Tag Archives: income tax

COVID-19 Financial Relief, IRS, Tips

IRS Service Issues – What Is Being Done? How Can You Help?

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On last week’s AICPA Town Hall they discussed the IRS service issues I posted about recently, as well as the advocacy efforts by the newly-formed Tax Professionals United for Taxpayer Relief Coalition — including the AICPA, NATP, and many other organizations. (Check out their recent media briefing here.)

They were effective in getting a bi-partisan group of nearly 200 members of Congress to send a letter to the US Treasury Secretary requesting the IRS implement the following:

  • Halt automated collections from now until at least 90 days after April 18, 2022;
  • Delay the collection process for filers until any active and pending penalty abatement requests have been processed;
  • Streamline the reasonable cause penalty abatement process for taxpayers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic without the need for written correspondence;
  • Provide targeted tax penalty relief for taxpayers who paid at least 70 percent of the tax due for the 2020 and 2021 tax year; and
  • Expedite processing of amended returns and provide TAS and congressional caseworkers with timely responses.”

Shortly afterwards, the IRS announced they are suspending a small portion of automated notices — which they clarified on February 9 as “notices of unfiled returns and unpaid balances generally, including a final notice of an outstanding balance and intent to levy”.

The IRS identified the suspended letters and notices as:

  • CP80, notice of an unfiled tax return. The IRS sends this when it has credited payments or other credits to the taxpayer’s account but has not received a tax return for the tax period.
  • CP59, unfiled tax return, first notice. The IRS sends this when it has no record of a prior-year return’s having been filed. The Spanish-language version, CP759, is included.
  • CP516, unfiled tax return, second notice. This is a request for information on a delinquent return for which there is no record of filing. The Spanish-language version, CP616, is included.
  • CP518, final notice — return delinquency. The Spanish-language version, CP618, is included.
  • CP501, balance due, first notice. This letter is a reminder of an outstanding balance on the taxpayer’s accounts.
  • CP503, balance due, second notice.
  • CP504 balance due, third and final notice. This also is a notice of intent to levy.
  • 2802C, withholding compliance letter. This letter notifies taxpayers whom the IRS has identified as having underwithheld taxes from their wages, with instructions on correcting their withholding amount.
  • CP259, business return delinquency. The IRS has no record of a prior-year return’s having been filed. The Spanish-language version, CP959, is included.
  • CP518, final notice of a business return delinquency. The Spanish-language version, CP618, is included.

Per the Journal of Accountancy: “How long the letters and notices will be suspended or at what point the backlog can be considered sufficiently cleared to resume them remains unclear. The news release Feb. 9 said the IRS “will continue to assess the inventory of prior year returns to determine the appropriate time” to start sending them again. And there has been no mention of relieving taxpayers from their obligation to file returns or pay taxes that are the subject of the letters and notices, if those returns and taxes are indeed unfiled and unpaid.”

While this is a welcome step, it falls seriously short of what is needed.

In a recent Op Ed, former National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson outlined her suggestions to “fix the IRS”, and the AICPA Journal of Accountancy podcast elaborates on the following four recommendations:

  1. Discontinue automated compliance actions until the IRS is prepared to devote the necessary resources for a timely resolution
  2. Align requests for account holds with the time it takes the IRS to process any penalty abatement requests
  3. Offer a reasonable cause penalty waiver, similar to the procedures of first-time abatement administrative waiver
  4. Provide taxpayers with targeted relief from the underpayment and the late payment penalty for the 2020 and 2021 tax year

The podcast (highly-recommended short listen!) walks through these one-by-one and explains why each is crucial — in a very straightforward manner, providing examples of what kind of struggles real-life taxpayers and their advisors are going through.

A key takeaway: “What we’re trying to do with these recommendations is to lessen the need to reach out to the IRS. In theory, if we’re having to call the IRS less then the IRS will be able to get to people who have other types of problems and get those problems resolved.”

The Washington Post shared an article today highlighting the severity of the IRS backlog and what it means for this tax season.

In testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday, National Taxpayer Advocate Erin Collins noted that as of late December, the IRS had a backlog of 6 million unprocessed individual returns and 2.3 million unprocessed amended individual returns. In addition, more than 2 million Forms 941, Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return, and its amended version remained unprocessed. Many of the latter included claims of the employer retention credit emergency pandemic relief provision.

But all this isn’t enough — they need to hear actual stories from real taxpayers about what you’ve gone through. If you had a challenge with the IRS in the past couple years, and especially if you have an ongoing issue, please contact your Senators and Representatives to tell your personal story. This generally moves them to action, and what we need now is continued and increased pressure on the IRS to make short-term immediate changes that will affect the here-and-now of this tax season.

RESOURCES:
Find your rep: https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
Members of Congress Twitter handles: https://twitter.com/i/lists/34179516/members
IRS Social Media: @IRS

If this or any other posts on the website were useful to you, and your financial situation permits it, please consider contributing to my tip jar. Ths allows me to continue to provide free accounting resources to small businesses who do not have the funds available to hire a CPA.

Education, Illinois, Software, Tips

How To Make IL Dept Of Rev (IDOR) Business Tax Payments Online: Estimates & Extensions – UPDATED

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The step-by-step instructions I painstakingly wrote up earlier this year for making business replacement income tax estimated and extension payments are now out-of-date, because IDOR revamped their MyTaxIllinois website in September (grrrrr). So here are the basic instructions (screenshots are coming soon, but this will have to do for now):

— Log into the business’s My Tax IL account
— On the ‘Summary’ tab, look for the ‘Business Income Tax’ section
— Click on the link for ‘View more account options’

There are two ways to do it from here; the first is:
— In the ‘Account Options’ section, click the link for ‘Make An Estimated Payment’
— Select the period you want to pay (which is 12/31/2021 for tax year 2021 — choose a later period if paying estimated taxes for 2022)
— Click the first ‘Add Payment’ hyperlink in the Payment Schedule table for each payment you would like to schedule.
— If your payment information is saved in MyTax Illinois, then in the ‘Choose’ tab you can select the dropdown under ‘Payment Channel’
— Otherwise, select ‘New’ and enter your company bank info.
— In either case, on the right where it says ‘Payment’, you can change the payment’s debit date and enter the amount.
— Click Submit, and re-enter your password for security purposes

Alternatively:
— In the ‘Periods and Submissions’ section, click the link for ‘View Account Periods’
— Click the 12/31/2021 link so that your payment is applied to tax year 2021 (or a later period if paying 2022 estimated quarterly taxes)
— In the upper right corner of this page, click the ‘Make A Payment’ link
— Select the ‘Bank Account Debit’ link
— Click the IL-1120-ST Payment link (ST denotes a “Small Business” payment)
— Enter the amount you want to pay in the Amount and Confirm Amount fields
— Click Submit, and re-enter your password for security purposes

Congrats, you did it!

If this or any other posts on the website were useful to you, and your financial situation permits it, please consider contributing to my tip jar. Ths allows me to continue to provide free accounting resources to small businesses who do not have the funds available to hire a CPA.

Illinois, IRS, Tips

2021 Year-End Priority: Pass-Through Entities Should Pay State Taxes By 12/31

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Slide from December 23, 2021 AICPA Town Hall

In a December 17th IAAI tax update webinar, the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) walked through instructions for claiming a new “SALT” tax benefit signed into law in September, and in today’s AICPA Town Hall, the importance of making these payments before year-end was underscored. This new law is a workaround for individual taxpayers who are otherwise unable to benefit from a full deduction on state tax payments on pass-through income from their businesses.

As a result, we (along with probably thousands of other CPA firms) have made a list of our own pass-through clients (aka S-Corps and Partnerships) who might benefit from this increased deduction, and we’re scrambling to calculate estimates and reach out to them to recommend these payments be made by 12/31.

So, what the heck is SALT? And why have the deduction rules changed?

SALT stands for “state and local taxes”, and they are generally deducted by individual taxpayers on their annual 1040 tax return. Before 2018, taxpayers could deduct these taxes by itemizing them on Schedule A.

