carryback
Net operating loss carryback deadlines loom
Thursday, July 15th, 2010 | tax | No Comments
If your business suffered a net operating loss (NOL) in 2008 or 2009 (or a 2007 fiscal year), you may elect to carry back that loss up to 5 years and recover taxes previously paid. You must make the election on a timely filed return, including extensions. The deadline for electing the extended net operating loss carryback is September 15, 2010 for calendar-year corporations. It is October 15, 2010 for individuals. If you do not elect to apply the extended carryback, the original two-year carryback rule applies. In either case, any unused loss may be carried forward up to 20 years. Complicated enough yet? It gets worse - and better.
Here’s the better part: The original extended NOL carryback provision, part of the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) of 2009, applied only to an ‘eligible small business’ (under $15 million average gross receipts). The Worker, Home Ownership, and Business Assistance Act (WHOBA) of 2009 allows taxpayers of any size to make the election.
The other better part: The extended carryback election is generally available for only one of the tax years ending after 2007 and beginning before 2010. However, if you already made a timely election under the provisions of the ARRA, you may make an additional election for another year’s NOL under WHOBA. Even if you have already timely filed your 2009 return, you may be able to make the election before the extended deadlines.
The worse part: These rules are extremely complicated, so you need the help of a professional who is familiar with them.
By applying a net operating loss to profitable tax years, you can give your company a cash stimulus through a refund of previously paid taxes.
Tax code as cash flow tool
Thursday, July 1st, 2010 | consulting, tax | No Comments
Has your business suffered a net loss during the recession? A tax refund may give you a needed cash infusion. The federal tax code provides a means to smooth out the business cycle. If your company reports a net operating loss on this year’s tax return, you can recover tax paid in prior (or future) years when the company reported a net profit.
The technique is called a net operating loss carryback. You must elect to carry a loss back on a timely filed return, otherwise the loss may be carried forward to as many as twenty future tax years to reduce taxable income. Normally, the loss may be carried back two years. For either 2008 or 2009 (not both), a loss may be carried back up to five years. If the loss is not used up in the prior years, it may be carried forward.
The IRS provides a method to quickly recover taxes to be refunded because of the loss carryback. By properly filing an Application for Tentative Refund (Form 1139 for corporations, Form 1045 for individuals, estates, and trusts), you can recieve a refund within ninety days of filing. This can provide a relatively quick cash infusion to help pull your company through the rough patch.
If a coroporation expects a loss this year and has not yet filed its return for last year, it can apply on Form 1138 for an extension to pay last year’s tax. When the net loss for this year is calculated, the company will pay last year’s tax (plus interest) after applying the net operating loss.
A corporation that has paid more estimated tax than necessary in light of adjusted income or loss projactions may apply for a quick refund of those payments on Form 4466.
These techniques can return cash to the company for daily operations rather than tying it up until after the year’s tax return is filed. Other types of carrybacks are also available, such as casualty and theft loss, farming loss, foreign tax credit, and loss attributable to a federally declared disaster.
As usual, there are technical details and caveats to the use of these techniques. Some of these details are discussed in this article. You should consult your tax advisor to determine the most appropriate action for your situation. We will be happy to help you with these tools, and to find other ways to improve your cash flow.
IRS gives some solace in a sad story
Friday, June 18th, 2010 | tax | No Comments
About five years ago, a police officer and his wife decided to use their retirement money to build their dream home in the Smokies. They bought a pretty lot and a log home kit, and contracted with a local builder to erect it. From the beginning, the construction process went terribly wrong. Errors compounded so much that they stopped work and had the unfinished house inspected. The inspection revealed that if the house was finished, it would be so unsafe that it would not receive a certificate of occupancy. The only solution would be to tear it down and start over, which the couple could not afford to do. It was a total loss.
They came to us for help. We calculated the casualty loss on the structure and reported it on their tax return, which created a net operating loss for the year. We took their story all the way to the appeals level, where the deduction was allowed. Having won that battle, we carried the net operating loss back to the years prior to the casualty loss. Last week, we received word that the carrybacks were allowed on appeal.
Our clients had to go back to work to make the mortgage payments on their shattered dream, but we were able to recover over $38,000 in taxes to help ease the pain of their experience. For all the horror stories you hear about the IRS, sometimes they do right by the taxpayer.