Can someone tell me why the tax module of Bivio is offered so late? I realize that we don't need to get our Schedule K-1's out as early as 1099's, W2's, etc., but if we have all our information, it would be nice to get our members the K-1's early so they can file.
Having been involved with several different tax software companies as a designer/quality assurance lead/beta tester, the process is far more complicated that you would think. Software developers get access to draft forms sometime between early Autumn and the end of the year so they can begin to create their software. However, they can't finalize their programs until the tax authorities release the final version of the forms. Partnership forms aren't the highest priority because there are fewer partnership returns filed than other types of return. Changes, sometimes minor, sometimes major, are made up until the release of final forms. Final partnership forms are typically released in late December - early February (yes 5-6 weeks after the end of the tax year). This isn't the end of the story. The software developer now has to confirm that their program functions as intended AND it generally must submit samples of forms and/or completed test returns to the tax authority for final approval. Until all this is done, the developer can only release the software if any forms generated contain obvious watermarks indicating that the generated form cannot be filed.
FWIW, of the 42 states and DC that impose any filing requirement on partnerships, only 6 have released their final 2013 forms as of today.
Remember, partnerships must distribute their K-1s by April 15, but they can request a 5-month extension until September 15.
Hope this helps explain things a bit.
Ira Smilovitz
On Wed, Dec 4, 2013 at 10:50 AM, Kimberly Hazen <hazenfree@gmail.com> wrote:
Can someone tell me why the tax module of Bivio is offered so late? I realize that we don't need to get our Schedule K-1's out as early as 1099's, W2's, etc., but if we have all our information, it would be nice to get our members the K-1's early so they can file.
It's one of the issues that comes along with being a partnership. You can't prepare partnership taxes until you have received all the information from the companies you have invested in. Brokers have until February 18 to get you that information on 1099 forms. Some brokers have already posted that they may even be later than that. Check your brokers website to find out. You need to have them. You can't prepare your club taxes without them.
There is often information on the 1099's that is not known until you get them which requires adjustments in your accounting to prepare your taxes correctly. I'm sure neither your club nor your members want to have to file amended returns because you sent in incorrect filings.
This year, because of the government shut down, the IRS will not even begin processing tax returns until January 28 at the earliest. They have also indicated it might be later.
The good news is that the biggest time consuming part of preparing taxes is making sure your records are correct. You can make a big start on that starting as soon as you receive your final financial statements for 2013.
And visit the investor relations pages for your investments late in the year to see if there are any adjustments you need to make to any distributions you've received.
If you do all that, any final issues when you get your 1099's should be small. Once they are made, it is only a few minutes to run through the tax interview and generate the forms that need to be filed and distributed.
If your members need a preliminary estimate of what will be being reported on their K-1's, they can get it from the Member Tax Allocations report. But, it is only preliminary and subject to any changes that you make as you go through the steps to verify your records.
Laurie Frederiksen Invest with your friends! www.bivio.com
On Wed, Dec 4, 2013 at 10:50 AM, Kimberly Hazen <hazenfree@gmail.com> wrote:
Can someone tell me why the tax module of Bivio is offered so late? I realize that we don't need to get our Schedule K-1's out as early as 1099's, W2's, etc., but if we have all our information, it would be nice to get our members the K-1's early so they can file.
It not that bivio is late, it is really the US Congress not finalizing taxes until late... then the IRS has to do the forms, and then bivio has to translate the forms into computer code and get out to us.... also, your 1099s dont have to be to your club until January 31, 2014.... BUT sometimes companies have to do revisions to their 1099s, its not always to your advantage to do your taxes ASAP as companies may send out 1099 revisions later than 31 January....
If you manage expectations with your club members, assuming you are the treasurer, and tell them that it is likely that K1s wont be available until mid to late February AT THE EARLIEST, that would help.
Happy Investing,
Irina Clements Treasurer, Streetbeaters Investment Club
....
On Wednesday, December 4, 2013 12:06 PM, Jo Ann Tucker <joann@nwi.net> wrote:
Subject: Re: [club_cafe] Why do we have to do our taxes so
late?
Dear Kimberly,
It's one of the issues that comes along with
being a partnership. You can't prepare partnership taxes until you have
received all the information from the companies you have invested in.
Brokers have until February 18 to get you that information on 1099 forms.
Some brokers have already posted that they may even be later than that.
Check your brokers website to find out. You need to have them. You
can't prepare your club taxes without them.
There is often information on the 1099's that is not known until you get
them which requires adjustments in your accounting to prepare your taxes
correctly. I'm sure neither your club nor your members want to have to
file amended returns because you sent in incorrect filings.
This year, because of the government shut down, the
IRS will not even begin processing tax returns until January 28 at the
earliest. They have also indicated it might be later.
