e-News for BBA Partnerships Issue Number 2024-6

Resources for BBA Partnerships:  

Tax Information for Partnerships

Modernized e-File (MeF) for Partnerships

Businesses with Employees

About Form 8980, Partnership Request for Modification of Imputed Underpayments Under IRC Section 6225 (c)

About Form 8985, Pass-Through - Statement Transmittal/Partnership Adjustment Tracking Report (Required under Sections 6226 and 6227)

About Form 8978, Partner's Additional Reporting Year Tax

Other Resources

IRS.gov

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All Forms & Instructions

Tax Professional Home

e-Services

Issue Number:  2024-6

Inside This Issue

1. BBA Centralized Partnership Audit Regime
2. Designate or Change a Partnership Representative
3. Elect Out of the Centralized Partnership Audit Regime
4. File an Administrative Adjustment Request for a BBA Partnership
5. BBA Partnership Audit Process
6. Electronic Submission of Forms by Audited BBA Partnerships and Their Pass-Through Partners
7. OFSS Status

1.  BBA Centralized Partnership Audit Regime

NO UPDATE

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2.  Designate or Change a Partnership Representative

NO UPDATE

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3.  Elect Out of the Centralized Partnership Audit Regime

NO UPDATE

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4.  File an Administrative Adjustment Request for a BBA Partnership

See information below about revisions to Forms 8980, 8985 and 8986 being published this month. (Form 15028 will also have a revision date of December 2024.)

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5.  BBA Partnership Audit Process

BBA Deposits under IRC 6603 (Rev Proc 2005-18) for filers of Form 8978

If the partner of a BBA audited partnership previously made a deposit to suspend the running of interest on potential underpayments (under IRC 6603, Rev Proc 2005-18), a statement requesting the payment(s) be applied to the underpayment must be include with the Form 8978 (See Form 8978 instructions). The statement must include the date(s) and amount(s) of the original deposit(s), the name and TIN of the BBA partnership under exam, the reviewed year of the BBA partnership under exam, and the Audit Control Number (ACN) of the BBA partnership under exam. Please also fax that statement to the BBA Operations Unit in Ogden UT – fax number 855-617-2603.

Reminder:  Due Dates for Forms 8985 and 8986

Audited partnerships. An audited partnership that has made an election under section 6226 must furnish Forms 8986 to its partners and submit them to the IRS, along with Form 8985, no later than 60 days after the date on which the partnership adjustments are finally determined. Failure to furnish and submit by the due date may result in the audited partnership being liable for the IU. 

Finally determined. The partnership adjustment(s) becomes finally determined upon the later of the expiration of the time to file a petition under section 6234 or, if a petition is filed under section 6234, the date when the court’s decision becomes final or the date the closing agreement is entered into between the IRS and the partnership. The court decision becomes final at the date the opportunity to appeal has passed as determined under section 7481. (Note: Forms 8985/8986 submitted prior to the date that the adjustments are finally determined will be rejected as "too early" and will need to be resubmitted timely.)

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6.  Electronic Submission of Forms by Audited BBA Partnerships and Their Pass-Through Partners

IMPORTANT NEWS: Forms updates

Only official IRS forms can be submitted electronically. Use the forms found on irs.gov/BBAeSubmit in the "Forms that Require Electronic Submission" section or forms found on IRS.gov only.

Warning: Do not use any “special characters” in the name of the partnership, addresses, or anywhere in the forms. Special characters will cause the forms to reject.

Form 8980 (December 2024 revision date) will be published December 3, 2024. The new form will be accepted in the PBBA OFSS Portal beginning December 12, 2024. (If submitting the Form 8980 before December 11, 2024, continue to use the October 2020 version.) (Form 15028 will also have a revision date of December 2024.)

Forms 8985 and 8986 (December 2024 revision date) will be published on December 11, 2024. The new form will be accepted in the PBBA OFSS Portal beginning December 12, 2024. (If submitting the Forms 8985 and 8986 before December 11, 2024, continue to use the December 2019 version.) 

HELPFUL HINT:  Some forms are rejecting due to the use of certain "special characters" in the partnership name (except those in the name such as "&" or "-"), addresses of partners, or in the Statements section of both Forms 8985 and 8986. DO NOT COPY AND PASTE from WORD or a similar application. IF you prepare information in the statement section in the PDF form itself, you can then copy and paste from that form to the other forms you are preparing (or use "save as" for each form being prepared), but do not copy from WORD or a similar application. (Apostrophes have been the most frequent cause of rejections.)

At the request of several submitters, the red outlines, blue boxes, and related background validations generating reminders for form completion, have been removed from Forms 8985 and 8986 to help make it easier to complete the forms. PLEASE pay close attention to the form instructions as to which fields are required to be completed in order to avoid form rejections.

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7.  OFSS Status

The PBBA OFSS portal will be down on December 11, 2024, at 9 am Eastern to switchover to the new form versions of the Forms 8980, 15028, 8985 and 8986. The PBBA OFSS portal will be back in business on December 12, 2024, at 9 am Eastern. 

Please contact the PBBA eSubmit Help Desk with questions or concerns. (813)367-8037 or LBI.BBA.eSubmit@irs.gov

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