California Golden State Stimulus (GSS) September Payments

 On Friday, September 17^th, the Franchise Tax Board (FTB) and the State Controller’s office will release the next batch of GSS I & II payments.

Alabama MeF Scheduled Maintenance

Alabama will be turning off MeF (all tax types) around 4:00pm on Thursday, September 23^rd.  They will be updating their system over that weekend and will not be retrieving submissions or sending ACKs from 4:00pm on Thursday, September 23^rd until after the cutover to their new system and go live.

 

Note: Anything transmitted after 3:00pm, Thursday, September 23^rd may not be acknowledged until after they open back up on Monday, September 27^th or Tuesday, September 28^th.

Arizona's MeF system maintenance

 Arizona's MeF system will be unavailable from 6 PM - 8 PM MST today, Sept. 16th.

Programming issue impacts business taxpayers reporting COVID-19 employment tax relief

There is a Transcript Delivery System (TDS) programming issue impacting business taxpayers who reported information related to COVID-19 employment tax relief on Form 941.

 

Account Transcripts requested for Form 941 for all quarters in Tax Year 2021 may not generate properly. Transcripts are not being delivered to the Secure Object Repository (SOR) Mailbox for e-Services users. When viewing the transcript online, a message will display on the transcript indicating TDS has encountered an unrecoverable error processing the request. With the Postal Mail delivery method, no transcript is mailed.

 

As the Record of Account Transcript is a combination of the Tax Return and Account Transcripts, the Record of Account Transcript is also impacted and can display a message of “No record of return filed.”

 

IRS Customer Service Representatives are also unable to obtain these transcripts.

 

The programming issue is expected to be fixed on September 26, 2021.

IRS: Hurricane Ida victims in Mississippi now eligible for tax relief; Oct. 15 deadline, other dates extended to Nov. 1

 

Victims of Hurricane Ida in parts of Mississippi now have until Nov. 1, 2021, to file various individual and business tax returns and make tax payments, the Internal Revenue Service announced today.

The IRS is offering relief to any area designated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) as qualifying for individual or public assistance. Currently, individuals and households affected by Hurricane Ida that reside or have a business in all 82 counties and the Mississippi Choctaw Indian Reservation qualify for tax relief. The current list of eligible localities is always available on the disaster relief page on IRS.gov.

“The IRS stands ready to help people and businesses affected by Hurricane Ida, now and in the weeks ahead,” said IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig.

The tax relief postpones various tax filing and payment deadlines that occurred starting on Aug. 28, 2021. As a result, affected individuals and businesses will have until Nov. 1, 2021, to file returns and pay any taxes that were originally due during this period. This means individuals who had a valid extension to file their 2020 return due to run out on Oct. 15, 2021, will now have until Nov. 1, 2021, to file. The IRS noted, however, that because tax payments related to these 2020 returns were due on May 17, 2021, those payments are not eligible for this relief.

The Nov. 1, 2021 deadline also applies to quarterly estimated income tax payments due on Sept. 15, 2021, and the quarterly payroll and excise tax returns normally due on Nov. 1, 2021. Businesses with an original or extended due date also have the additional time including, among others, calendar-year partnerships and S corporations whose 2020 extensions run out on Sept. 15, 2021 and calendar-year corporations whose 2020 extensions run out on Oct. 15, 2021.    

In addition, penalties on payroll and excise tax deposits due on or after Aug. 28, 2021 and before Sept. 13, will be abated as long as the deposits are made by Sept. 13, 2021.

The IRS disaster relief page has details on other returns, payments and tax-related actions qualifying for the additional time.

The IRS automatically provides filing and penalty relief to any taxpayer with an IRS address of record located in the disaster area. Therefore, taxpayers do not need to contact the agency to get this relief. However, if an affected taxpayer receives a late filing or late payment penalty notice from the IRS that has an original or extended filing, payment or deposit due date falling within the postponement period, the taxpayer should call the number on the notice to have the penalty abated.

In addition, the IRS will work with any taxpayer who lives outside the disaster area but whose records necessary to meet a deadline occurring during the postponement period are located in the affected area. Taxpayers qualifying for relief who live outside the disaster area need to contact the IRS at 866-562-5227. This also includes workers assisting the relief activities who are affiliated with a recognized government or philanthropic organization.

Individuals and businesses in a federally declared disaster area who suffered uninsured or unreimbursed disaster-related losses can choose to claim them on either the return for the year the loss occurred (in this instance, the 2021 return normally filed next year), or the return for the prior year (2020). Be sure to write the FEMA declaration number – EM-3569 − on any return claiming a loss. See Publication 547 for details.

The tax relief is part of a coordinated federal response to the damage caused by Hurricane Ida and is based on local damage assessments by FEMA. For information on disaster recovery, visit disasterassistance.gov.

EIN Holders Must Update Any Change to Responsible Party

The IRS is urging those entities with Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) to update their applications if there has been a change in the responsible party or contact information.

IRS regulations require EIN holders to update responsible party information within 60 days of any change by filing Form 8822-B, Change of Address or Responsible Party - Business. It is critical that the IRS have accurate information in cases of identity theft or other fraud issues related to EINs or business accounts.

For more information see IR-2021-161,July 30, 2021.

Note:  Form 8822-B can only be paper-filed.  Please refer to the form instructions for the 

appropriate address to mail the completed for to.

IRS News: Scheduled Maintenance for the Modernized e-File (MeF) Production System

Please be advised that the MeF Production System will be unavailable from 7:00 a.m. through 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday, September 11, 2021.

During this time you can still transmit returns to the Electronic Filing Center (EFC) and we will hold the e-files until the IRS restores service.  You will not receive any acks during this time.