Tax filing season 2013 finally begins tomorrow, Jan. 30, for most people.
But if you want to claim an education tax credit, you’ll have to wait a bit longer to send your tax paperwork to the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS says its computers won’t be able to accept Form 8863, which is required to claim the American Opportunity or Lifetime Learning tax credits, until mid-February.
And the wait gets longer for other forms.
The IRS says in the notice on its tax forms and publications Web page (and pictured below) that it’s working as “quickly as possible” to update all necessary filing documents.
But the tax agency gets a bit more specific in a special online announcement of the specific forms that aren’t yet ready for filers.
In addition to telling students and their parents that they must wait a few more weeks for Form 8863, it has worse news for taxpayers who need 30 other tax forms.
You’ll likely be waiting until March, says the IRS, if you need to file:
- Form 3800, General Business Credit
- Form 4136, Credit for Federal Tax Paid on Fuels
- Form 4562, Depreciation and Amortization (Including Information on Listed Property)
- Form 5074 Allocation of Individual Income Tax to Guam or the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands
- Form 5471, Information Return of U.S. Persons With Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations
- Form 5695, Residential Energy Credits
- Form 5735, American Samoa Economic Development Credit
- Form 5884, Work Opportunity Credit
- Form 6478, Credit for Alcohol Used as Fuel
- Form 6765, Credit for Increasing Research Activities
- Form 8396, Mortgage Interest Credit
- Form 8582, Passive Activity Loss Limitations
- Form 8820, Orphan Drug Credit
- Form 8834, Qualified Plug-in Electric and Electric Vehicle Credit
- Form 8839, Qualified Adoption Expenses
- Form 8844, Empowerment Zone and Renewal Community Employment Credit
- Form 8845, Indian Employment Credit
- Form 8859, District of Columbia First-Time Homebuyer Credit
- Form 8864, Biodiesel and Renewable Diesel Fuels Credit
- Form 8874, New Markets Credits
- Form 8900, Qualified Railroad Track Maintenance Credit
- Form 8903, Domestic Production Activities Deduction
- Form 8908, Energy Efficient Home Credit
- Form 8909, Energy Efficient Appliance Credit
- Form 8910, Alternative Motor Vehicle Credit
- Form 8911, Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit
- Form 8912, Credit to Holders of Tax Credit Bonds
- Form 8923, Mine Rescue Team Training Credit
- Form 8932, Credit for Employer Differential Wage Payments
- Form 8936, Qualified Plug-in Electric Drive Motor Vehicle Credit
Granted, most of these 30 pushed-into-March forms are very esoteric and affect relatively few taxpayers.
But if you bought a vehicle powered by a fuel cell, you’ll want Form 8910 as soon as you can get it so you can claim the Alternative Motor Vehicle credit.
The best move while you wait for one or more of these 31 delayed forms is to get all the rest of your 2012 return in order. Then you can just plug in the missing forms as soon as the IRS finishes its computer system upgrades and releases the updated versions of the documents.
And here’s hoping that IRS is downplaying its updating abilities and can get the job done before March arrives.
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