October 1: Individual Filers - The IRS opens an Identity Protection Specialized Unit October 1
ATTN: Software Developers, Return Transmitters and Authorized IRS e-file Providers/EROs - The hotline provides assistance for individuals who believe they may be a victim of Identify Theft: with no known Tax Administration Impact and those who have a current identity theft related tax issue which has not been resolved. Please call toll free (800-908-4490). Hours of Operation: Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. your local time (Alaska & Hawaii follow Pacific Time).
October 1: Business Filers - Software Developers
Publication 4162 Modernized e-File (MeF) Test Package for Forms 1120/1120S/1120-F and 7004 has been revised for Tax Year 2008 and posted to the IRS Web site, e-file, Modernized e-File, Current User Guides & Publications. Assurance Testing for Tax Year 2008 begins on Monday, November 3, 2008. Although testing begins on November 3, not all schema updates will be in place for the forms included in the test package; therefore it is recommended that testing for Form 7004 and Form 1120-F be delayed until additional schema changes have been implemented. It is estimated that the changes for Form 1120-F and 7004 will be in place on November 24. Comments or updates to Publication 4162 should be directed to the e-help Desk at 1-866-255-0654. After consideration of the identified changes, a revised Publication 4162 will be posted on IRS.gov before the start of Assurance Testing on November 3. The Assurance Testing System will be brought down on Friday, October 24, 2008, for reconfiguration and will reopen on November 3. NOTE - Publication 4505 Modernized e-File Test Package for Forms 1065/1065-B Tax Year 2008 will be posted in October.
October 1: Individual Filers - TY 08 PATS Testing
ATTN: Software Developers, Return Transmitters and Authorized IRS e-file Providers/EROs - Please be advised that PATS testing for Tax Year 2008 starts November 12, 2008. The Publication 1436, Test Package for Electronic Filers of Individual Income Tax Returns for Tax Year 2008, is now available on IRS.gov (Publication 1436 (Rev. 10-2008).
October 2: Individual Filers - Publication 1436
Correction to Hyperlink - ATTN: Software Developers, Return Transmitters and Authorized IRS e-file Providers/EROs - Please be advised that PATS testing for Tax Year 2008 will begin November 12, 2008. The Publication 1436, Test Package for Electronic Filers of Individual Income Tax Returns for Tax Year 2008, is now available online (IRS e-file Technical Publications).
October 6: Columbus Day Power Outage
ATTN: Software Developers, Return Transmitters and Authorized IRS e-file Providers/EROs - Due to a scheduled power outage in Martinsburg and the Columbus Day Holiday, the Electronic Management System located at the Enterprise Computing Center in Martinsburg, West Virginia will be unavailable from Sunday, October 12, 2008, at 9 p.m. Eastern Time until Tuesday, October 14, 2008, at 5 a.m. Eastern Time. This will affect individual, business and state returns processed on the EMS located in Martinsburg. This will not affect the Martinsburg drains on Sunday. However, drains will not occur on Monday for either site (Martinsburg or Memphis). Normal processing will resume Tuesday morning at 5 a.m.. This does not impact 94X XML processing.
October 10: Deadline for filing Tax Year 2007 Form 1041 electronically has been extended.
ATTN: Software Developers, Return Transmitters and Authorized IRS e-file Providers/EROs - In consideration of the provisions covering disaster assistance for affected taxpayers in the states of Louisiana and Texas, we will continue to accept Tax Year 2007 electronically filed Form 1041 returns through November 22, 2008. This change affects production returns only. The retransmission of rejected returns must also occur by November 22, 2008. The deadline, September 30, 2008, for filing Tax Year 2008 BATS test returns did not change.
The disaster relief provision extends the filing deadline to January 5, 2009 for many federal tax returns. However, we are unable to extend the deadline for the 1041 e-file Program for Tax Year 2007 returns beyond November 22, 2008. Affected taxpayers with a filing requirement who are unable to electronically file Form 1041 by November 22, 2008 must file their returns on paper. For more information on Disaster Relief for federal tax purposes, please refer to the IRS website and click on the link for IRS Provides Disaster Relief to Ike Victims.
October 10: Individual Filers - PATS
ATTN: Software Developers, Return Transmitters, Authorized IRS e-file Providers/EROs and Federal State participants - The following information was added to the Publication 1436 for Processing Year 2009: NOTE: Beginning TY2008/PY2009, individuals or firms who purchase another developer's current year PATS-approved software for the purpose of using and/or marketing it under their own name, must complete and submit an application requesting a separate Software Identification Number (SIN). The purpose of the change is to allow accurate tracking and representation of ownership and/or responsibility of a specific software package to ensure accountability and proper resolution of issues.
October 10: Acknowledgement Files - Fresno Submission Centers
ATTN: Software Developers, Return Transmitters and Authorized IRS e-file Providers/EROs - The Acknowledgement Files for the Fresno Submission Center will be delayed. A Quick Alert will be issued when they are available. Thank you for your patience.
