Peoria Standard

Washington, D.C. – Congressman Darin LaHood (IL-16), a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, introduced the Tax Administration Simplification Act, bipartisan legislation to simplify the tax filing and payment processes for taxpayers and small businesses. The Tax Administration Simplification Act would apply the mailbox rule to electronically submitted documents and tax payments to the IRS, allow newly-formed small businesses to elect to be treated as an S Corporation on their first tax filing, and revise the estimated tax payment deadlines to fall on quarterly intervals instead of the current irregular payment schedule.

LaHood was joined by Reps. Brad Schneider (IL-10), Randy Feenstra (IA-04), Suzan DelBene (WA-04), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Jimmy Panetta (CA-19), and Debbie Lesko (AZ-08) as co-leads on the legislation.

"As the Ways and Means Committee works to strengthen our tax code, it is important that we improve taxpayer rights and the administrative process to reduce burdensome filing challenges," said Rep. LaHood. "The Tax Administration Simplification Act builds off of recommendations from the National Taxpayer Advocate and previous legislation to simplify the tax filing and payment processes for American workers and small businesses. I am proud to lead this bipartisan effort and look forward to working with my Ways and Means colleagues to streamline the tax filing process."

The Tax Administration Simplification Act:

Incorporates recommendations from the National Taxpayer Advocate's annual "Purple Book" and builds off of previous legislation to streamline the tax filing process.

Applies the mailbox rule to documents and payments electronically submitted to the IRS.

Under current law, if taxpayers submit payments or documents to the IRS electronically on the due date, but they are received and processed the next day, they would be considered late. The Tax Administration Simplification Act makes changes to the law to provide for documents and payments submitted electronically to be considered made on the date submitted, even if they are not received or reviewed until a later date.

Extends the time for making S Corporation elections.

Under current law, many small business owners miss the deadline for electing to be treated as an S Corporation because the election deadline generally precedes the filing deadline for the corporation’s first income tax return. The Tax Administration Simplification Act would allow taxpayers to elect S Corporation status on their first timely filed income tax return.

Revises estimated income tax payment deadlines.

Under current law, estimated tax payment deadlines are spaced at uneven intervals throughout the year. While these payments are often referred to as “quarterly payments,” they are currently spaced at three-month, two-month, three-month, and four-month intervals. The Tax Administration Simplification Act would change the estimated tax payment deadlines to actually fall on a quarterly basis and make it easier for taxpayers to calculate their net income.

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