However, the Tax Cuts & Jobs Act limited this to $10,000. This cap was likely to be removed with the Build Back Better Act, but it appears that legislation will not be passed before year-end after all.

Many states, including Illinois, have passed legislation allowing these taxes to be paid at the business level, on behalf of the shareholders and partners. Since these companies “pass-through” their income to owners, they are known as Pass-Through Entities (PTEs). The PTE does not have a cap on this type of tax, so it reduces both federal and state income and also allows the full deduction.

My colleague, James Hamilton, wrote up a clear explanation with an example, which I recommend reading if you’d like to get into the details.

Why are we all scrambling to do this before year-end?

Usually, estimated state tax payments are paid by the individual and are due 4/15, 6/15, 9/15 and 1/15, with any balance remaining payable by the following 4/15. The IL state law was not passed until after estimated tax deadlines for the first three quarters were already paid. And a December 20 article in Journal of Accountancy, as well as the aforementioned AICPA Town Hall from earlier today, suggest that the IRS guidance requires the business pay the tax by year-end, not by 1/15.

From The Journal of Accountancy: Crucially, a specified income tax payment is one the PTE “makes … during a taxable year” in computing its taxable income “for the taxable year in which the payment is made” (Notice 2020-75, Section 3.02(2)). Even though Sec. 164(a) provides that the SALT deduction is for the tax year in which taxes are “paid or accrued,” the more restrictive, literal application of the notice to taxes paid is the safer course, advocates say.

To get the largest tax benefit from the new law, businesses would want to pay in the entire state tax liability for the year by 12/31, even if the owners have already paid quarterly estimated taxes. In other words, take the company’s full taxable income for the year (which you won’t know before 12/31, but this is where estimates come in) times 4.95% (IL flat tax rate for individuals). The resulting overpayment would be refunded to the taxpayer upon filing their personal tax return.

Not all businesses will have the cash to do this, but to the extent it can be paid, it is certainly a smart tax-reduction move.

Okay, then how do we make the payments?

The step-by-step instructions I painstakingly wrote up earlier this year for making business replacement income tax estimated and extension payments are now out of date, because IDOR revamped their MyTaxIllinois website in September (grrrrr). So here are the basic instructions (a blog post with screenshots is coming soon, but this will have to do for now):

— Log into the business’s My Tax IL account
— On the ‘Summary’ tab, look for the ‘Business Income Tax’ section
— Click on the link for ‘View more account options’

There are two ways to do it from here; the first is:
— In the ‘Account Options’ section, click the link for ‘Make An Estimated Payment’
— Select the period you want to pay, which is 12/31/2021
— Click the first ‘Add Payment’ hyperlink in the Payment Schedule table for each payment you would like to schedule.
— If your payment information is saved in MyTax Illinois, then in the ‘Choose’ tab you can select the dropdown under ‘Payment Channel’
— Otherwise, select ‘New’ and enter your company bank info.
— In either case, on the right where it says ‘Payment’, you can change the payment’s debit date and enter the amount.
— Click Submit, and re-enter your password for security purposes

Alternatively:
— In the ‘Periods and Submissions’ section, click the link for ‘View Account Periods’
— Click the 12/31/2021 link so that your payment is applied to tax year 2021
— In the upper right corner of this page, click the ‘Make A Payment’ link
— Select the ‘Bank Account Debit’ link
— Click the IL-1120-ST Payment link (ST denotes a “Small Business” payment)
— Enter the amount you want to pay in the Amount and Confirm Amount fields
— Click Submit, and re-enter your password for security purposes

Best of luck, and… Happy New Year!

If this or any other posts on the website were useful to you, and your financial situation permits it, please consider contributing to my tip jar. Ths allows me to continue to provide free accounting resources to small businesses who do not have the funds available to hire a CPA.

COVID-19 Financial Relief, Education, IRS, Tips

Advance Child Tax Credit: Recommendation To Opt-Out

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I’m hearing from a lot of clients and colleagues about the new advance payment of the increased child tax credit that began today, and it seems there’s a lot of confusion out there, so I wanted to take a moment to explain how it works.

