Check out our summary of significant Internal Revenue Service (IRS) guidance and relevant tax matters for January 13, 2026 – January 20, 2026.
January 13, 2026: The IRS released Notice 2026-12, which provides the 24-month average corporate bond segment rates for January 2026, the yield curve and segment rates for single-employer plans, and the 30-year Treasury securities interest rates.
January 14, 2026: The IRS released Notice 2026-11, which provided interim guidance on the additional first-year depreciation deduction under Section 168(k) and announced the IRS’s intent to issue proposed regulations that would implement it. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) created the permanent 100% additional first-year depreciation deduction for eligible depreciable property acquired after January 19, 2025. The notice advises taxpayers that they may generally continue to rely on the existing regulations governing the additional first-year depreciation deduction. The notice also outlines the criteria for determining whether depreciable property qualifies for the deduction and provides rules for calculating the allowable amount of the deduction under the OBBBA. The notice provides guidance on the addition of certain qualified sound recording productions that the OBBBA added as property that may qualify for the additional first-year depreciation deduction under Section 168(k)(2).
January 15, 2026: The IRS released Revenue Ruling 2026-3, which provides the February 2026 applicable federal rates.
January 15, 2026: The IRS released Notice 2026-13, which issued guidance updating the safe harbor explanations for retirement plans to reflect tax law changes implemented after Notice 2020-62 was issued on August 6, 2020. Notice 2026-13 modifies two safe harbor explanations that retirement plan administrators may use to satisfy the requirement under Section 402(f) to provide certain information to recipients of eligible rollover distributions. One safe harbor explanation applies to distributions that are not from a designated Roth account, and the other applies to distributions from a designated Roth account. The notice also clarifies changes to the 10% additional tax on early withdrawals from retirement plans, updates to the required minimum distribution rules for surviving spouses, and the increased age used to determine the required beginning date for required minimum distributions.
January 15, 2026: The IRS released Revenue Procedure 2026-8, which provided updated procedures for obtaining recognition of exemption from federal income tax on a group basis for organizations described in Section 501(c) that are affiliated with and under the general supervision or control of a central organization. The revenue procedure relieves subordinate organizations included in a group exemption letter from filing their own exemption applications. It also sets forth updated procedures a central organization must follow to maintain a group exemption letter.
Notice 2020-36 previously suspended the IRS’s acceptance of group exemption letter applications as of June 17, 2020, pending issuance of a final revenue procedure. This final revenue procedure has now been issued in the form of Revenue Procedure 2026-8, which states that the IRS will resume accepting applications for group exemption letters after January 20, 2026, the date of its publication. The revenue procedure further requires that group applications be submitted electronically on Form 8940, along with all information, documentation, and materials required by Form 8940 and its instructions.
January 15, 2026: The IRS released Notice 2026-8, which discussed the comments received in response to the proposed revenue procedure set forth in Notice 2020-36 regarding the group exemption letter program. The notice addressed modifications made to the proposed revenue procedure in response to the comments and other significant revisions made to the proposed revenue procedure, all of which were incorporated into the final regulations promulgated in Revenue Procedure 2026-8.
January 15, 2026: The IRS released Revenue Ruling 2026-4, which examines whether Alaska Railroad’s bonds for building infrastructure related to the process of extracting, processing, liquifying, and transporting natural gas qualify as tax-exempt treatment under Section 103(a). The revenue ruling discusses the statutory framework governing tax-exempt bonds under Sections 141 through 150.
January 20, 2026: The IRS released Tax Tip 2026-04, which describes recent changes to Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs) that enhance tax incentives for taxpayers investing in rural areas. Tax Tip 2026-04 made two notable updates: changing the definition of “rural areas” and modifying the substantial improvement threshold for improvements to property located in a QOZ, but only where that property is entirely in a rural area.
The IRS also released its weekly list of written determinations (e.g., Private Letter Rulings, Technical Advice Memorandums, and Chief Counsel Advice).
