News

The IRS has adopted some recommendations from NACUBO but retained a low threshold for the partnership control test.

NACUBO policy experts weigh in on how a Biden administration could change federal rules, policies, and priorities that affect the business of higher education.

The IRS and Department of the Treasury finalized rules governing the net investment income tax imposed on certain private colleges and universities. Many provisions in the final rules reflect the comments submitted by NACUBO and other stakeholders.

According to an IRS notice published late Friday, employers may defer the withholding and deposit of employees’ share of social security tax for the period of September 1 through December 31, 2020. The liability for the taxes is not waived and employers opting to participate in the deferral will need to collect and deposit those amounts between January 1, 2021, and April 30, 2021.

The IRS has specified reporting requirements for amounts of sick and family leave wages paid to employees under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.

NACUBO, joined by 10 other higher education associations, submitted recommendations to the IRS on proposed regulations for calculating unrelated business taxable income. The comments focused chiefly on the reporting of investments, asking the Service to adopt a greater than 50 percent ownership threshold for the control test and that a tax-exempt organization be allowed to look through any directly or indirectly held partnership interest.

Recently proposed regulations from the IRS aim to provide comprehensive guidance implementing the excise tax on executive compensation enacted by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

The IRS has issued additional filing relief related to certain employment taxes, employee benefits, and exempt organizations affected by the pandemic. The deadline for most actions specified in the notice is July 15, 2020.

Recently enacted modifications to the Paycheck Protection Program give small businesses and nonprofits including some private colleges and universities more flexibility and time to use the loan proceeds while preserving loan forgiveness.

Following advocacy from NACUBO, the IRS has issued guidance that emergency grants provided to students under the CARES Act are not taxable. Meanwhile, the Department of Education is requiring institutions to post emergency grant disclosures to their websites no later than 30 days after receiving the funds.