The child tax credit has been around for a long time, but as part of the American Rescue Plan Act that was enacted in March 2021, the child tax credit was expanded — the amount has increased for certain taxpayers; it is fully refundable (meaning you get it back even if you don’t owe the IRS); and it may be partially-received in monthly advance payments. The new law also raised the age of qualifying children to 17 (from 16).

The thing is, the amount folks are starting to receive right now is just an advance payment of half of what the IRS thinks your credit will be based on last year’s tax return. The entire credit itself will be calculated and show up on your annual tax return for 2021, and any advance payments will be subtracted from it.

So: let’s say that you qualified for a big credit based on last year’s tax return, but then you made more money this year than last year (which is the case for many small business owners) — then you’d have to pay the difference back on your tax return. As a result, we’re actually recommending to most folks that they just opt-out entirely to be safe. Don’t worry — you will get the entire amount that’s coming to you on the next tax return; you just won’t have to worry about paying back an accidental overpayment.

These tax changes are temporary and only apply to the 2021 tax year. The credit is normally part of your income tax return and would reduce your tax liability. The choice to have the child tax credit advanced will affect your refund or amount due when you file your return. To avoid any unpleasant surprises, I strongly recommend you opt out, or at least contact your tax preparer to run the numbers.

Our colleagues over at Wegner CPAs put together a 5-minute video explaining when you might want to opt out versus receiving the advance payments — it’s worth a watch! She does a great job explaining the situations when you might want to remain enrolled in the program, and other scenarios when you should definitely opt out.

If that wasn’t enough for you, please read on for more details about what it means to qualify and how much you might receive.

Qualifications and how much to expect

The child tax credit and advance payments are based on several factors, including the age of your children and your income.

  • The credit for children ages five and younger is up to $3,600 –– with up to $300 received in monthly payments.
  • The credit for children ages six to 17 is up to $3,000 –– with up to $250 received in monthly payments.

To qualify for the child tax credit monthly payments, you (and your spouse if you file a joint tax return) must have:

  • Filed a 2019 or 2020 tax return and claimed the child tax credit or given the IRS your information using the non-filer tool;
  • A main home in the U.S. for more than half the year or file a joint return with a spouse who has a main home in the U.S. for more than half the year;
  • A qualifying child who is under age 18 at the end of 2021 and who has a valid Social Security number;
  • Income less than certain limits.

You can take full advantage of the credit if your income (specifically, your modified adjusted gross income) is less than $75,000 for single filers, $150,000 for married filing jointly filers and $112,500 for head of household filers. The credit begins to phase out above those thresholds.

Higher-income families (e.g., married filing jointly couples with $400,000 or less in income or other filers with $200,000 or less in income) will generally get the same credit as prior law (generally $2,000 per qualifying child) but may also choose to receive monthly payments.

Taxpayers generally won’t need to do anything to receive any advance payments as the IRS will use the information it has on file to start issuing the payments.

IRS’s child tax credit update portal

Using the IRS’s child tax credit and update portal, taxpayers can update their information to reflect any new information that might impact their child tax credit amount, such as filing status or number of children. Parents may also use the online portal to check on the status of payments or elect out of the advance payments. (To reiterate: that’s what we’re recommending to most of our clients. In general, we’d rather our clients be happily surprised at tax-time rather than frustrated that they have to return a portion of what they received.) The IRS also has a non-filer portal to use for certain situations where the taxpayers haven’t filed a tax return, similar to the one that existed for the stimulus payments.

Lastly, if you haven’t filed a tax return for 2020 yet — do not fret! The credit will show up on your 2021 tax return for the full amount; you are not missing out on getting your fair share.

If this or any other posts on the website were useful to you, and your financial situation permits it, please consider contributing to my tip jar. Ths allows me to continue to provide free accounting resources to small businesses who do not have the funds available to hire a CPA.

Education, IRS, Site News, Tips

What Does A Tax Extension Mean For You?

