaster declaration on February 19, 2024, for California severe storm and flooding, for the incident period of January 21, 2024–January 23, 2024.