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E-filing Season for IRS Form 2290 (HVUT) Draws Near

October 13th, 2011

As the month of November moves closer and closer, you will want to be able to get your Form 2290 taken care of as swiftly as possible once it is made available. It is unfortunate enough that the filing process was delayed, but to avoid any future confusion about the issue, it would be beneficial to be ready to file once the form is available.

In order to make the filing process easier with the IRS using Form 2290, it is very important that you keep accurate records, just like you would when filing any other type of tax return. It is crucial for anyone filing form 2290 to maintain their records for at least 3 years prior to the filing date for any taxable highway vehicles registered to them. For fleet owners and small trucking companies who have filed form 2290 in the past, it is wise to always keep the 2290 records on hand, as one never knows when IRS inspection may take place. It is even important to save these returns if they are only for a part of a year. In the case of a suspended vehicle (public highway use was less than 5,000 miles/year) it is still necessary to keep records of Form 2290’s filed for them as well.

You will need to gather the following information before filing form 2290 to accelerate the filing process. You will need a description of all vehicles for which you are filing as well as a VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) for each one. You will also need to know the gross taxable weight of the vehicle. It is also necessary to report the date the vehicle was acquired, as well as the name and address of the previous owner. The first use month for the taxable period is also required for reporting. If a vehicle is considered to be suspended, keep a record of actual highway mileage. If the vehicle is an agricultural vehicle, then keep accurate records of the number of miles it is driven on a farm or field. Keeping proper records of your 2290 information will be a great help to you in the unfortunate event of an audit. It will also make the task of filing this form much easier.

ExpressTruckTax.com is an IRS authorized E-File provider who can help you file form 2290 as well as keep secure online records of previously filed form 2290’s. For more information on the 2290 filing process, heavy vehicle use tax, IRS payment methods, etc visit the Express Truck Tax website or call our Truck Tax experts at 704-234-6005. You can also email any questions to support@ExpressTruckTax.com.

Organizing IFTA Fuel Tax Information with Express Truck Tax

August 6th, 2011
The term IFTA refers to the International Fuel Tax Agreement. This agreement makes certain vehicles liable for a Fuel Tax for each state in which the vehicle was driven. IFTA is a tax collection agreement among the 48 contiguous United States and the 10 Canadian Provinces bordering the US.

Recording and Organizing the information required is a very precise and exacting task, but thanks to Express Truck Tax, there is now a much simpler web-based process. Vehicles required to prepare an IFTA return must keep track of miles traveled and fuel purchased within each state or province. Due to the complicated task of keeping accurate records, and filing this form appropriately many less than fortunate drivers receive IRS audits because information on their IFTA return was not properly entered.

As mentioned earlier, Express Truck Tax, along with providing a terrific service for other Truck Tax needs IRS Form 2290, will perform an internal audit of your information for you. In this internal audit performed by Express Truck Tax, it will check for basic mistakes and discrepancies, as well as perform a state adjacency check and an abnormal MPG audit. They also provide online trip sheets for drivers to keep accurate records that can be accessed from any computer, anywhere!  If you can prevent an IRS audit due to simple mistakes on an IFTA return, it makes no sense not to. Let Express Truck Tax help get it right the first time.

IRS 2290 Update for Tax Year 2011 – 2012

July 22nd, 2011
On Monday, July 18, the IRS announced that the 2290 filing deadline for the 2011-2012 tax period would be extended by 90 days. All 2290 forms, which are usually due on August 31, will instead be due on November 30. The extension is designed to alleviate any confusion that may be caused by changes in the HVUT tax laws, which are currently set to expire on September 30, 2011.

In order to assist heavy vehicle owners with state vehicle registration, the IRS submitted new regulations requiring all states to accept the 2010-2011 proof of HVUT payment (schedule 1) for registration purposes during the months of July through November. The regulations also extend the grace period during which a newly acquired vehicle can be registered by the state without a 2290. Any heavy vehicle acquired on or after July 1 may be registered without proof of HVUT payment within 150 days of purchase. You will need to provide the state with documentation showing the purchase occurred within this grace period.

The IRS has tentatively announced that they will begin accepting 2290 returns and 2290 payments for the 2011-2012 tax period beginning November 1. ExpressTruckTax will send email notifications to all our registered users as soon as the IRS begins accepting 2011 electronic returns.

ExpressTruckTax Advanced Filing

For our users that have taken advantage of our Advanced Filing and have already prepared your 2011-2012 return, your completed 2290 will remain in our secure database – ready to be filed. Once the IRS begins to accept 2290 filings, ExpressTruckTax will automatically transmit your tax return to the IRS. If you need to edit or update your prepared 2290 at any time prior to November 1, you may do so simply by logging into your ExpressTruckTax account and editing your 2011 return. Please note, no tax payment will be processed by the IRS for the 2011-2012 tax period until the IRS begins accepting 2290 returns in November.

