On July 31, 2015, President Obama signed into Law the Surface Transportation Act of 2015 (“The Highway Act”). Certain tax provisions are included in the Act, including the following modifications to tax return filing deadlines:

FinCEN FORM 114

This form was previously required to be completed by June 30. It will now be synchronized with the due date filing for individual income tax returns. Both will be due April 15. In addition, for the first time taxpayers will be able to request a six-month extension to file as late as October 15.

PARTNERSHIPS    

The Highway Act accelerates the due date to March 15 for filing partnership tax returns. These entities should plan now for the filing deadline change, which is 30 days sooner than the 2015 season.

S CORPORATIONS

S Corporations retain their filing deadline, which is the 15th day of the third month. (For calendar year end taxpayers, March 15.)

C CORPORATIONS  

Calendar year C Corporations will get a little break, with an extra 30 days to file. This change may allow more companies to timely file their tax returns. This new filing will coincide with the 1st quarter estimated tax payment due date for the year. These entities need to plan their cash flow needs to make both payments in April beginning in 2017.

Note: Filing deadlines for C Corporations with a June 30 year-end do not change until 2026.

INDIVIDUALS

There is no change to the individual filing deadline of April 15 or the six-month extension deadline of October 15.  However, the partnership due date change should allow more time to include any Schedule(s) K-1 income and/or loss on the personal income tax return and file by April 15.

TRUST AND ESTATE RETURNS

There is no change to the April 15 filing deadline for trust and estates. However, the extension time increased to five and a half months from five months.

INFORMATION RETURNS (i.e. W-2 and 1099s)

Beginning with 2016 forms, employers will now have one filing deadline of January 31 for all Federal W-2s. This applies to both employee and agency copies, or whether filing paper or electronic returns. If you are filing Form 1099-MISC and reporting in Box 7: Nonemployee Compensation, you will need to meet the new filing deadline of January 31. If you do not have amounts in Box 7, the deadline remains February 28 for paper filings or March 31 for electronic filings.

For a summary of these changes, please click here.

Should you have any questions on the above changes please do not hesitate to contact our office at 402.423.4343.