October 15, 2020 IRS says December 31 is last day for submitting Forms 1139 and 1045 by fax The IRS updated its FAQs on the temporary procedures allowing taxpayers to file by fax eligible Forms 1139 (refunds for corporations) and Forms 1045 (refunds for individuals, estates and trusts). Under new FAQ 21, taxpayers can no longer fax an eligible refund claim after December 31, 2020. The IRS has released a series of FAQs about temporary procedures, which went into effect April 17, 2020, for filing these forms under the net operating loss (NOL) carryback and alternative minimum tax (AMT) credit acceleration provisions of the CARES Act (see Tax Alerts 2020-0990, 2020-1073, 2020-1195). The IRS said in FAQ 21 that the listed fax numbers will no longer work as of midnight EST on December 31, 2020. Taxpayers should instead follow the submission instructions on Form 1139 and Form 1045 (which require those forms to be paper-filed). The IRS clarified that filing due dates are not affected by the end of the temporary faxing provisions. For example, the IRS said, "the last day to file Form 1139 electing to take the 100% refundable minimum tax credit in 2018, is December 30, 2020. Additionally, if you file one application for a tentative refund and claim both the NOL carryback and the minimum tax credit at the same time, you must file the application by the earliest applicable deadline." Implications Generally, taxpayers must file Forms 1139 and 1045 within 12 months of the end of the tax year in which an NOL, net capital loss, unused credit or claim-of-right adjustment arose. As such, taxpayers that are eligible to file Forms 1139 and 1045 before December 31, 2020, may wish to consider taking advantage of the expiring option to fax these forms. Given the IRS's ongoing struggle to overcome the backlog of unopened mail, processing times are likely to be lower for Forms 1045 and 1139 submitted by fax. ———————————————
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