For those users that have not yet prepared your 2290 return for the 2011-2012 tax period, you may do so now using our Advanced Filing product. This will allow you to complete your 2290 return in advance, ensuring that you and your company are well prepared once the 2011-2012 filing season begins.

Please do not hesitate to contact our support center if you have any questions or if we may be of additional service. You can reach us by phone at (704)234-6005, Monday through Friday – 9 am to 6 pm (EST) or by email, 24 hours a day, at support@expresstrucktax.com. For more details regarding the 90-day extension, you may view the official announcement on the IRS Newsroom website. Thank you for using ExpressTruckTax, where IRS 2290 and IFTA are made easy!

If have problems registering your vehicles with the state, please provide this IRS communication to them.

IRS Communication:http://www.expresstrucktax.com/docs/temp%20reg%20form%202290%20internal%20external%20communique%20final.pdf

HVUT(U.S Federal Heavy Vehicle Use Tax Form 2290) Season Delayed by IRS

July 14th, 2011
As you most likely know, the IRS has not yet disclosed the official Form 2290 for filing Truck Taxes.  This delay in the process has certainly caused some headaches for the service providers such as Express Truck Tax, who E-File this form on behalf of their clients.  Land Line, the business magazine for professional truckers, recently released an article about the delay.   In short, the Form 2290 will not be available until new legislation is passed, but drivers will be able to get their vehicle tags and register vehicles by using your previous year’s Schedule 1.

The following Article can be read in its entirety at LandLineMag.com:

Before you make a mad dash to the IRS office to file your Form 2290 Heavy Vehicle Use Tax, hold on. A week before filing season for the IRS Form 2290 was due to begin on July 1, the Internal Revenue Service announced a delay.

New legislation needs to be passed before IRS can collect the HVUT for the entire year. And right now that tax legislation is tied up in Congress. This means that your normal filing, which was for the tax period beginning July 1, 2011, won’t happen.

IRS will not accept any paper format or e-filing at this time. In fact, the form has not been published by the IRS and is not even available yet. An announcement on when it will be in place is expected to be made by IRS.

While the IRS e-file is not available for the tax period beginning July 1, 2011, you can still e-file your 2290 tax return for the tax period July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011.

The IRS may wait as long as possible so that a single tax return is all that will be necessary for the 2011-12 tax Year. However, a backup plan is in place so that a three-month tax (July, August and September) can be collected by the Aug. 31 filing deadline. When the new legislation is passed, it will determine what happens for the reminder of the 2011/12 tax year.

Can you get your tags and register your vehicle? The IRS says yes, you can get your tags for the tax period beginning July 1, 2011. Existing regs allow states to register a heavy highway vehicle when the application for registration is received during the months of July, August or September 2011. If you have your receipted Schedule 1 for the previous year’s taxable period – in this case July 1, 2010 through June 30, 2011 – states can accept it as proof of payment.

States must register newly acquired heavy highway use vehicles without proof of tax payment if you present the original or photocopy of a bill of sale showing that the truck was purchased by the owner during the 60 days before the date the state receives the application for registration.

IRS Major E-File Milestone

June 22nd, 2011
This tax year has been a groundbreaking one for the IRS E-Filing system.  As you can see in this letter from the IRS Newswire, the Internal Revenue Service has now processed over One Billion tax returns through electronic filings.  The Electronic Filing system that began as a pilot project in 1986 has recently been heavily pushed by the IRS in recent years.  

This year in particular has been the most explosive.  Prior to the April 18th deadline of this tax year, the IRS had processed just over 100 million tax returns electronically.  This is an enormous growth rate for only one year!

When asked about the IRS E-File system, IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said the following: “The one billion milestone means e-file has delivered real services to taxpayers, including faster refunds and more accurate tax returns. And because an e-file return costs us 20 times less to process than a paper return, this program means a more efficient government that has saved America’s taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars.”

There are a variety of ways a person can E-File based on the type of return they are filing.  This year the IRS made it mandatory to E-File if a tax preparer is filing 100 or more tax returns.  Next year E-Filing will be mandatory for all tax preparers who file 11 or more returns.  The IRS set a goal of an eventual 80% of filers using E-File; this year the percentage was 79%.  

As mentioned earlier, there are different ways of filing different returns.  IRS Form 2290, for example, must be E-Filed by an IRS Authorized E-File provider.  The IRS does not provide an electronic option to file this through their website, but they do publish a list of authorized services.  Anyone who needs to file an IRS Form 2290 must use a recommended third party provider, such as Express Truck Tax, which also offers E-Filing for Form 8849, Free VIN Corrections, and online IFTA organizaton.  
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