New Form 3115 is required, IRS announces

A revised Form 3115, Application for Change in Accounting Method, dated December 2015, has been issued, the IRS announced on Thursday. This new version of the form is the first revision since 2009. The instructions to the form have also been revised.

As a transition rule, the IRS announced it will accept the 2009 version of the form until April 19, 2016, unless the use of the new form is specifically required in IRS guidance. After April 19, 2016, all taxpayers must use the new form, and the IRS is encouraging taxpayers to use it before then.

The IRS also announced a change to the filing location for the duplicate form. Under Rev. Proc. 2015-13, taxpayers are required to file the original form requesting an automatic change in accounting method with their tax return and a duplicate at the Ogden, Utah, service center. Beginning Jan. 1, 2016, taxpayers should file the duplicate form at the Covington, Ky., service center, at this address:

Internal Revenue Service
201 West Rivercenter Blvd.
PIN Team Mail Stop 97
Covington, KY 41011-1424

If, prior to April 20, 2016, a taxpayer filed its duplicate copy of Form 3115 with the IRS in either Ogden, Utah, or Covington, Ky., using the 2009 Form 3115, the taxpayer may file its original Form 3115 with its return using either the 2009 version of Form 3115 or the 2015 version.

—Sally P. Schreiber (sschreiber@aicpa.org) is a JofA senior editor.