By Sheba Dalaney, CPA, Principal
Recent legislation has made changes to due dates for some tax and information returns that will be filed for the 2016 and following tax years. These changes will require modifying the timing of the preparation work in many cases.
Payroll and information reporting returns (Forms W-2 and 1099)
These forms historically were sent to the recipients by January 31st of each year, and government reporting copies of these forms were transmitted by either February 28th or March 31st , depending on whether they were mailed or electronically filed. For 2016 returns filed in 2017, all copies of the forms must be sent to recipients and filed by January 31st. This change was made to combat identity theft by allowing the IRS to match withholding information when tax returns are filed and reject fraudulent refund claims. The due dates for filing all other information reporting returns remain unchanged. See the table below for specific details: (more…)
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Beginning next year several tax filing due dates will be changing. The existing filing schedule has been in place since I manually prepared tax returns with pencil and paper before the computer age began so these changes are significant. The new filing dates were established under the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act of 2015 without much publicity outside of the tax practitioner community. The new filing dates are effective for tax years beginning January 1, 2016, so taxpayers unaware of the new dates may have an unexpected surprise next year.
Fortunately, the traditional April 15th due date for individual tax returns has not changed but the due dates of business returns have been modified. The changes were implemented to help smooth the tax filing process for taxpayers owning interests in pass-through entities such as partnerships and S-Corporations. (more…)