On 31 July 2015 President Obama signed the bill into law (The Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015, H.R. 3236, also known as Highway or Stop-gap Bill) which amongst other measures sets new due dates for commonly filed US income tax returns and other disclosures. These changes to the filing deadlines are applicable to returns for tax years beginning after 31 December 2015 which means for calendar-year filers the new deadlines will first appear in 2017.
FinCen Form 114
The standalone June 30th due date for electronically filed form FinCen 114, Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, (also known as FBAR) is now almost history. Starting in 2017, FBARs will have to be submitted at the same time as income tax returns, whether on APRIL 15 or with a six-month extension. A provision for an automatic 2-months extension to June 15 similar to Treasury Regulations Section 1.6081-5 for Americans abroad shall also apply. This is a very welcome change which makes a lot of sense for taxpayers and tax practitioners.
FBAR is required if a taxpayer, whether an individual or an entity, has a financial interest in or signature authority over a foreign financial account, including a bank account, brokerage account, mutual fund, trust, or other type of foreign financial account, exceeding certain thresholds. For additional criteria on filing FBAR please see the following IRS link: https://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Report-of-Foreign-Bank-and-Financial-Accounts-FBAR
Form 1065
U.S. Return of Partnership Income reported on Form 1065 and partner’s Schedule K-1, Partner’s Share of Income, will soon change its current deadline of APRIL 15 or on the 15th DAY of the FOURTH MONTH following the taxable year. Starting with 2017, the filing deadline will be MARCH 15 or on the 15th DAY of the THIRD MONTH following the taxable year. This change effectively aligns the due date of the partnership return with the deadline of another flow-through entity’s tax reporting – S corporation (Form 1120-S). The likely hope behind this switch is that Schedule K-1 reporting each partner’s share of the partnership tax items will be available in time for their inclusion into the partner’s individual or corporation tax return.
We are not so optimistic and think that the change will likely lead to a greater number of extensions of partnership returns in addition to the returns of their partners.
For instructions of filing Form 1065 see the following IRS link: https://www.irs.gov/uac/Form-1065,-U.S.-Return-of-Partnership-Income
Form 1120
The deadline for a U.S. Corporation Income Tax Return has been flipped to what used to be the partnership return’s deadline, or APRIL 15 for a calendar year taxpayers or on the 15th DAY of the FOURTH MONTH for fiscal year-end filers. This means that we now will be clogged even more with the matching personal and corporate deadlines! If it is not confusing enough, here is another twist. C corporations with tax year-ends of June 30 will continue filing their returns on September 15 until 2025 and on October 15 thereafter. https://www.irs.gov/uac/Form-1120,-U.S.-Corporation-Income-Tax-Return
It is yet known whether the filing deadline will change for treaty-protective Form 1120-F, U.S. Income Tax Return of a Foreign Corporation.