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It’s that time again… Tax Day (May 17th this year, aka my birthday) is upon us and it’s the end of what is certainly one of — if not the — roughest tax seasons in history. Millions of taxpayers will need to have their returns extended for various reasons. What does this mean? The AICPA has released a “Tax Extension FAQ” for CPA members to share with their clients.

What does filing an “extension” do?

• An extension is a form filed with the IRS to request additional time to file your federal tax return. This extends the due date for submitting your individual return to October 15. In some states, filing an extension with the IRS will automatically extend the time to complete a state income tax return.
• Filing an extension grants you additional time to submit your complete and accurate return, but you still need to estimate whether you will owe any taxes and pay that estimated balance by the original due date.
• Extending your return allows you and your CPA more time to prepare your tax return to ensure the filing of an accurate tax return. In many cases, you may still be waiting for additional information (e.g., Schedules K-1, corrected Forms 1099, etc.) to complete your return.

Why does my CPA suggest we extend my tax return?

• If your CPA has recommended that you file an extension, it may be due to many reasons, such as:
– The volume of data or complexity of certain transactions (e.g., sale of a rental property) on your return requires additional time.
– The amount of time remaining in filing season is limited for the CPA to complete client returns by the due date* due to late-arriving information.
– My note: this year exacerbated the situation by requiring small business CPAs to simultaneously navigate the Restaurant Relief Fund (RRF), PPP1 Forgiveness, and 2020 Employee Retention Credit.
• Many CPAs have a “cutoff” or deadline for clients submitting their tax information so they can plan their workload to ensure all client returns and extensions are completed by the due date.*
• Your CPA may suggest filing an extension if there are aspects of your return affected by pending guidance or legislation.
My note: this is the case for many more clients this year than usual; late-changing tax rules delayed the start of tax season, and waiting for guidance has further stretched it thin.

Am I more likely to be audited if I extend?

• Extending will NOT increase your likelihood of being audited by the IRS.
• It is better to file an extension than to file a return that is incomplete or that you have not had time to carefully review before signing.

What are the primary benefits of extending my tax return?

• It provides for additional time to file returns without penalty when you are waiting for missing information or tax documents (such as corrected Forms 1099). Just remember that an extension provides additional time to file, but no additional time to pay. Penalties may be assessed if sufficient payment is not remitted with the extension.
• You may qualify for additional retirement planning opportunities or additional time to fund certain types of retirement plans (e.g., SEP IRA).
• It is often less expensive (and easier) to file an extension rather than rushing and possibly needing to amend your return later.

Should I do anything differently if I am filing an extension or “going on extension?”

• No, you still should give your CPA whatever information you have as early as possible or as soon as it becomes available.
• Expect to pay any anticipated taxes owed by the due date.* You still need to submit all available tax information to your CPA promptly so they can determine if you will have a balance due or if you can expect a refund.
• If you are required to make quarterly estimated tax payments, individual first quarter estimated tax payments are due April 15. Your CPA may recommend that you pay the balance due for last year and your first quarter estimated tax payment for this year with your extension.
• If you are anticipating a large refund, your CPA will likely try to get your extended return completed as soon as possible once all tax information is available. Your CPA may also want to discuss tax planning opportunities with you so that, in future years, you don’t give the IRS an interest-free loan.

Have there been any changes to the due dates of returns for this year?

• For tax year 2020, the IRS is postponing the deadline for all individual tax returns.
– Individual returns otherwise due April 15 will not have to be filed until May 17, 2021.
– Certain states have also postponed their filing and/or payment due dates.
• Note that victims of natural disasters may be granted extensions, such as victims of the Texas winter storms have until June 15, 2021 to file various individual and business tax returns and to make payments.

My note: I’d like to add that we take filing extensions for our clients very seriously. We collect as much information as we possibly can about the year’s taxable income and deductions, extrapolate based on information from the prior year, and build a complete tax return — filling in estimates where needed. This way, we get as accurate a picture as we can so as to project how much might be owed to the tax agencies. We do our best, although it’s not perfect, and as a result, much more work is involved in putting together an extension than most folks might think.

More from the IRS on filing extensions here, including a link to file your own for free.

