Issue Number: 2017-1
Inside This Issue
1. IRS and Partners Look to Start of 2017 Tax Season
2. Use Publication 2043 to Set Refund Expectations for Your Clients
3. Technical Guidance
1. IRS and Partners Look to Start of 2017 Tax Season
The Internal Revenue Service and its partners from the states and tax industry remind taxpayers that the nation’s 2017 individual income tax filing season opens Jan. 23.
The IRS expects more than 153 million tax returns to be filed this year, and taxpayers have until Tuesday April 18 to file their 2016 tax returns and pay any tax due.
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2. Use Publication 2043 to Set Refund Expectations for Your Clients
IRS Publication 2043, IRS Refund Information Guidelines for the Tax Preparation Community, has been updated for 2017. The publication provides the latest refund information and guidelines to advise clients who are expecting refunds.
This year’s update includes information about a new law that requires the IRS to hold refunds claiming the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Additional Child Tax Credit. The IRS will begin to release EITC/ACTC refunds starting Feb. 15. However, these refunds likely will not reach taxpayers until the week of Feb. 27.
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3. Technical Guidance
Notice 2017-09 provides the requirements for making an election related to information returns and seeks comment on the matters discussed in the notice. Section 202 of the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (P.L. 114-113) amended sections 6721 and 6722 to provide that an error on an information return or payee statement does not need to be corrected to avoid a penalty if the error relates to an incorrect dollar amount and differs from the correct amount by no more than $100 ($25 with respect to an amount of tax withheld). This safe harbor generally does not apply to a payee statement if a payee makes an election that the safe harbor not apply “at such time and in such manner as the Secretary may prescribe.”
Notice 2017-12 provides guidance on the methods available to confirm the closing of an examination of an estate tax return. In addition, the notice announces that an account transcript with a transaction code of “421” and explanation “Closed examination of tax return” can serve as the functional equivalent of an estate tax closing letter in confirming the closing of an examination.
Notice 2017-12 will be in IRB 2017-4 dated Jan. 23.
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