The recent passage of the long-awaited infrastructure bill, or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, has brought about a number of measures, many of which will once again impact America’s tax code. According to Accounting Today, there are nine measures which should be of particular concern to taxpayers and their accountants. Those measures include changes to cryptocurrency reporting requirements, an early termination of the Employee Retention Credit (ERC), relaxing the minimum funding requirements for employer-sponsored retirement plans, exclusions for contributions to water and sewer utilities, an expansion of private activity bonds which will now include qualified broadband and carbon dioxide capture projects, a restoration of superfund excise taxes, and tax deadline extensions for disaster victims and those who need extensions due to service in a combat zone1.
None of these inclusions are a surprise, as Congress has been debating the bill for several months. Now that the bill has been signed into law, however, there are two provisions which will be of particular interest to CPAs in the coming months: early termination of the ERC and the language of the law regarding cryptocurrency. The ERC was initially expanded to include the entirety of 2021, but the bill moves that expiration date up to Sept. 30, 2021. Now, well into the fourth quarter of the year, there could be some reconfiguring ahead to account for the retroactive expiration1.
On the issue of cryptocurrency, the law is aimed at making cryptocurrency transactions more transparent to the IRS for revenue generating purposes, something to the tune of $29 billion over the next ten years2. According to Bloomberg, the uncertainty regarding this provision stems from the language surrounding the definition of a crypto broker as it states that reporting is to be performed by “any entity that provides a service ‘effectuating’ the transfer of digital assets.” This creates uncertainty for miners of cryptocurrency and software developers, who run the servers and other powerful computing equipment needed to validate transactions, but don’t actually have access to the information on transactions expected in a report. In short, the language is broad, and refining is necessary. As it sits, a number of potential solutions are being worked on by U.S. legislators which would either narrow the definition of a broker or eliminate that section of the current bill altogether2.
The MICPA will continue to cover this issue as it unfolds, but members can continue the conversation now on MICPA Connect where they can log in to pose questions to other members, share strategies or raise concerns.
References:
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Russell, Roger. “The Tax Impact of the Infrastructure Bill.” Accounting Today. 15 Nov. 2021. Accessed on 18 Nov. 2021.
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Davison, Laura. “How Taxing Crypto Got Changed by…” Bloomberg. 17 Nov. 2021. Accessed on 18 Nov. 2021.