Changed Tax Filing Deadlines For 2016 Returns

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September 27, 2016 • Block Advisors

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The Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act was passed over a year ago. While the bill focused on highway infrastructure funding, it actually has a large impact on tax return filing. The law alters some business filing deadlines and takes effect starting with tax year 2016 tax returns filed in 2017.

Here are some important dates – based on the entity type, return, prior due date and current due date:

Note: Any year in which a tax return due date falls on a weekend or federal holiday, the due date is moved to the next available business date. For filing season 2017, the actual due date for returns normally due on April 15 will be April 18, 2017.

Why the Change in Tax ? Read On…

Partnerships

Previously, partnership tax returns were due by the 15th day of the fourth month after the end of the tax year – so the due date for calendar year partnerships was the same as for individual tax returns, typically on April 15.

A partnership is a “passthrough entity,” meaning that tax on profits is paid by the partners, rather than by the company itself. Those with partnership interests receive a Schedule K-1 reporting their taxable share of profits.

Because these due dates coincided, partners often had to file for an extension on their individual returns because their Schedule K-1 reporting crucial partnership information did not arrive until after the due date.

Under the new law, it will be easier for individual partners of partnerships to file because the partnership due date was moved to the 15th day of the third month after the end of the tax year. Thus, a calendar year partnership now has to file by March 15. This gives individual partners an extra month to receive the necessary information from their partnerships to report on their personal tax returns.

C Corporations

Under prior law, all corporations had to file their tax returns by the 15th day of the third month after the end of their tax year, so calendar year regular or “C” corporations had to file their tax return by March 15.

Unlike a partnership or S corporation, a C corporation pays its own tax on profits and owners do not require information to complete their individual returns. The new law therefore changed the due date for corporations to file Form 1120 to the 15th day of the fourth month after the end of the tax year. Thus, a calendar year C corporation will have to file by April 15.

S Corporations

S corporation filings (using Form 1120S) will remain the same — the 15th day of the third month after the end of their tax year. This mean S corporations based on a calendar tax year will continue to have to file a tax return by March 15.

The date remains the same because – similar to partnerships, individual owners of S corporations need to report information on a Schedule K-1 in order to file a tax return. Continuing a one-month period between the S corporation and individual return due dates gives the owners of the business some breathing room!

Individuals

If you file FinCEN Form 114 (aka the “FBAR”), starting with forms filed in 2017, the due date is changed from June 30 to the same as the due date for individual tax returns. The FBAR is generally required if you have foreign financial accounts exceeding $10,000 on any day during the year. A six-month extension will be allowed. The FBAR is filed through the BSA e-filing system.

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