If this or any other posts on the website were useful to you, and your financial situation permits it, please consider contributing to my tip jar. Ths allows me to continue to provide free accounting resources to small businesses who do not have the funds available to hire a CPA.

COVID-19 Financial Relief, Illinois, IRS, Tips

How To Cancel Or Reschedule Illinois 2020 Income Tax Return Electronic Payment

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As I’m sure you’re aware, the Illinois Department of Revenue (IDOR) has extended the due date for individual tax filings (but not corporate or estimated taxes) to coincide with the new IRS due date of May 17, 2021.

However, many have already filed their taxes and have scheduled their tax payments to be direct-debited on April 15th. IDOR has released instructions for how to move these payments to the new due date.

From the Illinois Department of Revenue on March 26, 2021:

If you scheduled an electronic payment for 2020 income taxes to be paid on or before April 15, 2021, your payment will not automatically be rescheduled to May 17, 2021. If you do nothing, the payment will be made on the date you chose.

If the payment has not been processed, you may be able to cancel or reschedule it. You must cancel or reschedule the payment before its scheduled date.

Here is information on how to cancel and reschedule your payment:

  • If you scheduled a payment through MyTax Illinois, you can login to your account and cancel any pending payment. If you made your payment through the non-login option, you can use Retrieve Saved or Submitted Request to view and withdraw any pending future payment using the email address and confirmation code associated with your payment. For specific instructions, see Cancel a MyTax Illinois Payment.
  • If you scheduled a payment through a credit card or your bank, you must contact your financial institution to stop the payment. (financial institution stop payment fees may apply.)
  • If you scheduled a payment through a tax professional or using tax preparation software, you may cancel your payment or request the date be changed. You must email us at REV.TaxPay@illinois.gov to make a payment cancellation no later than 11:59 p.m. CT two business days prior to the scheduled payment date and include ALL of the following information:
    1. Your first and last name or your company name if you are a business
    2. Identification number:
      • For individuals, last four of your social security number (SSN) or your Illinois PIN
    3. Mailing address and phone number
    4. Specify if you are requesting to Cancel or Reschedule your payment
    5. Exact dollar amount of your original payment
    6. Date the original payment was scheduled to be paid (Month, Day, and Year)
    7. If rescheduling, you must include the new date to which the payment will be changed.

Note: Checks and money orders are cashed upon receipt. We are unable to stop these transactions, therefore your check or money order will be cashed. You may contact your financial institution for more information regarding your options.

If this or any other posts on the website were useful to you, and your financial situation permits it, please consider contributing to my tip jar. Ths allows me to continue to provide free accounting resources to small businesses who do not have the funds available to hire a CPA.

COVID-19 Financial Relief, Education, Illinois, IRS, Site News, Tips

What The ARPA, ERC, PPP And Other Laws Mean For Your 2020 Taxes

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Recent new legislation from Congress and the White House, as well as guidance from the IRS and DOL, has caused sweeping changes for small business owners and individuals, and we tax preparers are still trying to wrap our heads around it — during what was already the most complex and demanding tax season on record.

Specifically, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) included a few provisions that are retroactive to 2020 — and the IRS, various state Departments of Revenue, Department of Labor, and tax software programs are trying to figure out how best to implement these changes as efficiently as possible. (For a breakdown of key provisions in the Act, see this excellent summary.)

These changes include:

1) The first $10,200 per person of 2020 unemployment benefits will no longer be taxable at the federal level, though certain states will continue to tax the full amount (Illinois has asked all taxpayers with unemployment income to hold off on filing returns until the Dept of Revenue has addressed the situation). The IRS will be releasing a worksheet that the tax software companies then need to incorporate into the 1040 returns.

2) A 2020 “Repayment Holiday” for the Marketplace Health Insurance Advance Premium Tax Credit was issued, but implementation questions remain; IRS guidance is expected soon.

3) Another economic impact payment (stimulus check) is on its way. You do not need to file your 2020 tax return right now to claim your check, as the law allows for an additional payment in a few months if your 2020 tax return shows you are entitled to more (vs your 2019 tax return). Conversely, if your income went up in 2020 and you are now ineligible for the full benefit, you’ll want to wait to file your 2020 taxes until after your payment arrives, since you won’t have to pay back the overage on your 2021 tax return.

