The IRS announced on Friday that it will soon be able to accept tax returns that include Form 4562, Depreciation and Amortization, and/or Form 8863, Education Credits (IR-2013-18). The IRS will start processing returns with Form 4562 on Sunday, Feb. 10, and will start processing returns with Form 8863 on Thursday, Feb. 14. It also announced that it will be able to start processing other delayed forms in early March.
In early January, the IRS announced a delayed, Jan. 30, start to the 2013 tax filing season and that because of the need for extensive form and processing systems changes, many taxpayers would not be able to file returns until February or March. The IRS also published a list of forms that it would not be able to accept on Jan. 30.
Among those forms was Form 4562, which must be filed by taxpayers who claim a deduction for depreciation or amortization, make an election under Sec. 179 to expense certain property, or who need to report information on the business or investment use of automobiles and other listed property.
Then, two days before the delayed start of tax season, the IRS announced a further delay in processing returns that contain Form 8863, which must be filed by people claiming the American opportunity and the lifetime learning tax credits (IR-2013-10).
Edward Karl, AICPA vice president—Tax, said in reaction the IRS announcement, “The AICPA is pleased with the release of the Form 4562 depreciation schedule, a form that greatly impacts our members’ ability to file client returns, and whose release we have been aggressively pursuing. We have heard from members about the challenges created by the unusually compressed filing season and continue to actively voice those concerns to the IRS.”
After Friday’s announcement, there are still 29 forms that cannot be filed yet because they must be updated and systems for processing them tested. The IRS said it will start accepting returns that include these delayed forms in the first week of March, but did not give a specific date.
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Alistair M. Nevius (
anevius@aicpa.org
) is the JofA’s editor-in-chief, tax.
