The IRS today released Notice 2017-09 providing guidance on the de minimis safe harbor for errors in amounts reported on information returns.  The safe harbor was added to Sections 6721 and 6722 by the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 (PATH Act).

Under the statute, filers are not subject to penalties under either Section 6721 and 6722 if an amount reported on the return is within $100 of correct amount or within $25 if the amount is an amount of tax withheld.  However, if the payee requests a corrected return, the filer must file and furnish one or the payee is liable for potential penalties.  Prior to the enactment of the PATH Act, any error in an amount was considered consequential and could result in a penalty—even if the error was only one cent.  With this change, de minimis errors no longer necessitate corrected information returns or payee statements.  The safe harbor is effective for information returns and payee statements required to be filed after December 31, 2016.

Notice 2017-09 specifies that the safe harbor will not apply in the event of an intentional error or if a payor fails to file a required information return or furnish a required payee statement.  In other words, a filer cannot use the safe harbor to increase the filing threshold for reporting by arguing that the amount that should have been reported was within $25 of a threshold.  Accordingly, if a filer determines that a Form 1099-MISC was not required because the amount paid to the payee was $550 and later determines the amount paid was actually $650, the safe harbor would not apply.  Similarly, filers cannot apply the safe harbor to avoid penalties for payees of interest of less than $100 for whom they did not file a Form 1099-INT because the filer incorrectly believed the interest paid was less than $10.

The notice also clarifies the process by which a payee may request a corrected information return by electing that the safe harbor not apply.  If the payee makes such an election and the payor furnishes a corrected payee statement and files a corrected information return within 30 days of the election, the error will be deemed to be due to reasonable cause and neither Section 6721 or 6722 penalties shall apply unless specific rules specify a time in which to provide the corrected payee statements, such as for Forms W-2. The notice leaves unanswered, however, how this rule will apply when a payee has an ongoing election not to apply the safe harbor in effect as described below.

The notice permits payors to prescribe any reasonable manner for making the election, including in writing, on-line, or by telephone, provided that the payor provide written notification of the manner prescribed before the date the payee makes an election.  If on-line elections are prescribed by the payor, the payor must also provide another means for making an election.  If the payor has prescribed a manner for making such an election, the payee must make the election using the prescribed manner and elections made otherwise are not valid.  If the payor has not prescribed a manner for making the election, the payor may make an election in writing to the payor’s address on the payee statement or by a manner directed by payor after making an inquiry.  The payor may not otherwise limit the payee’s ability to make the election.

Payees are permitted to make an election with respect to information returns and payee statements that were required to be furnished in the calendar year of the election.  Alternatively, a payee may make an election for such returns and payee statements and all succeeding calendar years.  The statute did not clearly envision an ongoing election as prescribed in the notice.  The decision to allow for an ongoing election as opposed to an annual election requirement raises compliance concerns with respect to small payors who do not have electronic vendor management systems and with respect to payees who only receive intermittent payments that may have been inactivated in the payor’s systems.

The payee may subsequently revoke an election at any time after the election is made by providing written notice to the payor.  The revocation applies to all information returns and payee statements of the type specified in the revocation that are required to be filed and furnished, respectively, after the date on which the payor receives the revocation.

A valid election must: (1) clearly state that the payee is making the election; (2) provide the payee’s name, address, and taxpayer identification number (TIN); (3) identify the type of payee statement(s) and account number(s), if applicable, to which the election applies if the payee wants the election to apply only to specific statements; and (4) if the payee wants the election to apply only to the year for which the payee makes the election, state that the election applies only to payee statements required to be furnished in that calendar year.  If the payee does not identify the type of payee statement and account number or (ii) the calendar year to which the election relates, the payor must treat the election as applying to all types of payee statements that the payor is required to furnish to the payee and as applying to payee statements that are required to be furnished in the calendar year in which the payee makes the election and all succeeding calendar years.

The notice indicates that it does not prohibit a payee from making a request with respect to payee statements required to be furnished in an earlier calendar year.  It is not clear, however, whether such a request must be honored by the payor.

With respect to Forms W-2, Notice 2017-09 encourages employers to correct any errors on Forms W-2c even though the safe harbor may apply.  The notice expresses concern that failure to correct de minimis errors on Forms W-2 will result in combined annual wage reporting (CAWR) errors.  Under the CAWR program, the IRS compares amounts reported on Forms 941 with those reported on Forms W-3 and the processed totals from Forms W-2.  When the amounts do not match, an intentional disregard penalty is automatically assessed under Section 6721.  Although the notice does not specify as much, these penalties would presumably be abated if the employer demonstrated that the mismatch resulted from de minimis errors that were not required to be corrected under the safe harbor.

The notice states that the Treasury Department and IRS intend to issue regulations incorporating the rules contained in the notice.  The regulations are also expected to require payors to notify payees of the safe harbor and the option to make an election to have the safe harbor not apply.  The notice also indicates that the regulations may provide that the safe harbor does not apply to certain information returns and payee statements to prevent abuse as permitted by the statute, but does not indicate which, if any, information returns the IRS believes raise such concerns.  Comments are requested on the rules in the notice and are due by April 24, 2017.

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Photo of S. Michael Chittenden S. Michael Chittenden

Michael Chittenden practices in the areas of tax and employee benefits with a focus on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), information reporting (e.g., Forms 1095, 1096, 1098, 1099, W-2, 1042, and 1042-S) and withholding, payroll taxes, and fringe benefits. Mr. Chittenden…

Michael Chittenden practices in the areas of tax and employee benefits with a focus on the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), information reporting (e.g., Forms 1095, 1096, 1098, 1099, W-2, 1042, and 1042-S) and withholding, payroll taxes, and fringe benefits. Mr. Chittenden advises companies on their obligations under FATCA and assists in the development of comprehensive FATCA and Chapter 3 (nonresident alien reporting and withholding) compliance programs.

Mr. Chittenden advises large employers on their employment tax obligations, including the special FICA and FUTA rules for nonqualified deferred compensation, the successor employer rules, the voluntary correction of employment tax mistakes, and the abatement of late deposit and information reporting penalties. In addition, he has also advised large insurance companies and employers on the Affordable Care Act reporting requirements in Sections 6055 and 6056, and advised clients on the application of section 6050W (Form 1099-K reporting), including its application to third-party payment networks.

Mr. Chittenden counsels clients on mobile workforce issues including state income tax withholding for mobile employees and expatriate and inpatriate taxation and reporting.

Mr. Chittenden is a frequent commentator on information withholding, payroll taxes, and fringe benefits and regularly gives presentations on the compliance burdens for companies.