IRS Predicts Remaining ATRA-Affected Forms Will Be Accepted In Early March; High Traffic Slows “Where’s My Refund?”

The IRS has reported on its social media feeds that it is processing returns with Form 4562, Depreciation and Amortization, and returns with Form 8863, Education Credits, and expects to start accepting the remaining forms affected by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA) during the first week of March. The IRS also asked taxpayers to use the popular Where’s My Refund? online tool and the refund feature on the IRS2Go smartphone app only once a day because of very high usage. At the same time, the Obama administration has cautioned that pending sequestration will impair the IRS’s customer service and enforcement operations.

Forms

After President Obama signed ATRA into law on January 2, the IRS cautioned that the start of the 2013 filing season would be delayed because the agency needed time to reprogram its processing systems for many changes made to the Tax Code by ATRA. The IRS began accepting and processing most individual returns January 30.

The IRS is now able to accept returns with the education credits and depreciation forms following reprogramming of its processing systems. The agency reported that work continues on reprogramming its processing systems to accept the remaining forms affected by ATRA. The IRS predicted that the remaining forms, including Forms 3800, General Business Credit, Form 5695 Residential Energy Credits, and Form 8582 Passive Activity Loss Limitations, will be accepted during the first week of March. The IRS indicated that a more specific date is expected to be announced as soon as possible.

Comment

The AICPA asked the IRS to consider relief from the failure-to-file and failure to pay penalties. "The IRS cannot extend deadlines but it can ameliorate penalties," Goldstein noted. The AICPA also asked for more clarity about the timing for the release of the remaining tax forms.

Refunds

Taxpayers can check the status of their refund using the online tool Where’s My Refund? or smartphone app. Because of the large number of inquiries, the IRS urged taxpayers to check on the status of their refunds once a day, preferably weekday evenings or on weekends. The IRS explained that its systems are only updated once a day, usually overnight, and the same information is available on the internet or the smartphone app.

Comment

According to the IRS, nine out of 10 taxpayers typically receive refunds in less than 21 days when they use e-file with direct deposit.

Sequestration

After February 28, across-the-board spending cuts are scheduled to take affect unless Congress takes action to avert them. Acting Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin recently told Congress that sequestration would trigger furloughs of an unspecified number of IRS employees. Additionally, Treasury would need to reduce payments that support some state and municipal bond programs through lower levels of refundable tax credits and direct payments to issuers, Wolin predicted.

Comment

Cuts to operating expenses and expected furloughs would prevent millions of taxpayers from getting answers from IRS call centers and taxpayer assistance centers and would delay IRS responses to taxpayer letters, Wolin told lawmakers.