n-17-47.pdf

Preserve advance releases and the authoritative Internal Revenue Bulletin rendition; directory timestamps are file-publication metadata, not legal effective dates. HTML bulletins begin June 2003; earlier available issues require full PDF parsing.

This collection currently includes the publisher’s available advance-release directory. Historical bulletin renditions are discovered separately; an advance-release record alone does not certify the collection archive complete.

Part III - Administrative, Procedural, and Miscellaneous

Relief for Partnerships and REMICs Filing Returns or Extension Requests by the Due
Date in Effect Before the Enactment of the Surface Transportation Act

Notice 2017-47

PURPOSE

This notice provides penalty relief to partnerships and real estate mortgage
investment conduits (REMICs) that filed certain untimely returns or untimely requests for
extension of time to file those returns for the first taxable year that began after
December 31, 2015, by the fifteenth day of the fourth month following the close of that
taxable year.
BACKGROUND

Section 2006 of the Surface Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice
Improvement Act of 2015 (the Surface Transportation Act), Public Law 114–41, 129
Stat. 443 (2015), amended section 6072 of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code) and
changed the date by which a partnership must file its annual return. The due date for
filing the annual return of a partnership changed from the fifteenth day of the fourth
month following the close of the taxable year (April 15 for calendar-year

-2-

taxpayers) to the fifteenth day of the third month following the close of the taxable year
(March 15 for calendar-year taxpayers). The new due date applies to the returns of
partnerships for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2015.
Partnerships filing Form 1065, “U.S. Return of Partnership Income,” and Form
1065-B, “U.S. Return of Income for Electing Large Partnerships,” are affected by the
Surface Transportation Act amendment. These partnerships may also file Form 8804,
“Annual Return for Partnership Withholding Tax (Section 1446),” and Form 8805,
“Foreign Partner's Information Statement of Section 1446 Withholding Tax,” which are
generally due to the IRS on the same date as the partnership’s Form 1065 or Form
1065-B. Filers of Form 1065 must furnish their partners with Schedules K-1, “Partner's
Share of Income, Deductions, Credits, etc.,” by the due date of the Form 1065, and
filers of Form 1065-B must furnish their partners with Schedules K-1 by the first March
15 following the close of the partnership’s taxable year. Filers of Form 8804 that are
required to file Forms 8805 must also furnish their partners with their respective copies
of Forms 8805 by the due date of the Form 8804. Some partnerships must also file
additional returns, such as Form 5471, “Information Return of U.S. Persons With
Respect to Certain Foreign Corporations,” by the due date of the Form 1065 or Form
1065-B.
Partnerships can obtain a six-month extension of time to file Form 1065, 1065-B, or
8804 by filing Form 7004, “Application for Automatic Extension of Time to File Certain
Business Income Tax, Information, and Other Returns,” by the statutory due date of
those returns. Partnerships that receive an extension of time to file Form 1065 receive
a concurrent extension of time to furnish their partners with Schedules K-1. Also,

-3-

partnerships that receive an extension of time to file Form 8804 receive concurrent
extensions of time to file Forms 8805 and to furnish respective copies of the Forms
8805 to their partners. The six-month extension may apply to additional returns that
partnerships may be required to file by the due date of their Forms 1065 or 1065-B, but
it does not affect the due date for partnerships filing Form 1065-B to furnish their
partners with Schedules K-1.
Partnerships that fail to timely meet their obligations to file and furnish returns are
subject to penalties. Partnerships that fail to file Form 1065, 1065-B, or 8804 by the due
date (with regard to extensions) are subject to penalty under section 6698 or 6651 of
the Code. Partnerships that fail to file Forms 8805 by the due date (with regard to
extensions) are subject to penalty under 6721 of the Code. Partnerships that fail to
furnish Schedules K-1 or the partner copies of Forms 8805 by the due date are subject
to penalty under section 6722 of the Code. Partnerships that fail to file Form 5471 by
the due date are subject to penalty under section 6038 or 6679 of the Code.
Partnerships that fail to file additional returns that they are required to file by the due
date of their Forms 1065 or 1065-B may also be subject to other penalties.
Many partnerships filed the returns discussed above or Form 7004 for the first
taxable year beginning after December 31, 2015, by the date previously required by
section 6072. If not for the Surface Transportation Act, these returns and requests for
extension of time to file would have been timely.

-4-

DISCUSSION
The IRS will grant relief from the penalties described above for any return described
above for the first taxable year of any partnership that began after December 31, 2015,
if the following conditions are satisfied:
(1) the partnership filed the Form 1065, 1065-B, 8804, 8805, 5471, or other return
required to be filed with the IRS and furnished copies (or Schedules K-1) to the partners
(as appropriate) by the date that would have been timely under section 6072 before
amendment by the Surface Transportation Act (April 18, 2017 for calendar-year
taxpayers, because April 15 was a Saturday and April 17 was a legal holiday in the
District of Columbia), or
(2) the partnership filed Form 7004 to request an extension of time to file by the date
that would have been timely under section 6072 before amendment by the Surface
Transportation Act and files the return with the IRS and furnishes copies (or Schedules
K-1) to the partners (as appropriate) by the fifteenth day of the ninth month after the
close of the partnership’s taxable year (September 15, 2017, for calendar-year
taxpayers). If the partnership files Form 1065-B and was required to furnish Schedules
K-1 to the partners by March 15, 2017, it must have done so to qualify for relief.
This relief will be granted automatically for penalties for failure to timely file Forms
1065, 1065-B, 8804, 8805, and any other returns, such as Form 5471, for which the due
date is tied to the due date of Form 1065 or Form 1065-B. Relief will also be granted to
REMICs, which file Form 1066, “U.S. Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit
(REMIC) Income Tax Return.” Partnerships and REMICs that qualify for relief and have
already been assessed penalties can expect to receive a letter within the next several

-5-

months notifying them that the penalties have been abated. For reconsideration of a
penalty covered by this notice that has not been abated by February 28, 2018, contact
the number listed in the letter that notified you of the penalty or call (800) 829-0115 and
state that you are entitled to relief under Notice 2017-47. Taxpayers who qualify for
relief under this notice will not be treated as having received a first-time abatement
under the IRS’s administrative penalty waiver program.
DRAFTING INFORMATION
The principal author of this notice is Jonathan R. Black of the Office of the Associate
Chief Counsel (Procedure and Administration). For further information regarding this
notice contact Jonathan R. Black at (202) 317-6845 (not a toll-free number).