The
good news is that the biggest time consuming part of preparing taxes is making
sure your records are correct. You can make a big start on that starting
as soon as you receive your final financial statements for 2013.
And visit the investor relations pages for your
investments late in the year to see if there are any adjustments you need to
make to any distributions you've received.
If you do all
that, any final issues when you get your 1099's should be small. Once they
are made, it is only a few minutes to run through the tax interview and
generate the forms that need to be filed and distributed.
If your members need a preliminary estimate of what will be being reported
on their K-1's, they can get it from the Member Tax Allocations report.
But, it is only preliminary and subject to any changes that you make as
you go through the steps to verify your
records.
Laurie Frederiksen Invest with your friends! www.bivio.com
On Wed, Dec 4, 2013 at 10:50 AM, Kimberly Hazen <hazenfree@gmail.com> wrote:
Can someone tell me why the tax
module of Bivio is offered so late? I realize that we don't need to get
our Schedule K-1's out as early as 1099's, W2's, etc., but if we have all our
information, it would be nice to get our members the K-1's early so they can
file.
Oh, my goodness! Bless the staff at bivio for their educational services, patience and quick response.
----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Laurie Frederiksen <laurie@bivio.biz> To: The Club Cafe <club_cafe@bivio.com> Sent: Wednesday, December 4, 2013 10:24 AM Subject: Re: [club_cafe] Why do we have to
do our taxes so late?
Dear Kimberly,
It's one of the issues that comes along with being a partnership. You can't prepare partnership taxes until you have received all the information from the companies you have invested in. Brokers have until February 18 to get you that information on 1099 forms. Some brokers have already posted that they may even be later than that. Check your brokers website to find out. You need to have them. You can't prepare your club taxes without them.
There is often information on the 1099's that is not known until you get them which requires adjustments in your accounting to prepare your taxes correctly. I'm sure neither your club nor your members want to have to file amended returns because you sent in incorrect filings.
This year, because of the government shut down, the IRS will not even begin processing tax returns until January 28 at the earliest. They have also indicated it might be later.
The good news is that the biggest time consuming part of preparing taxes is making sure your records are correct. You can make a big start on that starting as soon as you receive your final financial statements for 2013.
And visit the investor relations pages for your investments late in the year to see if there are any adjustments you need to make to any distributions you've received.
If you do all that, any final issues when you get your 1099's should be small. Once they are made, it is only a few minutes to run through the tax interview and generate the forms that need to be filed and distributed.
If your members need a preliminary estimate of what will be being reported on their K-1's, they can get it from the Member Tax Allocations report. But, it is only preliminary and subject to any changes that you make as you go through the steps to verify your records.
On Wed, Dec 4, 2013 at 10:50 AM, Kimberly Hazen <hazenfree@gmail.com> wrote:
Can someone tell me why the tax module of Bivio is offered so late? I realize that we don't need to get our Schedule K-1's out as early as 1099's, W2's, etc., but if we have all our information, it would be nice to get our members the K-1's early so they can file.
Having been involved with several different tax software companies as a designer/quality assurance lead/beta tester, the process is far more complicated that you would think. Software developers get access to draft forms sometime between early Autumn and the end of the year so they can begin to create their software. However, they can't finalize their programs until the tax authorities release the final version of the forms. Partnership forms aren't the highest priority because there are fewer partnership returns filed than other types of return. Changes, sometimes minor, sometimes major, are made up until the release of final forms. Final partnership forms are typically released in late December - early February (yes 5-6 weeks after the end of the tax year). This isn't the end of the story. The software developer now has to confirm that their program functions as intended AND it generally must submit samples of forms and/or completed test returns to the tax authority for final approval. Until all this is done, the developer can only release the software if any forms generated contain obvious watermarks indicating that the generated form cannot be filed.
FWIW, of the 42 states and DC that impose any filing requirement on partnerships, only 6 have released their final 2013 forms as of today.
Remember, partnerships must distribute their K-1s by April 15, but they can request a 5-month extension until September 15.
Hope this helps explain things a bit.
Ira Smilovitz
On Wed, Dec 4, 2013 at 10:50 AM, Kimberly Hazen <hazenfree@gmail.com> wrote:
Can someone tell me why the tax module of Bivio is offered so late? I realize that we don't need to get our Schedule K-1's out as early as 1099's, W2's, etc., but if we have all our information, it would be nice to get our members the K-1's early so they can file.
It not that bivio is late, it is really the US Congress not finalizing taxes until late... then the IRS has to do the forms, and then bivio has to translate the forms into computer code and get out to us.... also, your 1099s dont have to be to your club until January 31, 2014.... BUT sometimes companies have to do revisions to their 1099s, its not always to your advantage to do your taxes ASAP as companies may send out 1099 revisions later than 31 January....
