On its face, the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015 (the “Act”) doesn’t sound much like legislation that affects the filing of taxes, because such legislation rarely does. The enactment of this Act promulgates changes to the tax filing process consequently affecting just about every taxpayer. These changes include revised due dates for filing certain tax forms, which potentially further impact the filing of state taxes. Individual and business taxpayers alike should consult a tax professional to conduct a detailed review of the Act in detail to determine which significant deadline changes affect them most.
Congress included provisions in the Act attempting to minimize taxpayers’ timing difficulties with filing dates for several common types of returns and reporting forms. The legislation revises original and extended due dates for tax years starting after Dec. 31, 2015, thus affecting returns beginning with the year 2016 and prepared in 2017. The new deadline dates are primarily for returns for taxpayers with calendar tax years and C corporations whose tax year ends June 30th.
Changes are made for taxpayers that use a fiscal year as their tax year except corporations using Form 1120 and June 30 as their tax year. C corporations using a noncalendar fiscal year that ends on a day other than June 30, now have a due date of the 15th day of the fourth month following the close of the fiscal year. S corporations and partnerships using a noncalendar fiscal year have a return due date of the 15th day of the third month following the close of the fiscal year.
Other modifications to deadlines for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2015, include the date for the filing of FBARs (Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts), officially FinCEN Form 114. These are now due on April 15 and a maximum six-month extension may be requested until Oct. 15. The Act does nothing to change the requirement that employers must provide W-2 and 1099 forms to employers and independent contractors by Jan. 31. They must file these forms with the IRS and Social Security Administration by the last day of February if filed on paper and by March 31st if filed electronically.
These changes represent Congress’ response to the concerns voiced by taxpayers over the current system of filing deadlines. One concern revolved around the brief or even nonexistent turnaround time between the receipt of pass-through information on Schedule K-1 and the filing deadline for the return to be filed by a partner or shareholder. As a response to this concern, Congress has tried to provide businesses with an opportunity to distribute pass-through information to partners and shareholders sufficiently before the due date of the individual and corporate shareholder/partner returns. By staggering due dates, the hope is that there is adequate lead time to collect information and file an unhurried, complete, accurate return.
Keep in mind that the extended due dates for corporate and partnership returns with a calendar tax year remain Sept. 15th. However, Congress has extended the due date for C corporations to Oct. 15 for tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2025.
If you are affected by and have questions about the new filing deadlines set forth by the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015, call THE TAX EXPERTS at the Thorgood Law Firm www.thorgoodlaw.com. For a FREE consultation call 212-490-0704.
