The IRS on February 15 announced that it has started accepting returns that it could not accept before because it was updating forms and reprogramming its systems (IR-2011-16).
In December, the IRS informed taxpayers that because of the December 17 enactment date of the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010 (P.L. 111-312), which extended various expired provisions, it would need time to reprogram its systems and update Schedule A of Form 1040. As a result, it has not been accepting returns from taxpayers who itemize deductions on Schedule A and those who take certain extended deductions.
“The IRS is now accepting all the 1040 forms,” IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said in a prepared statement.
According to the IRS, many tax preparation software vendors have been accepting returns affected by the delay, but holding onto them. Those returns can now be submitted, and the IRS warns that the expected heavy volume of returns filed this week may lead to delays in e-file acknowledgments, which normally are received within 24 to 48 hours of filing.
The IRS also noted that several business forms that are also delayed because of recent tax law changes are still not ready. It promised to announce a date for accepting those returns soon. The affected forms include:
- Form 1120-PC, U.S. Property and Casualty Insurance Company Income Tax Return;
- Form 941 (First Quarter 2011), Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return;
- Form 709, U.S. Gift Tax Return;
- Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return;
- Form 706-NA, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, for nonresidents;
- Form 8849 Schedule 3 (calendar year 2011), Certain Fuel Mixtures and the Alternative Fuel Credit;
- Form 3800, General Business Credit;
- Form 5074, Allocation of Individual Income Tax to Guam or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (if certain credits are claimed);
- Form 5405, First-Time Homebuyer Credit and Repayment of the Credit (page 2 only);
- Form 6478, Alcohol and Cellulosic Biofuel Fuels Credit;
- Form 8689, Allocation of Individual Income Tax to the U.S. Virgin Islands (if certain credits claimed);
- Form 8834, Qualified Plug-In Electric and Electric Vehicle Credit;
- Form 8844, Empowerment Zone and Renewal Community Employment Credit;
- Form 8910, Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit; and
- Form 8936, Qualified Plug-In Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Credit.
