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IRS whistleblower Gary Shapley to be named acting commissioner

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Gary Shapley, a former special agent in the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation division who investigated Hunter Biden’s taxes and testified before Congress about interference, will reportedly be named acting commissioner of the IRS after the resignation of the current acting commissioner, Melanie Krause.

Shapley and a fellow special agent, Joseph Ziegler, testified in 2023 before the House Oversight Committee that then-President Joe Biden’s son Hunter received preferential treatment during a tax-evasion investigation, and they had been removed from the investigation after complaining to their supervisors in 2022.

Both of them were promoted last month to senior advisors to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, and Shapley was made deputy chief of IRS Criminal Investigation. Now he will reportedly become acting commissioner, according to the Washington Post and CBS News. He will be replacing Krause, who accepted a voluntary buyout offer under the IRS’s deferred resignation program after a dispute over sharing confidential taxpayer data with immigration authorities at the Department of Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement division. 

Senate Judiciary Committee chair Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, hailed the decision to name Shapley as acting IRS commissioner with a post on X saying, “It’s GR8 NEWS whistleblower Gary Shapley will b taking over as Acting IRS Commissioner Pres Trump’s administration is catching on 2 my advice not only shld WBs who faced retaliation b reinstated they shld b PROMOTED Need more patriots like Gary in leadership.”

The IRS referred inquiries to the Treasury Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The acting IRS commissioner post has been a revolving door in recent months. Krause, who was chief operating officer at the IRS, took the job in February following the abrupt retirement of former acting commissioner Douglas O’Donnell and the departure of the previous commissioner, Danny Werfel, in January. President Trump had named former congressman Billy Long, R-Missouri, as the next IRS commissioner even before his inauguration, prompting Werfel’s departure on Inauguration Day. However the Senate has not yet held a confirmation hearing for Long.

Shapley and Long will be overseeing a series of planned reductions in force of the IRS of up to 40%, according to the Federal News Network. According to an internal memo, the plan would reduce the IRS’s workforce of approximately 102,000 people to about 60,000 to 70,000. Among the parts of the IRS expected to take the heaviest cuts are the IRS Taxpayer Experience Office, Transformation Strategy Office, Online Services Office. Office of Civil Rights, Taxpayer Services and Compliance. Approximately 22,000 employees have already accepted the latest voluntary buyout offer under the IRS’s second deferred resignation program, according to Politico

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Total college enrollment rose 3.2%

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Total postsecondary spring enrollment grew 3.2% year-over-year, according to a report.

The National Student Clearinghouse Research Center published the latest edition of its Current Term Enrollment Estimates series, which provides final enrollment estimates for the fall and spring terms.

The report found that undergraduate enrollment grew 3.5% and reached 15.3 million students, but remains below pre-pandemic levels (378,000 less students). Graduate enrollment also increased to 7.2%, higher than in 2020 (209,000 more students).

Graduation photo

(Read more: Undergraduate accounting enrollment rose 12%)

Community colleges saw the largest growth in enrollment (5.4%), and enrollment increased for all undergraduate credential types. Bachelor’s and associate programs grew 2.1% and 6.3%, respectively, but remain below pre-pandemic levels. 

Most ethnoracial groups saw increases in enrollment this spring, with Black and multiracial undergraduate students seeing the largest growth (10.3% and 8.5%, respectively). The number of undergraduate students in their twenties also increased. Enrollment of students between the ages of 21 and 24 grew 3.2%, and enrollment for students between 25 and 29 grew 5.9%.

For the third consecutive year, high vocational public two-years had substantial growth in enrollment, increasing 11.7% from 2023 to 2024. Enrollment at these trade-focused institutions have increased nearly 20% since pre-pandemic levels.

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Interim guidance from the IRS simplifies corporate AMT

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Jordan Vonderhaar/Photographer: Jordan Vonderhaar/

The Internal Revenue Service has released Notice 2025-27, which provides interim guidance on an optional simplified method for determining an applicable corporation for the corporate alternative minimum tax.

The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 amended Sec. 55 to impose the CAMT based on the “adjusted financial statement income” of an “applicable corporation” for taxable years beginning in 2023. 

Among other details, proposed regs provide that “applicable corporation” means any corporation (other than an S corp, a regulated investment company or a REIT) that meets either of two average annual AFSI tests depending on financial statement net operating losses for three taxable years and whether the corporation is a member of a foreign-parented multinational group.

Prior to the publication of any final regulations relating to the CAMT, the Treasury and the IRS will issue a notice of proposed rulemaking. Notice 2025-27 will be in IRB: 2025-26, dated June 23.

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In the blogs: Whiplash | Accounting Today

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Conquering tariffs; bracing for notices; FBAR penalty timing; and other highlights from our favorite tax bloggers.

Whiplash

Number-crunching

  • Canopy (https://www.getcanopy.com/blog): “7-Figure Firm, 4-Hour Workweek: 5 Questions to Ask Yourself.”
  • The National Association of Tax Professionals (https://blog.natptax.com/): This week’s “You Make the Call” looks at Sarah, a U.S. citizen who moved to London for work in 2024. On May 15, 2025, it hit her that she forgot to file her 2024 U.S. return. Was she required to file her 2024 taxes by April 15?
  • Taxable Talk (http://www.taxabletalk.com/): Anteing up with Uncle Sam: The World Series of Poker is back, and one major change this year involves players from Russia and Hungary. After suspension of tax treaties with those nations, players will have 30% of winnings withheld. 
  • Parametric (https://www.parametricportfolio.com/blog): Direct indexing seems to come with a common misunderstanding: On the performance statement, conflating the value of harvested losses with returns. 

Problems brewing

  • Taxing Subjects (https://www.drakesoftware.com/blog): No chill is chillier than the client’s at the mailbox when an IRS notice appears out of the blue. How you can educate — and warn — them about the various notices everybody’s that favorite agency might send.
  • Dean Dorton (https://deandorton.com/insights/): Perhaps because they can be founded on trust, your nonprofit clients are especially vulnerable to fraud.
  • Global Taxes (https://www.globaltaxes.com/blog.php): When it’s your time, it’s your time: The clock starts on FBAR penalties when the tax forms are due and not when penalties are assessed — and even the death of the taxpayer doesn’t extend the deadline.
  • TaxConnex (https://www.taxconnex.com/blog-): Your e-commerce clients can muck up sales tax obligations in many ways. How some of the seeds of trouble might hide in their own billing system.
  • Sovos (https://sovos.com/blog/): What’s up with the five states that don’t have a sales tax?
  • Taxjar (https://www.taxjar.com/resources/blog): Humans are still needed to handle sales tax complexity, with real-world examples.
  • Wiss (https://wiss.com/insights/read/): A business — and business-advising — success story from a California chicken eatery.

Almost half done

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