If you manage expectations with your club members, assuming you are the treasurer, and tell them that it is likely that K1s wont be available until mid to late February AT THE EARLIEST, that would help.
Happy Investing,
Irina Clements Treasurer, Streetbeaters Investment Club
....
On Wednesday, December 4, 2013 12:06 PM, Jo Ann Tucker <joann@nwi.net> wrote:
Subject: Re: [club_cafe] Why do we have to do our taxes so
late?
Dear Kimberly,
It's one of the issues that comes along with
being a partnership. You can't prepare partnership taxes until you have
received all the information from the companies you have invested in.
Brokers have until February 18 to get you that information on 1099 forms.
Some brokers have already posted that they may even be later than that.
Check your brokers website to find out. You need to have them. You
can't prepare your club taxes without them.
There is often information on the 1099's that is not known until you get
them which requires adjustments in your accounting to prepare your taxes
correctly. I'm sure neither your club nor your members want to have to
file amended returns because you sent in incorrect filings.
This year, because of the government shut down, the
IRS will not even begin processing tax returns until January 28 at the
earliest. They have also indicated it might be later.
The
good news is that the biggest time consuming part of preparing taxes is making
sure your records are correct. You can make a big start on that starting
as soon as you receive your final financial statements for 2013.
And visit the investor relations pages for your
investments late in the year to see if there are any adjustments you need to
make to any distributions you've received.
If you do all
that, any final issues when you get your 1099's should be small. Once they
are made, it is only a few minutes to run through the tax interview and
generate the forms that need to be filed and distributed.
If your members need a preliminary estimate of what will be being reported
on their K-1's, they can get it from the Member Tax Allocations report.
But, it is only preliminary and subject to any changes that you make as
you go through the steps to verify your
records.
Laurie Frederiksen Invest with your friends! www.bivio.com
On Wed, Dec 4, 2013 at 10:50 AM, Kimberly Hazen <hazenfree@gmail.com> wrote:
Can someone tell me why the tax
module of Bivio is offered so late? I realize that we don't need to get
our Schedule K-1's out as early as 1099's, W2's, etc., but if we have all our
information, it would be nice to get our members the K-1's early so they can
file.
It not that bivio is late, it is really the US Congress not finalizing taxes until late... then the IRS has to do the forms, and then bivio has to translate the forms into computer code and get out to us.... also, your 1099s dont have to be to your club until January 31, 2014.... BUT sometimes companies have to do revisions to their 1099s, its not always to your advantage to do your taxes ASAP as companies may send out 1099 revisions later than 31 January....
If you manage expectations with your club members, assuming you are the treasurer, and tell them that it is likely that K1s wont be available until mid to late February AT THE EARLIEST, that would help.
Happy Investing,
Irina Clements Treasurer, Streetbeaters Investment Club
....
On Wednesday, December 4, 2013 12:06 PM, Jo Ann Tucker <joann@nwi.net> wrote:
Subject: Re: [club_cafe] Why do we have to do our taxes so
late?
Dear Kimberly,
It's one of the issues that comes along with
being a partnership. You can't prepare partnership taxes until you have
received all the information from the companies you have invested in.
Brokers have until February 18 to get you that information on 1099 forms.
Some brokers have already posted that they may even be later than that.
Check your brokers website to find out. You need to have them. You
can't prepare your club taxes without them.
There is often information on the 1099's that is not known until you get
them which requires adjustments in your accounting to prepare your taxes
correctly. I'm sure neither your club nor your members want to have to
file amended returns because you sent in incorrect filings.
This year, because of the government shut down, the
IRS will not even begin processing tax returns until January 28 at the
earliest. They have also indicated it might be later.
The
good news is that the biggest time consuming part of preparing taxes is making
sure your records are correct. You can make a big start on that starting
as soon as you receive your final financial statements for 2013.
And visit the investor relations pages for your
investments late in the year to see if there are any adjustments you need to
make to any distributions you've received.
If you do all
that, any final issues when you get your 1099's should be small. Once they
are made, it is only a few minutes to run through the tax interview and
generate the forms that need to be filed and distributed.
If your members need a preliminary estimate of what will be being reported
on their K-1's, they can get it from the Member Tax Allocations report.
But, it is only preliminary and subject to any changes that you make as
you go through the steps to verify your
records.
Laurie Frederiksen Invest with your friends! www.bivio.com
On Wed, Dec 4, 2013 at 10:50 AM, Kimberly Hazen <hazenfree@gmail.com> wrote:
Can someone tell me why the tax
module of Bivio is offered so late? I realize that we don't need to get
our Schedule K-1's out as early as 1099's, W2's, etc., but if we have all our
information, it would be nice to get our members the K-1's early so they can
file.