The IRS recently announced that its modernized e-file system will not be available from January 1, 2012 through February 29, 2012 for electronic filing of Forms 990, 990-EZ, 990-PF and 1120-POL information returns. The system will not be available during this time period so that certain changes can be made to IRS systems for the 2011 tax year. However, the 990-N e-postcard filing system will not be affected by this temporary suspension.
To compensate for this suspension, the IRS has extended the filing deadline to March 30, 2012 for organizations whose due date or first extended due date is January 17 or February 15, 2012. Organizations required to file electronically may file electronically between March 1, 2012 and March 30, 2012. Affected organizations that are not required to file electronically have the option of either filing electronically between March 1, 2012 and March 30, 2012 or filing a paper return any time prior to March 30, 2012.
An affected organization that has not received an extension before and desires to file after March 30, 2012, may request an automatic 3-month extension by filing Form 8868, Extension of Time to File an Exempt Organization Return, by its original due date. If an affected organization has already obtained an automatic 3-month extension, an additional 3-month extension will be granted if the organization files Form 8868 by its first extended due date. Please note that organizations that have already been granted two extensions for a total of 6-months are not eligible for an additional extension. Finally, organizations should be made aware that an extension of the time to file, including the automatic extension to March 30, 2012, is not an extension of time to pay any tax liabilities that may be due for the year.
