Tax Return Due Dates & Filing Extensions Changed

In a 2015 highway funding bill, Congress & the IRS announced changes to due dates for partnership and corporate tax returns, as well as FinCEN Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBAR), and several other IRS information returns.  These changes will affect your 2016 tax filings.
AAFCPAs has provided the following summary of due date modifications for your convenience:
Due Dates

• These new due dates apply to returns for tax years beginning January 1, 2016 or later. However, for C corporations with fiscal years ending on June 30, the new due dates do not apply until tax years beginning after Dec. 31, 2025.
• Partnership Returns – The new due date for partnership returns is March 15 (one month earlier) for calendar year partnerships, or the 15^thday of the third month following the end of the fiscal year.
• S Corporation Returns– The due date for S corporation tax returns remains unchanged; they are still due March 15, or the 15^th day of the third month following the close of the taxable year.
• C Corporations Returns – The new due date for corporation tax returns is now one month later, on April 15^thor the 15th day of the fourth month following the close of the corporation’s fiscal year.
• The due date for FBARs (FinCEN Form 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts), changed from June 30 to April 15, and taxpayers will be allowed a six month extension, if requested.
• The due date for Form 3520, Annual Return to Report Transactions With Foreign Trusts and Receipt of Certain Foreign Gifts, will be April 15 for calendar year filers, with a maximum six month extension.
• The April 15 due date for Individual and Fiduciary/Trust returns did not change.

As of the date of this blog entry, Massachusetts and many other states have not announced how or if these Federal changes will impact the due dates for filing state tax returns.
Extensions

• The IRS will now allow a maximum extension of:
  • 6 months for Partnerships, S Corporations and C Corporations. (Calendar year corporations would get a five month extension until 2026, and corporations with a June 30 year end would get a seven month extension until 2026.)
  • 5 ½ months on Form 1041, U.S. Income Tax Return for Estates and Trusts;
  • 3 ½ months on Form 5500, Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan; and
  • Six months on Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax.

These tax return due date modifications were part of a highway funding bill: H.R. 3236, the “Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015.”  These new due dates are intended to provide taxpayers and tax professionals with the time needed to better meet their filing obligations.
If you have any questions about tax planning or compliance, please contact your AAFCPAs partner or Richard Weiner at 774.512.4078 or rweiner@aafcpa.com.