The Internal Revenue Service has issued proposed regulations that updates rules for the simplified tax accounting rules for small businesses under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. These apply to tax years beginning in 2019 and 2020. The new rules apply to taxpayers having inflation-adjusted average annual gross receipts of $26 million or less (known as the gross receipts test). Taxpayers classified as tax shelters cannot use these rules.

A 10.6-percent rise in do-it-yourself online filings led H&R Block to a 3.3 percent in tax returns prepared for the 2019 tax year. Block this week said it prepared 21.2 million returns for the year through July 17.

Liberty Tax prepared about 1.15 million federal income tax returns through July 15, its parent, the Franchise Group reported this week. That was down 11.5 percent from 1.3 million for the 2019 season

A 22.8-percent rise in self-prepared efiles lifted the extended tax season to a 4-percent increase in returns. The Internal Revenue Service has reported that 151,782,000 were filed for the season through July 17 compared to 145,941,000 filed through July 19, 2019.