Minor memos

Minor memos

January 11, 2011 | By Keith Martin in Washington, DC

Owners of biomass projects were given a reprieve by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The agency announced on January 12 that it will wait at least three years before subjecting such projects to new permitting requirements under greenhouse gas regulations that take effect this year while it studies whether such projects should be subject to the new rules . . . . The IRS said in regulations in December that it has six years to pursue taxpayers who overstate the basis in property they sell, with the result that they report too little gain, if, as a consequence, the taxpayer ends up understating its income for the year by more than 25%. The normal statute of limitations for the govenrment to pursue tax claims is only three years. The regulations are at section 301.6229(c)(2) . . . . US companies cannot credit any “exceptional profits taxes” they pay in Algeria against US taxes on the same income. The US allows a foreign tax credit for taxes paid to other countries, but only for net income taxes. The Algerian tax is calculated on gross income. The IRS explained its position in CCA 201052017, an internal legal memorandum that the agency released on December 30.