5/14/2019 8:00 AM CDT – Kay Bell (@TaxTweet) has posted that the Texas Comptroller is also waiving penalties on returns filed late within the extra time granted by the IRS.

5/13/2019 6:55PM CDT – Wolters Kluwer CCH has just published the specific instructions for getting extra time to file specific tax returns with the IRS that are due on 5/15/2019. Taxpayers affected by the service interruption have an additional 7 days, until May 22, 2019, to file the returns listed below.

Pay attention because different products and different forms have very specific instructions as details by the email I just received from CCH.

Before I get to the instructions, I wanted to point out that you can sign up for receiving critical alerts at this website: https://engagetax.wolterskluwer.com/get-critical-updates

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IMPORTANT UPDATE: IRS Extension Instructions

Monday, May 13, 2019

Dear Valued Customer:

As communicated on Friday, May 10th, the IRS has approved Federal Filing Extensions for the following return types due May 15, 2019:

• 990 – Tax Exempt Organization
• 1120 – Corporations
• 1065 – Partnerships

This means that the Federal filing due date has been extended to May 22, 2019, providing you with 7 additional days to file returns and to pay tax.

The IRS has provided simple but specific instructions that preparers must follow for any return that is filed after May 15, 2019 but no later than May 22, 2019.

CCH Axcess™

990, 990EZ, 990PF E-file
Worksheet View: Enter “Late filed return due to CCH Software outage” on Worksheet Federal > Basic Data > Reasonable Cause Statement > Line 2 and Check the Line 1 box.

990, 990EZ, 990PF Paper
Worksheet View: Enter “Reasonable Cause Waiver Request – IRC 6651, Failure to File Penalty,” State the reason as, “Late filed return due to CCH software outage” on Worksheet Federal > Basic Data > Reasonable Cause Statement > Line 2 and Check the Line 1 box. This statement must be attached to the original, signed return.

990T Paper
Worksheet View: Create a statement using Footnotes on Federal > General > Notes > Federal and State Footnotes_ titled “Reasonable Cause Waiver Request – IRC 6651, Failure to File Penalty,” State the reason as, “Late filed return due to CCH software outage.” This statement must be attached to the original, signed return.

990, 990EZ, 990PF E-file
Worksheet View: Enter the title “Reasonable Cause Waiver Request – IRC 6651, Failure to File Penalty” and state the reason as, “Late filed return due to CCH software outage” on Worksheet Federal > General > Notes > Federal and State Footnotes.

CCH® ProSystem fx & CCH® Global fx

990, 990EZ, 990PF E-file
Worksheet View: Enter “Late filed return due to CCH Software outage” on Worksheet Federal > Basic Data > Reasonable Cause Statement > Line 2 and Check the Line 1 box.

Interview: Enter “Late filed return due to CCH Software outage” on Interview Form 12, Box 30 and enter an “X” in Box 31.

990, 990EZ, 990PF Paper
Worksheet View: Enter “Reasonable Cause Waiver Request – IRC 6651, Failure to File Penalty,” State the reason as, “Late filed return due to CCH software outage” on Worksheet Federal > Basic Data > Reasonable Cause Statement > Line 2 and Check the Line 1 box. This statement must be attached to the original, signed return.

Interview: Enter “Reasonable Cause Waiver Request – IRC 6651, Failure to File Penalty,” State the reason as, “Late filed return due to CCH software outage” on Interview Form 12, Box 30 and enter an “X” in Box 31. This statement must be attached to the original, signed return.

990T Paper
Worksheet View: Create a statement using Footnotes on Federal > General > Notes > Federal and State Footnotes_ titled “Reasonable Cause Waiver Request – IRC 6651, Failure to File Penalty,” State the reason as, “Late filed return due to CCH software outage.” This statement must be attached to the original, signed return.

Interview Form: Create a statement using Footnotes on Federal Interview Form 5 return titled “Reasonable Cause Waiver Request – IRC 6651, Failure to File Penalty,” State the reason as, “Late filed return due to CCH software outage.” This statement must be attached to the original, signed return.

