‌
January 16, 2019

A few quick updates:

USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue announced this morning that many Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices will be opening from January 17, 18, and 22 to help farmers and ranchers with "limited services." This will give some of your clients a small window to conduct some important business. The January 15 deadline for signing up for market facilitation program (MFP) payments has also been extended. It will be extended for a period of time equal to the number of days the government is ultimately shut down, once the shutdown ends . Producers who already applied for MFP payments and certified their 2018 production by December 28, 2018 should have already received their payments. Read more here .


The new shutdown contingency plan released January 15 states that 57.4 percent of the IRS workforce will be required to work during the filing season. This compares to 12.5 percent of the 80,265 IRS workers who have been working under the prior (non-filing season) plan. Read more here for a list of services that will and will not be available .


Still time to register for two upcoming webinars:

We are partnering with the Iowa Bar to present a two-hour webinar on January 17 , from 12:00 to 2:00 pm for all tax professionals. Registration information is available here .

Topics covered will include:
  • Status of filing season / Shutdown impact
  • Review of Key Form/Publication Updates
  • Highlights of TCJA issues most impacting clients
  • Review of Key Individual Issues 
  • The Latest on Section 199A, including review of final regulations if released
  • New Worksheets for calculations
  • Outstanding questions
  • Issues impacting cooperative patrons, including the transition rule
  • Depreciation, Bonus Depreciation, Section 179 Update
  • Status of technical corrections
  • NOL and other loss Issues
  • Business interest deduction limitation
  • Fiscal Year Issues
  • Due diligence
  • ACA Update
  • Status of Extenders

Registration is now available for the free Annual Iowa Department of Revenue Update for the 2019 Filing Season here .

Stay tuned for breaking updates! Keep us posted on issues you are finding in the field!

Kristine