IRS offers penalty, filing relief for new transition tax on foreign earnings 

The US IRS on June 4 announced that it will waive some late-payment penalties relating to the section 965 transition tax, which deems a repatriation by US shareholders of overseas earnings held by offshore companies. Guidance was also provided for individuals subject to the section 965 transition tax regarding the due date for relevant elections.

The following three questions were addressed in the guidance: 

If a taxpayer that has made a section 965(h) election for 2017 filed a 2017 income tax return that calculated an overpayment without including the taxpayer’s total net tax liability under section 965, and the taxpayer attempted to elect to credit the calculated overpayment to its estimated tax liability for 2018, will the IRS determine an addition to tax for an underpayment of taxpayer’s 2018 estimated taxes because the credit elect won’t be available for the first required 2018 estimated tax installment?

If an individual fails to timely pay his or her first installment of tax due under section 965(h), will the IRS assess an addition to tax for failure to pay?  Will the taxpayer’s requirement to pay all subsequent installments be accelerated under section 965(h)(3)?

 If an individual has filed his or her 2017 tax return, but has not made the section 965(h) election, may the individual file another 2017 return on which he or she makes the election?

Answers to the questions are provided on the IRS’s tax reform page.

 

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