4 Reasons You May Need to Amend Your 2014 Tax Return

Have you heard from the IRS about your 2014 tax returns? The IRS sent out a Tax Tip a few weeks ago that stated that some taxpayers might have paid more than they were required to pay, and they had a few reasons for why.

Some filers may have miscalculated their individual shared responsibility payment and overpaid, while others may have not been required to pay anything if they were exempt from the Affordable Care Act’s coverage requirement.

If you didn’t claim an exemption from this requirement but were eligible to, or you overpaid the individual shared responsibility payment when you filed your taxes in 2014, you can fix it by amending your return.

These are the four examples of situations the IRS has given where you might want to seriously consider amending your 2014 return:

• You were exempt from the individual shared responsibility payment because you reported income less than the 2014 tax filing requirement.
• You were not required to make an individual shared responsibility payment because someone else claimed you as a dependent. 
• You reported a greater individual shared responsibility payment than required.
• You made an error in calculating your individual shared responsibility payment.

In some cases, you may be due a refund after your amended return is processed. You can amend your return using Form 1040X and by completing and attaching Form 8965, Health Coverage Exemptions.

For more tax and e-filing information, be sure to keep up with the ExpressIRSForms blog. And if you need any help in your e-filing, don’t hesitate to reach out to our friendly, expert support team. We’re available Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. EST, by phone (704-839-2270) and live chat. We also offer ‘round the clock help at support@expressirsforms.com.

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2015 Tax Filing Deadlines

Welcome back, folks!

We hope you had a great holiday weekend and are looking forward to jumping right into your 2015 tax filings this Monday morning! Oh, who are we kidding? Any one of us would hit a snooze button to delay thinking about filing for at least another week in a heartbeat if we could.

Although, that’s not to say that you can’t: in the spirit of the holidays, we’ll let it slide if you want to put off looking at your filings until next year/week. But before you go popping the champagne early, keep in mind that you’ve got some deadlines coming up. So take a look at the dates below, think about the amount of forms you’ll need to file, and determine if it’s time to own up to the responsibility or if it’s time for a glass of bubbly:

March 31, 2016
March 31st is the date by which copies of the ACA forms you’re filing will need to be sent out to your recipients. Normally, this due date is scheduled for January 31st of the year following the year for which you’re reporting but the IRS has extended this deadline for the 2015 tax year.

May 31, 2016
If you’re paper filing your ACA forms, you’ll need to have them sent to the IRS by May 31st. The official wording of the rule is “the last day of February following the year for which you’re filing,” so in future years, this due date will be February 28th or 29th.

June 30, 2016
And for the e-filers: your ACA forms 1095 and 1094 will need to be transmitted to the IRS by 11:59 p.m. (your time zone) on June 30th. But even though you can literally wait until the last minute to e-file, we recommend giving yourself a few days (or hours at least) to file before the deadline so you can avoid any issues with heavy site traffic or computer errors. And remember: after 2016, this due date will be March 31st of each year.

So be sure to keep these dates in mind as the new year approaches. If you miss one you're required to meet, you could face some serious penalties. You know better than we do how long it’ll take you to complete those  Form 1099s, Form W-2s, or ACA forms (although you might want to knock some of your estimated time off - our name is ExpressIRSForms, after all), so we won’t tell you that you have to start now. But it couldn’t hurt, either.

And if you need any help along the way, give us a call at (704) 839-2270, Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST, or send us an email anytime at support@expressirsforms.com!

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Form 1099 FATCA Update for the 2015 Tax Year

Welcome to another blog post brought to you by ExpressIRSForms to prepare you for the 2015 tax filing year. We’ll keep this one short and sweet: with the shortest day of the year (tomorrow) falling on a short work week like this one, there isn’t time for much more than a quick update. Plus, there’s not that much information to divulge; it really is a quick update from the IRS this time (I know, who’d have thunk?).

If you’re the type to read the General Instructions for Certain Information Returns PDF each year before you file, you probably already noticed the “What’s New” section. If you haven’t caught up on your IRS reading yet, however, here’s what you’re missing:

FATCA -- that’s the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act -- states new filing requirements be completed by certain foreign financial institutions (FFIs) beginning with 2015 tax year filings. So from now on, FFIs with a chapter 4 requirement to report a US account maintained by that FFI and held by a specified US person can fulfill this requirement by checking the box that says “FATCA filing requirement” on the 1099 form they’re filing.

The FATCA filing requirement box is now included on forms 1099-MISC, 1099-INT, and 1099-DIV that have been updated for the 2016 filing season. So if you’re an FFI and this chapter 4 requirement applies to you, be prepared to check an extra box on your 1099s.

Told ya that would be quick. And, as far as new IRS requirements go, it’s a pretty painless one. Now the new Affordable Care Act requirements, those are a different story (but we can help you with those, too).

If you need help with your 1099s, W-2s, ACA forms, or the e-filing process, feel free to reach out to us. We’re available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. EST through phone (704-839-2270) and live chat, and we have 24/7 email support for any emergencies.

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