The Hardwood Federation produces a “D.C. Cheat Sheet” newsletter to keep the industry up-to-date on the latest news from Washington D.C. Check out the September 1st edition below and sign up to receive your copy today.
IRS Offers Flexibility for Pandemic-Related “Failure to File” Cases
On August 24, the IRS issued a notice to provide flexibility for certain individual and business taxpayers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic from “failure-to-file” penalties with respect to tax returns for tax years 2019 and 2020 (which were due in 2020 and 2021) filed on or before September 30, 2022. The agency also stated that it expects to issue more than $1.2 billion in refunds or credits to many of the nearly 1.6 million taxpayers who already paid these penalties, by the end of September. The IRS states that it’s offering this flexibility to focus its resources on processing backlogged tax returns and taxpayer correspondence to help the agency return to normal operations for the 2023 filing season.
USFS Highlights Role of Wood Products in Carbon Storage
On August 22, the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) published an article featuring a related technical report emphasizing the importance of wood products and carbon sequestration. According to the article, wood is “critically important for our changing climate.” It further explains that “when trees are harvested for wood products like lumber, some of that carbon continues to be stored.” According to the “abstract” associated with the study, “harvested wood products” used in buildings constitute an ”important carbon sink, helping to mitigate climate change.” The USFS further states that “houses store so much carbon that figuring out how many houses will be built in the future is important for understanding the total U.S. carbon storage capacity.”
Source: Hardwood Federation