On July 31, 2015 the president signed into law H.R.3236: "Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015." New federal laws often contain provisions that are completely unrelated to their titles, and that is certainly true in this case. H.R.3236 contains several changes in tax laws, some of which will be relevant to most tax preparers and consultants. Sec. 2006 of the law changes tax return due dates for partnerships and C corporations and extends the automatic extension for corporate income tax returns from three to six months.
Effective for years beginning after December 31, 2015 the due date for a C corporation's income tax return will be April 15th. (For fiscal year corporations the due date will be the 15th day of the 4th month after year-end.) This additional month should be welcome news for those who struggle to complete F-1120 within the current 2½ month time window. For partnerships the due date was shortened by one month from April 15th to March 15th. The due date for filing an S corporation's income tax return remains unchanged at March 15th.
Although the shortened due date for partnership returns may become a hardship on some tax professionals, the earlier due date should significantly reduce the problem of taxpayers getting their partnerships K-1s at the last-minute, forcing everyone to then scramble to get the individual tax returns done before the April 15 deadline. It may also reduce the number of extensions requested by many individuals, simply because they're waiting on a K-1 form, making it easier on everyone. Partnerships will still be able to get an extension to file, of course, but I predict most will not do that and will just file by the new, unextended due date.
These changes and the others included in H.R.3236 were probably made at the behest if the IRS, but it's also possible that many members of Congress received complaints from constituents regarding late-arriving partnership K-1s. In addition to the revised due dates the new law also made five or six other tax related changes, most of which will have little or no impact on anyone reading this post. If you wish to read about all the changes, simply do a Google or other search for H.R.3236.
Effective for years beginning after December 31, 2015 the due date for a C corporation's income tax return will be April 15th. (For fiscal year corporations the due date will be the 15th day of the 4th month after year-end.) This additional month should be welcome news for those who struggle to complete F-1120 within the current 2½ month time window. For partnerships the due date was shortened by one month from April 15th to March 15th. The due date for filing an S corporation's income tax return remains unchanged at March 15th.
Although the shortened due date for partnership returns may become a hardship on some tax professionals, the earlier due date should significantly reduce the problem of taxpayers getting their partnerships K-1s at the last-minute, forcing everyone to then scramble to get the individual tax returns done before the April 15 deadline. It may also reduce the number of extensions requested by many individuals, simply because they're waiting on a K-1 form, making it easier on everyone. Partnerships will still be able to get an extension to file, of course, but I predict most will not do that and will just file by the new, unextended due date.
These changes and the others included in H.R.3236 were probably made at the behest if the IRS, but it's also possible that many members of Congress received complaints from constituents regarding late-arriving partnership K-1s. In addition to the revised due dates the new law also made five or six other tax related changes, most of which will have little or no impact on anyone reading this post. If you wish to read about all the changes, simply do a Google or other search for H.R.3236.
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