Following an announcement last week that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) would offer penalty relief to taxpayers for taxable years 2019 and 2020, the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) submitted a letter to the Department of the Treasury and the IRS conveying gratitude for the actions taken, but outlining concerns about the deadline provided in Notice 2022-36.
The AICPA applauded the unprecedented waiver of the failure to file penalty under section 6651(a)(1) and praised the IRS for waiving the various international information reporting penalties under sections 6038, 6038A, 6038C, 6039F and 6677.
In consideration of the upcoming deadlines and business cycle of the tax profession, AICPA is requesting that the deadline of Sept. 30, 2022, provided in the Notice be extended to Dec. 31, 2022. Setting a Sept. 30 deadline during a time when tax professionals are working to meet the Sept. 15 deadline for pass-throughs, Sept. 30 for trusts and Oct. 15 for individuals and corporations is unreasonable and creates an insurmountable burden for most practitioners and taxpayers.
Additionally, given the complex facts relating to international information reporting penalties and that many affected taxpayers may live abroad, the Sept. 30 deadline is unrealistic and will fail to prompt a critical mass of impacted taxpayers to avail themselves of the benefits of Notice 2022-36 as the Notice relates to international information reporting.
“Extending the deadline will assist the practitioner community in maximizing the relief provided and bring more taxpayers into voluntary compliance. In turn, such voluntary compliance will save the IRS resources,” the letter stated.
Since July 2020, AICPA has urged the IRS in multiple letters to provide penalty relief to taxpayers who have experienced unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic. AICPA is pleased that the IRS has listened and provided some late filing relief and urges the IRS to extend the Notice’s penalty relief to Dec. 31, 2022.
Background
- On July 2, 2020, AICPA submitted a letter to the Department of the Treasury and the IRS once again urging them to act immediately to provide broader tax administrative and penalty relief due to the pandemic.
- On Nov. 5, 2020, AICPA submitted a letter to the Department of the Treasury and the IRS renewing the request for penalty relief for the 2019 tax year filing season.
- On Nov. 20, 2020, following testimony given by IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig before the House Committee on Ways & Means, Subcommittee on Oversight, the AICPA released a statement stating current penalty relief measures were not enough.
- On Dec. 8, 2020, AICPA led a coalition of seven professional tax organizations in sending a letter to the Department of the Treasury and the IRS calling on the IRS to offer targeted penalty relief to Americans facing hardship due to the pandemic.
- In a letter sent Feb. 16, 2021, AICPA called attention to the hardship that millions of taxpayers and tax practitioners are facing while making good faith efforts to comply with their tax obligations. AICPA called for relief from underpayment and late payment penalties for the 2020 taxable year.
- On Feb. 24, 2021, the AICPA called for greater certainty for taxpayers and tax practitioners and underpayment and late payment penalty relief, both of which will provide greater assistance to those affected by the pandemic.
- On May 17, 2021, AICPA submitted a letter to the Department of the Treasury and the IRS urging specific penalty relief measures for millions of taxpayers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
- On Jan. 10, 2022, AICPA released a statement calling on the IRS to do more to provide penalty relief to taxpayers.
- Beginning in Jan. 2022, AICPA joined a coalition of 13 stakeholders urging the IRS to provide meaningful relief to taxpayers, including the following:
- Align requests for account holds with the time it takes the IRS to process any penalty abatement requests—similar recommendation also included in the 2021 National Taxpayer Advocate report
- Offer a reasonable cause penalty waiver, similar to the procedures of first time abate administrative waiver
- Provide taxpayers with targeted relief from the underpayment and the late payment penalty for the 2020 and 2021 tax year
- On March 11, 2022, AICPA released a statement reiterating the need for penalty relief.
