Today
the IRS finally starts accepting 2012 individual tax return filings. It is January 30, 2013.
Why
so late? You recall that Congress passed, and the President signed, a tax bill
on January 1, 2013. This tax bill was retroactive to 2012. While the IRS tried
to anticipate what would be in the bill, to do so exactly is nearly impossible.
The IRS in turn separated the tax changes into two categories: those affecting
the most people and the balance of the changes. It has programmed those changes
with the widest effect, and this first category of taxpayers can begin filing
today.
So
if you claim state sales tax (because your state does not have an income tax),
claim an education deduction or claim schoolteacher expenses, you can begin
filing today.
What
if you claim depreciation, own and rent a duplex or have a kid in college and
claim an education tax credit (rather than a deduction)? You are in the second
group and have to wait until late February or March. Your tax preparer can
prepare your tax return, but he/she cannot send it to the IRS until then.
Here
is the list of tax changes and forms included in the second category, if you
wish to labor through them:
- Form 3800 General Business Credit
- Form 4136 Credit for Federal Tax Paid on Fuels
- Form 4562 Depreciation and Amortization (Including Information on Listed Property)
- Form 5074 Allocation of Individual Income Tax to Guam or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
- Form 5471 Information Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations
- Form 5695 Residential Energy Credits
- Form 5735 American Samoa Economic Development Credit
- Form 5884 Work Opportunity Credit
- Form 6478 Credit for Alcohol Used as Fuel
- Form 6765 Credit for Increasing Research Activities
- Form 8396 Mortgage Interest Credit
- Form 8582 Passive Activity Loss Limitations
- Form 8820 Orphan Drug Credit
- Form 8834 Qualified Plug-in Electric and Electric Vehicle Credit
- Form 8839 Qualified Adoption Expenses
- Form 8844 Empowerment Zone and Renewal Community Employment Credit
- Form 8845 Indian Employment Credit
- Form 8859 District of Columbia First-Time Homebuyer Credit
- Form 8864 Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel Fuels Credit
- Form 8874 New Markets Credits
- Form 8900 Qualified Railroad Track Maintenance Credit
- Form 8903 Domestic Production Activities Deduction
- Form 8908 Energy Efficient Home Credit
- Form 8909 Energy Efficient Appliance Credit
- Form 8910 Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit
- Form 8911 Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit
- Form 8912 Credit to Holders of Tax Credit Bonds
- Form 8923 Mine Rescue Team Training Credit
- Form 8932 Credit for Employer Differential Wage Payments
- Form 8936 Qualified Plug-in Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Credit
There is some rhyme or reason to what the IRS is doing. Category two changes require more extensive programming. In addition, those tax attributes tend to appear on more complicated returns. These returns – as a rule of thumb – are prepared later in the filing season or are extended.
