Method of Filing; Pennsylvania Personal Income Tax Return, PA-40 [41 Pa.B. 4726]
[Saturday, August 27, 2011]The Secretary of the Department of Revenue (Department) issues this notice under the provisions of section 10 of the Fiscal Code (72 P. S. § 10) (Act 2009-50). This notice is effective immediately and applies to returns filed in calendar years beginning on or after January 1, 2012.
Filing Mandate—Pennsylvania Personal Income Tax Return, PA-40
For all calendar years following a calendar year in which a third party preparer prepares 50 or more Pennsylvania Personal Income Tax Returns, the third party preparer is required to electronically file (e-file) in the manner prescribed by Departmental instructions all such Pennsylvania Personal Income Tax Returns. Once a third party preparer is subject to this filing mandate, the third party preparer shall continue to be subject to the man-date regardless of how many Pennsylvania Personal Income Tax Returns he or she prepares during a calendar year.
A third party preparer who is subject to this filing mandate must have tax software that is compatible with Department e-filing requirements.
Rules Applicable to the Filing Mandate
(a) Third Party Preparer. For purposes of this notice, the phrase ''third party preparer'' means any natural person, fiduciary, corporation or other entity who or that prepares for remuneration, or who employs one or more persons to prepare for remuneration, any return for a tax administered by the Department or is assigned a Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN) by the Internal Revenue Service. None of the following, however, are considered third party preparers for remuneration: (1) Tax return preparers who voluntarily prepare the returns of others for no pecuniary benefit; (2) Persons who merely provide mechanical assistance such as typing; (3) Regular employees of an employer who prepare returns for other regular employees of the employer or the employer's officers and regular employees; or (4) Fiduciaries who prepare returns for the trusts or estates that they serve.
(b) 50 Return Threshold. A third party preparer must include all Pennsylvania Personal Income Tax Returns that the third party preparer or his or her members, or employees prepare and submit to the Department. This amount includes all original and amended, resident or non-resident, full-year or part-year returns to the extent that such return can be e-filed with the Department. If a third party preparer has multiple business locations, the combined total of all the returns for all locations are included.
Penalty
A third party preparer who fails to file a Pennsylvania Personal Income Tax Return by the method required under this notice shall be subject to a penalty of one percent of the tax due on the improperly filed return up to a maximum of five hundred dollars ($500), but not less than ten dollars ($10).
Penalty Waiver
(a) The Department will waive the penalty applicable to a return that is not filed pursuant to this filing mandate in the following situations:
(1) The taxpayer has specifically directed the third party preparer to file the return pursuant to a different filing method than mandated in this notice. The taxpayer's directive must be indicated on the return.
(2) The preparer's tax software does not support e-filing of a required attachment to the return.
(b) The Department, at its discretion, may waive the penalties applicable to returns that are not filed as prescribed in this notice, if the Department determines the filing mandate of this notice constitutes undue hardship on the third party preparer. The third party preparer must submit a written request for the waiver for every calendar year. The request must clearly explain why the filing method causes an undue hardship. A request for a waiver must be mailed to the Department of Revenue,Bureau of Individual Taxes, Director's Office, DEPT 280605, Harrisburg, PA 17128-0605 by November 1, 2011.
DANIEL MEUSER,
Secretary[Pa.B. Doc. No. 11-1477. Filed for public inspection August 26, 2011, 9:00 a.m.]
