In the case of Baer v. United States,[1] US Court of Federal Claims, Case No. 19-1439, an attorney argued that because he believed that his CPA had filed for an extension of time to file his personal income tax return, he should be granted reasonable cause relief from a failure to file penalty. The Court denied the request, finding that, per the Supreme Court’s precedent in the Boyle case[2] the timely filing of the extension was a nondelegable duty of the taxpayer.

The case involved a taxpayer who had engaged a CPA to prepare his tax return. Each year the taxpayer had not been ready to file by April 15, and therefore an extension of time to file the return was required to be requested.

In Notice 2017-71 the IRS has granted additional relief to taxpayers impacted by the change in the due date for partnership and related returns changed by the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Act.  Calendar year partnership returns for 2016 were due on March 15, 2017, while in prior years that return would have been due by April 15. 

In Notice 2017-47 the IRS granted relief from late filing penalties for partnerships that filed their return or extension by the original due date.  This notice extends that relief to other items, except interest on tax due, affected by the change in the due date made by Congress.  That would include, for instance, the funding of a contribution to an employee benefit plan by the due date of the return for which a deduction is claimed on the prior year return.

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The IRS clarified on its website (6-Month Extension Period for Calendar Year C Corporations) that the agency has exercised its authority under IRC §6081(a) and will grant calendar year C corporations that timely file a Form 7004 a six-month extension of time to file their calendar year tax return.  Thus, the extended due date for such corporations will move to October 15 instead of the originally scheduled September 15 due date.  The revised due dates are reflected in revised instructions for Form 7004 that the IRS has posted.

The Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 2015 had modified the due dates and extended due dates for various entities, effective for tax years beginning in 2016.  For C corporations the original due of such returns were generally pushed back one month, which would also serve to push back the extended due date by one month.

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