The American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 was signed into law by President Barack Obama on January 2, 2013. However, many of the resulting tax law changes apply retroactively to the 2012 tax year. As a result, there are going to be delays in this year's filing season as the IRS works to update and modify affected tax forms to account for the new law changes.

Individual Tax Returns

Filing for individual tax returns technically opened on January 30, 2013. However, only the simplest individual returns are currently eligible for electronic filing. The IRS estimates that it will be late February or early March before all forms are available for filing.

Business Tax Returns

The IRS will not be accepting electronic filing for 2012 business tax returns until all forms and systems are updated for the changes. The IRS has not yet indicated when it will begin accepting electronically filed business tax returns, but delays until late February or early March are expected.

Tax-Exempt Entities

The IRS announcement regarding delays in electronic filing of business tax returns also applies to Form 990, "Exempt Business Income Tax Return." In addition, Form 990-T, "Exempt Organization Business Income Tax Return," will be affected. To be clear, Form 990-T is not filed electronically; however, many of the forms needed for completing Form 990-T will not be available until late February or early March.

As a final matter, it should be noted that the IRS has indicated that it will not process paper returns for individual, business, and tax-exempt entities prior to the time that the forms are available for electronic filing.

If you're reading this article, your corporation has probably experienced some sort of significant change recently and you're wondering whether you need to obtain a new employer identification number ("EIN") from the IRS.

As a general rule, a corporation must obtain a new EIN following an ownership or structure change. Most commonly, this includes:

• Receipt of a new charter from the state;
• A change from a partnership or sole proprietorship to a corporation; and
• Creation of a new corporation as a result of a statutory merger.

On the other hand, a corporation is not required to obtain a new EIN for minor changes such as a corporate name change, a change of the corporation's location, or an election by a c-corporation to be taxed as an s-corporation. In addition, a corporation may be able to retain its EIN following some significant events such as declaration of bankruptcy or a corporate reorganization.

At the end of the day, each case will turn on the particular facts and circumstances of that case. With that being said, anyone who is unsure of whether a new EIN is required should consider consulting with a tax professional who will be able to make a determination and initiate the EIN request process if necessary.

If you're reading this article, you probably received a letter from the IRS asserting that you owe additional income tax. So what should you do?

First things first ... relax! Absent tax fraud or tax evasion, an IRS notice does not mean that you're "in trouble" with the law in a criminal sense. In other words, you're not going to jail, so you can stop thinking about how awful prison is going to be. Still, an IRS notice is something that needs to be taken seriously and handled promptly. In this respect, one important thing to think about is interest.

Interest on Underpaid Tax. In addition to having liability for the underpaid tax, a taxpayer will also be required to pay interest on the amount of the underpaid tax. It should also be noted that the taxpayer may also be required to pay interest on any penalties that apply. As a general rule, interest starts to accrue on the underpaid tax liability from the due date for paying the tax (excluding extensions). In this respect, when the statute uses the word "from," it actually means that interest accrual begins the day after the due date. So if the due date for the return is April 15th, as is the case with individual income tax returns, interest begins to accrue as of April 16th. But don't worry! There are steps that a taxpayer can take to stop the accrual of interest.

Stop Accrual of Interest. A taxpayer can stop interest accrual during the pendency of the tax controversy by making a "remittance" to the IRS. In this respect, a "remittance" can come in one of two forms. First, the taxpayer can remit payment of the tax (i.e. pay the tax). Alternatively, the taxpayer can remit a deposit of the tax.

Payment vs. Deposit. So what's the difference between a payment and a deposit? While either a payment or a deposit is sufficient to stop interest accrual, the primary difference between the two options is the taxpayer's ability to proceed to Tax Court. If the tax is paid, there is no longer a tax controversy and, as a result, the U.S. Tax Court lacks jurisdiction to hear the matter. By contrast, if a deposit is made, the controversy remains active, and the Tax Court's jurisdiction is preserved. To be clear, a taxpayer does not lose the right to challenge the IRS by paying the tax in full. There is always the option of filing a refund suit in Federal district court, but it is the right to go to Tax Court that is lost by remitting payment in full. Tax Court is often preferred over Federal district court for tax matters for various reasons, so the loss of Tax Court jurisdiction is not something that should be dismissed lightly for taxpayers who want to stop interest accrual but think that they may want to challenge the IRS assessment. Note, however, that a taxpayer must affirmatively designate a remittance as a deposit; otherwise the IRS will automatically treat any amount receives as a payment. In this respect, the IRS has provided specific procedures that must be followed to designate a remittance as a deposit.

In order to ensure proper U.S. taxation of dividends received by non-U.S. taxpayers, I.R.C. § 1441 imposes a withholding obligation on the corporation that is paying the dividend. More specifically, Section 1441(a)(1) requires the corporation that is paying the dividend to withhold a tax equal to 30% of the gross dividend amount.

Significantly, however, the determination as to whether a corporate distribution constitutes a taxable "dividend" subject to withholding cannot be made until yearend. This is because the Internal Revenue Code characterizes a corporate distribution as a taxable "dividend" only to the extent that it is paid out of the corporation's earnings and profits. See I.R.C. § 317. In some cases, a corporation may make a distribution at a point in time when yearend earnings and profits are unclear. Consequently, the extent to which the distribution constitutes a taxable "dividend" is also unclear. But if the amount of the dividend is unclear at the payment date, how does the corporation satisfy its withholding obligation?

Pursuant to I.R.C. § 1.1441-3(c), the corporation must withhold 30% of the entire distribution amount, unless the corporation can establish that the distribution is not coming out of the corporation's earnings and profits based on a reasonable estimate of yearend earnings and profits. In this respect, it should be emphasized that this reasonable estimate concept is a defined term of art under the Treasury Regulations. As such, a corporation should seek an opinion from a competent tax firm prior to withholding at less than 30%.