Understanding the new IRS Partnership Audit Regime
About the Speaker
Ms. Waibler is an attorney with the firm Spilman, Thomas and Battle. Her primary area of practice is business law with an emphasis on tax planning. She specializes in assisting high-net-worth clients on tax planning matters and a variety of clients in general business and corporate matters. She earned a B.A. in Political Science from Lewis & Clark College in 2011, JD from Washington & Lee University in 2015 and Masters of Law in Taxation, LL.M from the University of Florida in 2016.
About the topic
On November 2, 2015, Congress passed the new centralized partnership audit regime as part of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015 (BBA) which is set to take effect for the tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2018. The intent and purpose of the new regime is to allow the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to more effectively and efficiently audit partnerships by (1) allowing the IRS to collect from the partnership any partnership tax adjustment; and (2) requiring the appointment of a “partnership representative” to act as the point-person and binding decision maker with respect to any IRS audit procedures and related matters.
The new regime is complex and will affect virtually all partnerships. Given the complexity and broad scope of the rules, each partnership agreement should be reviewed and amended based on the facts and circumstances of the partnership and its partners.