October 14: Business Filers
ATTN: Software Developers, Return Transmitters and Authorized IRS e-file Providers/EROs - Please be advised that Publication 4505 Text Package for Forms 1065 and 1065B is now available on the IRS Web site. Publication 4505 Modernized e-File Test Package for Forms 1065/1065B has been revised for Tax Year 2008 and posted to the IRS Web site, e-file, Modernized e-File, Current User Guides and Publications. The Assurance Testing System will be unavailable Friday, October 24, 2008, to Monday, November 3, 2008. Comments or updates to Publication 4505 should be directed to the e-help Desk at 1-866-255-0654.
October 14: Deadline for filing Tax Year 2007 Form 1041 electronically has been extended
ATTN: Software Developers, Return Transmitters and Authorized IRS e-file Providers/EROs - In consideration of the provisions covering disaster assistance for affected taxpayers in the states of Louisiana and Texas, we will continue to accept Tax Year 2007 electronically filed Form 1041 returns through November 22, 2008. This change affects production returns only. The retransmission of rejected returns must also occur by November 22, 2008. The deadline, September 30, 2008, for filing Tax Year 2008 BATS test returns did not change. The disaster relief provision extends the filing deadline to January 5, 2009, for many federal tax returns. However, we are unable to extend the deadline for the 1041 e-file Program for Tax Year 2007 returns beyond November 22, 2008. Affected taxpayers with a filing requirement who are unable to electronically file Form 1041 by November 22, 2008, must file their returns on paper. For more information on Disaster Relief for federal tax purposes, please refer to the IRS website and click on the link for IRS Provides Disaster Relief to Ike Victims.
October 15: Last Day to e-file Form 1040 and ETD Returns
ATTN: Software Developers, Return Transmitters and Authorized IRS e-file Providers/EROs - The last production drain for corrected Form 1040 returns will be on October 20, 2008, at 11 a.m. local home submission processing center time. The Electronic Management System will not be available after 11 a.m. local home submission processing center time for transmitting returns. The Federal Acknowledgement Files must be picked up no later than 6 p.m. on October 20, 2008, local home submission processing center time. States must pick up all files, process them and transmit the State Acknowledgments to the Electronic Management System by 4 p.m. on October 22, 2008, local home submission processing center time. All Acknowledgement files must be retrieved no later than 6 p.m. on October 22 local home submission processing center time. The system will be taken down at 6 p.m. in preparation for the 2009 Filing Season. The last production drain for corrected transmissions of Electronic Transmitted Documents will be on October 20, 2008, at 12 midnight local home submission processing center time. There will be no extension to the dates and times listed above.
October 20: Last Day to e-file ETD Returns
ATTN: Software Developers, Return Transmitters and Authorized IRS e-file Providers/EROs - The last production drain for corrected transmissions of Electronic Transmitted Documents will be on October 20, 2008, at 11:59 pm local home submission processing center time. Any rejected Electronic Transmitted Documents can be retransmitted.
October 21: EMS Downtime at ECC-Memphis
ATTN: Software Developers, Return Transmitters and Authorized IRS e-file Providers/EROs - The Electronic Management System located at Memphis, Tennessee will be down for scheduled maintenance on Wednesday, October 22, 2008 from 5 - 7 a.m. Central time. Trading Partners will not be able to logon during this downtime. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
October 21: EMS Downtime at ECC Memphis
ATTN: Software Developers, Return Transmitters and Authorized IRS e-file Providers/EROs - Please disregard the previous QuickAlert regarding EMS Downtime at ECC Memphis.
October 27: EMS Downtime at ECC-Memphis
Software Developers, Return Transmitters and Authorized IRS e-file Providers/EROs - The Electronic Management System located at Memphis, Tennessee will be down for scheduled maintenance on Wednesday, October 29, 2008 from 7 -9 a.m. Central Time. Trading Partners will not be able to logon during this downtime. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
October 30: Business Filers
ATTN: Software Developers - Publication 4162 Modernized e-File (MeF) Test Package for Forms 1120/1120S/1120-F and 7004 has been revised for Tax Year 2008 and posted to the IRS website, e-file, Modernized e-File, Current User Guides & Publications. Please use Publication 4162 with the revision date of 10-2008 for Assurance Testing.
Assurance Testing for Tax Year 2008 begins on Monday, November 3, 2008. Not all schema updates will be in place for the forms included in the test package; it is recommended that testing for Form 7004 and Form 1120-F be delayed until additional schema changes have been implemented. It is estimated that the changes for Form 1120-F and 7004 will be in place on November 24.
Comments or updates to Publication 4162 should be directed to the e-help Desk at 1-866-255-0654.
The Assurance Testing System will be brought down on Friday, October 24,
2008, for reconfiguration and will open back up on November 3.
|