As you may have heard, On December 19th, President Obama signed the tax extenders bill as it was sent to him by the House and the Senate. So, now the provisions that had expired as of December 31, 2013 have been extended until December 31, 2014. But there are other provisions that had expired at December 31, 2013 that were not extended.
The credit for energy-efficient appliances for producers of qualified energy efficient refrigerators, clothes washers and dishwashers has expired for these appliances that were manufactured after 2013.
The 10% credit for two and three wheeled plug-in electric vehicles has expired for vehicles purchased after 2013.
The health coverage tax credit (HCTC) which was available for eligible individuals who were receiving allowances under Trade Adjustment Assistance programs and certain Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp pension recipients has expired. The Trade Adjustment Assistance programs were for individuals who have become unemployed due to imports from foreign countries or shifts in production to foreign countries. The credit was equal to 72.5% of the amounts the individual paid for qualified health insurance.
The next big thing is for the IRS to tell us specifically when the filing season can begin. The IRS Commissioner has not announced the start date yet. Most commentators are expecting a late January to early February date. While the extender bill did not result in significant forms delays or other operations changes to the IRS, we need to remember that the IRS’s budget was recently cut again. The IRS’s $11.3 billion budget for 2014 was 7% below the amount appropriated in 2010. Last week, the IRS Commissioner said that the $346 million in cuts for next year will not allow the IRS to handle its expanding responsibilities. So we shall see how well they deploy their resources to get the job done.