Due to a software glitch, the Wolter Kluwer CCH system suffered an outage on Sept. 15, which caused many taxpayers to miss an important tax filing deadline. The Sept. 15 deadline applied to several federal taxpayers including S Corporations, and partnerships that requested a six-month extension due to coronavirus setbacks.
In the days following, Wolter Kluwer offered to vouch for those that missed the filing deadline due to their service disruption via letters for each taxpayer to file alongside their return (read previous report). While the gesture is undoubtedly appreciated, the MICPA and tax professionals across the nation have been keeping an eye out for the official IRS guidance which arrived on Sept. 24.
In a memorandum by Deputy Commissioner for Services and Enforcement Sunita Lough, the agency acknowledged the issue. Citing the recent update to IRS procedures on the application of IRC section 7502, Timely mailing treated as timely filing and paying to electronically filed returns, two additional days were granted to those impacted by the outage. According to the memo, any return, and elections that were filed with that return, impacted by the CCH outage will be treated as timely so long as the return and its elections were filed by Sept. 17, 2020.
Read the Memo