IRS Resumes PTIN Registrations and Renewals

As of June 21, the IRS resumed PTIN registration and renewals. They will do this at no charge.

The IRS continues to work with the Department of Justice on how they will proceed on the US District Court ruling that enjoined the IRS from charging a user fee for the issuance and renewal of PTINs and refunding previous fees paid.

The IRS emphasizes that a PTIN remains a requirement for any individual who prepares federal returns for compensation.  See the IRS Reopening PTIN System page on their webpage for answers to questions regarding PTIN registration.

IRS Suspends PTIN Registration and Renewals

As of June 5, 2017, the IRS has temporarily suspended PTIN registration and renewals. They have done this because the United States District Court for the District of Columbia enjoined the IRS on June 1, 2017 from charging a user fee for the issuance or renewal of PTINs.

The IRS is presently determining how they will proceed and as additional information becomes available they will let everyone know.

See the IRS PTIN System Down announcement of June 5, 2017 for further information.

For more information on the court case and ruling see the following:

• US District Court Steele vs United States – Memorandum Opinion 

• Steele vs United States Class Action Website

Reminder that this Year’s Filing Deadline is April 18

Remember, the federal filing deadline for individual returns is Tuesday, April 18, 2017.

It is April 18 instead of Monday April 17 because of the Emancipation Day holiday in the District of Columbia.

For returns that are rejected on April 18, the return will be considered timely filed if it is re-transmitted and accepted by April 23.

The first federal individual 2017 estimated payment is also due by April 18.

April 18 is also the deadline for the following:

• To file an automatic six month extension (Form 4868) for individual federal returns
• Remember the six month extension is for filing the return only. Any tax due must be paid by April 18 to avoid any penalty and interest.
• Making a contribution to an IRA for tax year 2016
• Filing 2016 calendar year federal corporate tax returns (Form 1120)
• Filing 2016 estate or trust income tax returns (Form 1041)
• Filing an FBAR (FinCen Form 114) for individuals that have foreign financial accounts over $10,000 at any time during 2016

The filing deadline is automatically extended (without having to file a Form 4868) for the following taxpayers:

• U.S. citizens and resident aliens who live and work abroad, as well as members of the military on duty outside the U.S. have until June 15 to file and pay any tax due, although interest will be charged from April 18 on any tax that is paid on June 15.
• Members of the military and others serving in a combat zone localities receive an automatic extension of the due date until at least 180 days after they leave the combat zone to file returns and pay any taxes due. For more details see Extensions of Deadlines on page 29 of Publication 3 (Armed Forces’ Tax Guide).

                                                          

Reminder of Change in Federal Corporate and Partnership Filing Deadlines

This is a reminder that the filing deadline for calendar year 2016 federal partnership returns (Form 1065) has changed to March 15, 2017.

For those federal partnerships that need additional time to file the Form 7004 (Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File Certain Business Income Tax, Information and Other Returns) must be filed by Wednesday, March 15, 2017.

Also remember that the deadline for federal Corporate (Form 1120) returns was changed to April 15 which means 2016 calendar year federal corporate returns will be due on Tuesday, April 18, 2017.

March 15 is also the deadline for federal Subchapter S corporate returns (Form 1120S).

                                                          

IRS Warns: Dangerous W-2 Phishing Scam Evolving; Targeting Schools, Restaurants, Hospitals, Tribal Groups and Others

IR-2017-20, Feb. 2, 2017

WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service, state tax agencies and the tax industry issued an urgent alert today to all employers that the Form W-2 email phishing scam has evolved beyond the corporate world and is spreading to other sectors, including school districts, tribal organizations and nonprofits.

In a related development, the W-2 scammers are coupling their efforts to steal employee W-2 information with an older scheme on wire transfers that is victimizing some organizations twice.

“This is one of the most dangerous email phishing scams we’ve seen in a long time. It can result in the large-scale theft of sensitive data that criminals can use to commit various crimes, including filing fraudulent tax returns. We need everyone’s help to turn the tide against this scheme,’’ said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen.

When employers report W-2 thefts immediately to the IRS, the agency can take steps to help protect employees from tax-related identity theft. The IRS, state tax agencies and the tax industry, working together as the Security Summit, have enacted numerous safeguards in 2016 and 2017 to identify fraudulent returns filed through scams like this. As the Summit partners make progress, cybercriminals need more data to mimic real tax returns.

Here’s how the scam works: Cybercriminals use various spoofing techniques to disguise an email to make it appear as if it is from an organization executive. The email is sent to an employee in the payroll or human resources departments, requesting a list of all employees and their Forms W-2.  This scam is sometimes referred to as business email compromise (BEC) or business email spoofing (BES).

The Security Summit partners urge all employers to be vigilant. The W-2 scam, which first appeared last year, is circulating earlier in the tax season and to a broader cross-section of organizations, including school districts, tribal casinos, chain restaurants, temporary staffing agencies, healthcare and shipping and freight. Those businesses that received the scam email last year also are reportedly receiving it again this year.

Security Summit partners warned of this scam’s reappearance last week but have seen an upswing in reports in recent days.

New Twist to W-2 Scam: Companies Also Being Asked to Wire Money
In the latest twist, the cybercriminal follows up with an “executive” email to the payroll or comptroller and asks that a wire transfer also be made to a certain account. Although not tax related, the wire transfer scam is being coupled with the W-2 scam email, and some companies have lost both employees’ W-2s and thousands of dollars due to wire transfers.

The IRS, states and tax industry urge all employers to share information with their payroll, finance and human resources employees about this W-2 and wire transfer scam. Employers should consider creating an internal policy, if one is lacking, on the distribution of employee W-2 information and conducting wire transfers.

Steps Employers Can Take If They See the W-2 Scam

Organizations receiving a W-2 scam email should forward it to phishing@irs.gov and place “W2 Scam” in the subject line. Organizations that receive the scams or fall victim to them should file a complaint with the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3,) operated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Employees whose Forms W-2 have been stolen should review the recommended actions by the Federal Trade Commission at www.identitytheft.gov or the IRS at www.irs.gov/identitytheft.
Employees should file a Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit, if the employee’s own tax return rejects because of a duplicate Social Security number or if instructed to do so by the IRS.

The W-2 scam is just one of several new variations that have appeared in the past year that focus on the large-scale thefts of sensitive tax information from tax preparers, businesses and payroll companies. Individual taxpayers also can be targets of phishing scams, but cybercriminals seem to have evolved their tactics to focus on mass data thefts.

Be Safe Online

In addition to avoiding email scams during the tax season, taxpayers and tax preparers should be leery of using search engines to find technical help with taxes or tax software. Selecting the wrong “tech support” link could lead to a loss of data or an infected computer. Also, software “tech support” will not call users randomly. This is a scam.

Taxpayers searching for a paid tax professional for tax help can use the IRS Choosing a Tax Professional lookup tool or if taxpayers need free help can review the Free Tax Return Preparation Programs. Taxpayers searching for tax software can use Free File, which offers 12 brand-name products for free, at www.irs.gov/freefile. Taxpayer or tax preparers looking for tech support for their software products should go directly to the provider’s web page.

Tax professionals also should beware of ongoing scams related to IRS e-Services. Thieves are trying to use IRS efforts to make e-Services more secure to send emails asking e-Services users to update their accounts. Their objective is to steal e-Services users’ credentials to access these important services.