On Friday, December 14, the IRS published the amended temporary Repair vs. Capitalization regulations to incorporate the changes announced in the recent Notice 2012-73. The changes include a two year delay of the effective date of the regulations to January 1, 2014.

While Notice 2012-73 indicated that taxpayers had the option to apply the temporary or final regulations for any tax year beginning after 1/1/2012, it was unclear whether taxpayers could pick and choose to apply only favorable portions of the regulations for those years. These formal amendments clarify this question and make clear that you can. As such, taxpayers and CPAs, should not overlook the possible tax benefits of applying favorable portions of the regulations immediately.

With the delay of the effective date to 1/1/2014, some taxpayers are hesitant to file the necessary Change of Accounting Method forms for 2012 because of concern the rules will change. However, CPAs should advise taxpayers that even if the regulations do change and some deductions must be reversed in 2014, such deductions would be given back evenly over four years starting in 2014 (See Rev. Proc. 2011-14). In most cases this will not result in a significant difference in tax savings. However, depending on the situation, some taxpayers may benefit from applying the rules immediately.

KBKG can help estimate the additional deductions that can be generated by applying these rules immediately. See if you qualify: KBKG.com/assetretirement

This article was published in Accounting Today on Dec 17, 2012
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Author: Gian Pazzia