990, 990EZ, 990PF E-file
Worksheet View: Enter the title “Reasonable Cause Waiver Request – IRC 6651, Failure to File Penalty” and state the reason as, “Late filed return due to CCH software outage” on Worksheet Federal > General > Notes > Federal and State Footnotes.

Interview: Enter the title Reasonable Cause Waiver Request – IRC 6651, Failure to File Penalty” and state the reason as, “Late filed return due to CCH software outage on Interview Form 10, Federal and State Footnotes.

ATX™

990, 990EZ, 990PF E-file
Navigate to Form 990/EZ/PF, then from the “Pages & Worksheets” button, select the “Reasonable Cause Explanation” worksheet. Enter “Late filed return due to CCH Software outage.” Create your electronic file. normally, then transmit it.

990, 990EZ, 990PF and 990T Paper
Navigate to Form 990T, then from the “Pages & Worksheets” button, select the “Reasonable Cause Explanation” worksheet. Enter a title as “Reasonable Cause Waiver Request – IRC 6651, Failure to File Penalty.” State the reason as, “Late filed return due to CCH software outage.” This statement must be attached to the original, signed return.

1120 and 1065 Paper
Select the Taxpayer Name field. Right-click and select “Insert/Edit Note.” In the dialog, change the title to “Reasonable Cause Explanation”, then edit the description to: “Reasonable Cause Waiver Request – IRC 6651, Failure to File Penalty, late filed return due to CCH software outage” When printing the return, select “Notes Report” in the “Client Documents” to print. The note will print with the return. NOTE: This document will print with the return, but will NOT be included in any e-File.

TaxWise® Desktop

990, 990EZ E-file and Paper
Navigate to Preparer Notes. Create a note titled, “Reasonable Cause Waiver Request – IRC 6651, Failure to File Penalty.” State the reason as, “Late filed return due to CCH software outage.” Create your electronic file or mail the return as appropriate. If you mail your return, the statement must be attached to the original, signed return.

990PF, 990T Paper
Navigate to Preparer Notes. Create a note titled, “Reasonable Cause Waiver Request – IRC 6651, Failure to File Penalty.” State the reason as, “Late filed return due to CCH software outage.” This statement must be attached to the original, signed return.

1065, 1120 E-file and Paper
Navigate to Preparer Notes and enter “Reasonable Cause Waiver Request – IRC 6651, Failure to File Penalty, late filed return due to CCH software outage.” Create your electronic file or mail the return as appropriate.

Please be aware that we are actively working with State tax agencies to gain approval for similar relief. We will keep you updated as new information becomes available.

Should you have any further questions, Support phone lines have been restored:

• CCH Axcess, CCH ProSystem fx and CCH Global fx: 1-800-739-9998
• ATX: 1-800-638-8291
• TaxWise: 1-866-641-9473

For additional updates and statements, check the Wolters Kluwer News page.

Thank you for your continued patience.

The Wolters Kluwer Support Team

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STATE TAX UPDATE –

Fellow Austinite and tax expert Kay Bell has updated her post about this event to include some information from the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts. According to her post, the Comptroller will waive any penalties for Franchise Tax Returns filed between May 15, 2019 and May 22, 2019.

One word of caution is that this is a waiver of penalties and not a true extension of time to file the Texas Franchise Tax Report. To be honest, the way our state tax laws are written, I’m not even sure the Comptroller could extend the actual deadline, so this is probably the best they can do on such a short notice.

Since the waiver applies to penalties on the tax return being filed, it won’t apply to extensions. Extensions of time to file, and the related payments, should still be filed by May 15, 2019 in order to avoid penalties and interest.

The Comptroller’s website is showing the following information as of 5/14/2019:

 Service Impact

Wolters Kluwer, the maker of CCH tax reporting software, suffered an outage of services used by taxpayers to file the Texas Franchise tax report. We will automatically waive penalties for taxpayers affected by the outage who file and pay by May 22. This is a penalty waiver only and not an extension of the due date. For a valid extension, taxpayers must file an extension request and make the associated payment by May 15. Without a valid extension, the statute of limitation will be based on the May 15 due date.