Tuesday, August 4, 2015

WHAT’S THE BUZZ, TELL ME WHAT’S A HAPPENNIN’ – TUESDAY EDITION


* The JOURNAL OF ACCOUNTANCY reports that there is some good news in the short-term highway funding extension bill – “Return Due Dates Changed in Highway Funding Bill”.

For partnership returns, the new due date is March 15 (for calendar-year partnerships) and the 15th day of the third month following the close of the fiscal year (for fiscal-year partnerships). (Currently, these returns are due on April 15, for calendar-year partnerships.) The act directs the IRS to allow a maximum extension of six months for Forms 1065, U.S. Return of Partnership Income.

For C corporations, the new due date is the 15th day of the fourth month following the close of the corporation’s year. (Currently, these returns are due on the 15th day of the third month following the close of the corporation’s year.)

Corporations will be allowed a six-month (instead of the current three-month) extension, except that calendar-year corporations would get a five-month extension until 2026 and corporations with a June 30 year end would get a seven-month extension until 2026.

The new due dates will apply to returns for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2015.

The due date for FinCEN Form 114 is changed from June 30 to April 15, and for the first time taxpayers will be allowed a six-month extension.”  

This is truly good news for taxpayers, and especially for tax preparers.  Hopefully the earlier partnership filing deadline will reduce the number of late K-1s.  And I am also pleased about the extended filing deadline for C corporations.

The Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015 (H.R. 3236).was signed into law by BO last Friday.   The changes will take place for tax years beginning after December 31, 2015.

CCH has a Tax Briefing on this new law.  Click here to download in pdf format.

While I am pleased with the changes in due dates, Joe Kristan, returning to his daily Tax Round-up posts after a European vacation, makes a good point in “Tax Roundup, 8/3/15: Due date scramble edition, with extendable FBARs!’ –

The bill is an empty gesture to 1040 filers who get frustrated waiting on K-1s. They won’t get issued any faster. K-1s aren’t delayed because people are sitting around waiting for the due date. They are delayed because the tax law is hard, businesses can be complex, and it takes time to get the work done. On top of that, everybody is on a calendar year, thanks to Congress, so the professionals are trying to get all the returns completed at the same time.

All this means is that more partnership returns will be extended. It won’t get the K-1s out any sooner. The only way to change that is to simplify the tax law and to once again enable pass-throughs to have tax years ending on dates other than December 31.”

* I agree with Kathleen King, managing director of Alvarez & Marshall Taxand’s Washington, D.C., office.  In “Mid-Year Tax Planning Hampered by Extenders' Fate” from Roger Russell at ACCOUNTING TODAY she correctly observes –

It will be August next week. Washington will clear out, and there will really be only a month until those who are running have to go back home and campaign until after the elections, so we’re looking at mid-November for something to get through.”

It is August already!

So it looks like it will be déjà vu all over again.

Making tax breaks - that are not in response to a specific event (a natural disaster like Katrina) – temporary is just plain stupid.  But then again, the members of Congress who did this are idiots. 

* For those who are interested ABC NEWS tells us “Clinton Releases Tax, Health Records on Busy Friday”.

* Jason Dinesen continues to keep us up-to-date on state same-sex couple filing issues with “New Nebraska Guidance on Same-Sex Marriage and Taxes”.

* BTW, my thoughts on Trump’s Presidential candidacy recently appeared in my local paper – “Homer Simpson – 1, Donald Trump – 0”.

TTFN

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