In addition to the above legislative shifts, the IRS recently released guidance concerning the Employee Retention Credit (ERC) that changed our expectation of how it would be handled on business tax returns for cash-basis business tax filers. Previously we had expected that those who received PPP funds in 2020 and can now (as of the Dec 21 Consolidated Appropriations Act) retroactively claim ERC would adjust for the related deductions on their 2021 tax returns. Not so. These adjustments will have to be made on the 2020 tax returns. As a result, we have had to put approximately 75% of our client business returns on extension.

(Technical note: keep in mind if you are doing tax returns for a client that claimed ERC, not only do you have to reduce deductible wages by the amount of the credit, but also recognize this reduction may impact Section 199A eligible wages for purposes of the 20% qualified business income deduction.)

And yet we are still awaiting essential guidance on whether or not the Employee Retention Credit can be taken on wages paid to >50% owners of a company. Interpretations by tax analysts so far are pretty much split evenly between whether the law as [sloppily] written provides reasonable basis in this area.

I’m guessing you see the challenge here: we don’t yet know the rules for claiming the ERC, and yet we have to report related adjustments (as a direct result of the credit calculation) on the 2020 business tax returns. Most of these returns have a flow-through relationship with the business owners’ personal tax returns — so those may have to be placed on extension as well if we do not get guidance soon.

(Related blog post: please call your representatives and ask for all taxes — estimated quarterly as well as corporate — to be extended; not just the Form 1040.)

We are also expecting guidance about how the IRS wants business owners to treat basis reporting for owners where PPP forgiveness causes issues.

Yet another example of a forced need to wait on certain returns: using tax filing software, we can e-file a return today, but set the payment direct-debit date to a future date — not later than the return due-date. This date has not yet been updated in most tax prep systems to go beyond April 15th to the new due date of May 17th.

It’s particularly frustrating for us as small business advocates, because filing a tax return is the only way to get a refund if you’re owed one, and many of our clients may be more in need this year than usual. And yet, for a large number of taxpayers right now, holding off on filing is the recommended approach.

All the while we are trying to help our small business clients respond to 2021 changes, such as important employment law updates; alterations to COBRA and Marketplace subsidies; major modifications to the current round of the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP); new relief programs such as the Shuttered Venue Operators Grant (SVOG) and the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF); the aforementioned ERC/PPP maximization… and so much more.

The provisions noted above — and others — may affect your return. Tax professionals everywhere need some time and space to learn about these changes, analyze their impact, and develop personalized recommendations to maximize your COVID-19 tax benefits. Please be patient with us during this extremely stressful time.

If this or any other posts on the website were useful to you, and your financial situation permits it, please consider contributing to my tip jar. Ths allows me to continue to provide free accounting resources to small businesses who do not have the funds available to hire a CPA.

COVID-19 Financial Relief, IRS, Site News, Tips

PLEASE Ask Congress To Extend Key Tax Filing Dates

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As I outlined in a recent post, the IRS extended the individual tax date for filing, but not business and estimated tax dates, which are the ones that small business owners and their tax preparers truly need.

We are asking everyone to please take a moment to contact their Representatives and Senators in Congress to request these types of taxes be included in the recent extension announced by the IRS.

You can share this great article from Money Magazine with them, outlining the issues, or just ask them to google “AICPA tax deadline small business” — there are a ton of great articles that explain why the need for them to act is so great.

From the American Institute of CPAs:

For reference, here’s a copy of my personal message to them — I called and emailed both of my senators as well as my representative.

We in the small business accounting and tax world would immensely appreciate your taking a few moments of your time to help us and our small business clients out — it has been a tax season like no other and we need your assistance to make it to the other side.

If this or any other posts on the website were useful to you, and your financial situation permits it, please consider contributing to my tip jar. Ths allows me to continue to provide free accounting resources to small businesses who do not have the funds available to hire a CPA.