Check your withholding

The Internal Revenue Service today launched a national campaign to urge workers to perform a "paycheck checkup" to make sure that the amount of income tax withheld from their paychecks is just right. To learn more, click here.

Guide for surplus lines

The Rhode Island Division of Taxation today posted a guide to tax filings and payments for surplus lines (insurance) brokers/licensees. To view a copy, click here.

Employee Misclassification Task Force

The Underground Economy and Employee Misclassification Task Force -- a collaboration of six Rhode Island state agencies led by the Department of Labor and Training -- has submitted its latest annual report.

According to the report, the Division of Taxation found that 560 Rhode Island employees had been improperly classified in 2017, resulting in almost $6.2 million in unreported wages and an assessment of $307,177 in additional state taxes. 

The Division of Taxation highlight is just one part of the report. To learn more, click here.

Recent developments

Security Summit

The Division of Taxation, the Internal Revenue Service, and other members of the Security Summit have issued a warning for tax professionals to be alert to taxpayer data theft in the final weeks of the tax filing season.

The Security Summit partners also urged tax professionals to enhance their data safeguards immediately. For details, click here.

Amnesty update

The Rhode Island Division today announced that the recently completed tax amnesty program has generated more than $21.5 million, which is well above the original budgeted estimate of $12.5 million.

The 75-day amnesty began in early December 2017 and ended on February 15, 2018. The Division continues to fine-tune amnesty totals and will include the finalized totals in its formal report on amnesty, which is due on or before April 30, 2018. 

Report on corporate tax changes

The Division of Taxation recently posted its report on the corporate tax changes that were enacted in 2014, including a corporate tax rate reduction and the switch to combined reporting, single-sales-factor apportionment, and market-based sourcing.

The Division delivered the report to legislative leaders by the statutory deadline of March 15 and put the report on its website. Click here to view.

Tax credits

The Division of Taxation recently posted details about a rehabilitation project in downtown Providence involving $1.25 million in Rhode Island historic preservation tax credits.

The project involves the Woolworth Building, a five-story commercial block at 185 Westminster St., Providence. The plan is to keep business and retail use on the first three floors, and establish apartments on the top two floors.

The Division of Taxation's web page on historic tax credits shows details involving all applicants that have signed a contract and paid the required fee under the state's 2013 historic preservation tax credit program.

Deadline relief due to winter storms

Taxpayers who cannot file Form RI-7004 by the March 15 deadline because of the impact of the recent snowstorms may write to the Rhode Island Division of Taxation to request relief. In such cases, the Division will set the deadline as March 20, 2018. To learn more about this deadline relief, click here.

Division plans public hearing

The Rhode Island Division of Taxation will hold a public hearing on March 12 on six proposed regulations. 

Broadly speaking, the proposed regulations contain no substantive changes. Their format has been modified in accordance with the new Rhode Island Code of Regulations, and some of the proposed regulations include minor changes. 

• The Division proposes to amend its regulation on amended returns so that the regulation lists the new forms for filing amended returns for certain business taxes.
• The Division proposes to adopt a regulation involving the conduct of public hearings. It is a standard regulation used by other State agencies.
• The Division proposes to amend its regulation involving estimated tax payments for businesses so that the regulation reflects recent changes in law (including the dates on which installments are due).
• The Division proposes to amend its regulation on limited liability companies (LLCs) so that the regulation reflects recent changes in law regarding the due date for filing.
• The Division proposes to amend its regulation on limited liability partnerships and limited partnerships, setting forth, among other things, the application of filing deadlines and the annual filing charge (or filing fee).
• The Division proposes to amend its regulation on the public service corporation tax so that the regulation reflects a recent change in the law involving due dates. 

The hearing will take place at 9:30 a.m. on Monday, March 12, 2018, at the Department of Administration Building at One Capitol Hill, Providence, Rhode Island, diagonally across Smith Street from the State House.

The Division of Taxation has filed numerous proposed and final regulations of late, and will continue to do so as part of its months-long effort to streamline and re-codify its regulations. 

The Division intends to post from time to time, on this blog, brief descriptions of some -- but not all -- of the regulatory filings. However, all of the regulatory filings are available to view and to monitor at the following Department of State (Secretary of State) website: http://www.sos.ri.gov/divisions/open-government/state/rules-and-regulations.