On June 13, the Senate approved the Taxpayer First Act of 2019 (H.R. 3151, or "Bill") by voice vote. A prior version of the Bill (H.R. 1957) was sent to the Senate in April (see our previous commentary), but was delayed and modified. Language codifying the Service's Free File Program in the earlier version of the Bill might have prevented certain low-income households from using the Free File option due to "deficiencies and allegations of deceptive advertising and search engine manipulation by participation companies," according to Senate Finance Committee member Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Tax Analysts reported the Service audited less than 1% of roughly 250,000 gift tax returns filed each year for the past several years due to a reduction in staff. According to John W. Porter, taxpayers should file Form 709, "U.S. Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return," for gifts of hard-to-value assets in order to start the running of the statute of limitations.

In N.C. Department of Revenue v. Kimberley Rice Kaestner 1992 Family Trust, the Supreme Court ("Court") ruled the presence of in-state beneficiaries alone does not empower a state to tax trust income which had not been distributed to the beneficiaries, where the beneficiaries have no right to demand such income and it is uncertain if they will ever receive it.

In Rev. Rul. 2019-16, the Service announced the Section 7520 rate for July will slide to 2.6%. In general, the Section 7520 rates have decreased since the 2018 rate, reversing the upward trend in 2018. The average rate for 2018 was 3.3, while the average rate thus far for 2019 is 3.0.