Reminder for remote sellers and others

The Rhode Island Division of Taxation today issued a reminder that, under recently enacted legislation, remote sellers, marketplace facilitators, and referrers will be required to register with the Division and collect and remit Rhode Island sales and use tax, effective July 1, 2019. For more information, click here.

CCH service outage

Wolters Kluwer, which publishes CCH tax-preparation software, recently reported that it suffered a service outage, lasting from May 6, 2019, to May 9, 2019, caused by malware. Due to the outage, preparers were unable to work on returns (cloud-based software).

When preparers were able to use the software again, they filed some returns late. Among the returns and payments affected by the outage were those due the week of May 13, including some fiscal-year Rhode Island filings. Those whose returns and payments were filed late due to the outage, and who seek penalty relief, should write a brief letter of explanation to the following address:

Rhode Island Division of Taxation
Tax Assessment & Review
Attention: CCH Penalty Relief
One Capitol Hill
Providence, R.I. 02908

Annual e-file shutdown

The Internal Revenue Service has announced its annual modernized e-file (MeF) systems shutdown for Memorial Day weekend. The shutdown starts Saturday, May 25, 2019 at 9:00 p.m. Eastern time, and ends on Tuesday, May 28, 2019, at 7:00 a.m. Eastern time.

That means the IRS will not be accepting electronically filed federal tax returns during that period. It also means that the Rhode Island Division of Taxation will not be accepting e-filed Rhode Island returns during that period because the federal/state e-file program will be unavailable. 

The joint fed-state e-file program is a cooperative tax-filing effort between the IRS and most states, including Rhode Island. In general, it allows for federal and state returns to be e-filed simultaneously to the IRS. Once the returns are filed, the IRS keeps the federal portion; the state portion is passed along electronically to the applicable state.

Taxpayers warned anew about scam

Rhode Island Tax Administrator Neena Savage reminds taxpayers, businesses, and tax professionals to be on guard against a scam from someone who calls on the phone, claiming to be from the Rhode Island Division of Taxation. To learn more, click here.

DOR hails Division's investigative work

Rhode Island Director of Revenue Mark A. Furcolo praised the work of the Rhode Island Division of Taxation and others in shutting down a multi-million-dollar tax evasion scheme involving the sale of untaxed tobacco products in Massachusetts. To learn more, click here.

Recent developments

Report on alcoholic beverages

On May 1, 2019, the Division of Taxation posted its annual report about the sales tax on alcoholic beverages.

Entity filing requirements; LLCs

The Division of Taxation recently posted a brief overview of entity filing requirements, as well as a brief summary of Rhode Island tax obligations for limited liability companies, including single-member LLCs.