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Issue Number:  2016-1

Inside This Issue

1. New on IRS.gov
2. 2016 Standard Mileage Rates for Business, Medical and Moving Announced
3. Employers in 2015 FUTA credit reduction states must adjust their unemployment tax liability on their Form 940
4. Certain Taxpayers May Now File Their Employment Taxes Annually
5. Technical Guidance

• 2016 Form W-4P, Withholding Certificate for Pension or Annuity Payments
• 2016 Form W-3, Transmittal of Wage and Tax Statements (Info Copy Only)  
• 2016 Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement (Info Copy Only)
• 2016 Pub 15-B, Employer's Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits  
• 2016 Pub 15-A, Employer's Supplemental Tax Guide (Supplement to Circular E, Employer's Tax Guide, Publication 15) 
• 2016 Pub 15, Circular E, Employer's Tax Guide  
• 2016 Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate
• 2015 Pub 1167, General Rules and Specifications for Substitute Tax Forms and Schedules
• 2015 Inst. 8959, Instructions for Form 8959, Additional Medicare Tax"##

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IR-2015-137, The IRS announces the 2016 optional standard mileage rates used to calculate the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical or moving.

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Headliner Volume 353, Employers in FUTA credit reduction states must calculate a credit reduction as an adjustment to their FUTA tax on their 2015 Form 940, Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return.

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To reduce burden on small employers, the Internal Revenue Service simplified the rules for filing employment tax returns to report Social Security, Medicare and withheld federal income taxes.

If you have been filing Form 941, Employer's QUARTERLY Federal Tax Return, and believe your employment taxes for the calendar year will be $1,000 or less, and would like to file Form 944, Employers ANNUAL Federal Tax Return, instead of Form 941, you must contact the IRS to request to file Form 944 rather than Form 941.

You may make the request by calling the IRS at 1-800-829-4933 by April 1 of the current year, or by sending a written request, postmarked by March 15 of the current year, to:

Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Ogden, UT 84201-0038

or:

Department of Treasury, Internal Revenue Service Cincinnati, OH 45999-0038

Select the appropriate addresses above based on the state you are in. See "Without a payment" under the "Where Should You File" section of the Instructions for Form 944.

If you do not receive written notice from the IRS to file Form 944, you must file Forms 941 for the current calendar year.

Find more information on this topic.

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Notice 2016-01 provides the optional 2016 standard mileage rates for taxpayers to use in computing the deductible costs of operating an automobile for business, charitable, medical, or moving expense purposes. This notice also provides the amount taxpayers must use in calculating reductions to basis for depreciation taken under the business standard mileage rate, and the maximum standard automobile cost that may be used in computing the allowance under a fixed and variable rate (FAVR) plan.

Notice 2016-04 extends the due dates for the 2015 information reporting requirements, both furnishing to individuals and filing with the Internal Revenue Service (Service), for insurers, self-insuring employers, and certain other providers of minimum essential coverage under I.R.C. § 6055, and the information reporting requirements for applicable large employers under I.R.C. § 6056. This Notice also provides guidance to individuals who, as a result of these extensions, might not receive a Form 1095-B or Form 1095-C by the time they file their 2015 tax returns.

Notice 2016-06 provides correction procedures for employers who paid benefits in excess of $130 per month in 2015 and wish to make corrections on their fourth quarter Form 941, as the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2016 retroactively increased monthly transit benefit limit for 2015 from $130 per month to $250 per month. This notice provides a special correction procedure.

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