Annual e-file shutdown November 21

The Rhode Island Division of Taxation has scheduled its annual e-file shutdown for November 21, 2015. That is the deadline for e-filing Rhode Island resident and nonresident personal and business tax returns for tax year 2014.

For more details – including deadlines for transmissions and acknowledgements, and on the shutdown’s impact on fiscal-year filers – click here.

Division of Taxation observes Veterans Day

The Rhode Island Division of Taxation will be closed today -- Wednesday, November 11, 2015 -- in observance of Veterans Day. However, tax information will continue to be available on the agency's website, and the agency will continue to accept and process e-filed returns today.

The Division of Taxation will reopen for business tomorrow and will operate during its usual hours, 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Self-audit program update

The Rhode Island Division of Taxation last week began mailing letters to 9,600 businesses and individuals to let them know about Rhode Island's new self-audit program.

The Division also let practitioners know about the mailing in case they receive any calls or emails from clients who have questions. The self-audit program is voluntary; the letter is intended simply to get the word out and get the ball moving.

Rhode Island Tax Administrator David M. Sullivan says that the self-audit program is a great opportunity for taxpayers, especially businesses, to clear their books of a use tax liability and get a significant break in the form of a penalty waiver and interest forgiveness.

The first batch of 3,300 letters went out November 4; additional mailings are planned. But the program is not limited to those who receive letters. Practitioners may have other clients who would benefit, and the Division invites practitioners to encourage them to apply.

The program has its own webpage, which includes the program application, FAQs, and other information. To view the official kick-off announcement, click here.

Information about the self-audit program is also available by calling the Division of Taxation’s Field Audit section at (401) 574-8962 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. business days.

Tax credits for rehab of historic church in Providence

The Division of Taxation has posted details about the rehabilitation of the former Pilgrim Congregational Church of Providence into residential units, a project that involves Rhode Island historic preservation tax credits.

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.

Channel 12 reports on self-audit program

Rhode Island's new self-audit program was the focus of a report on Channel 12 last night by Channel 12's consumer reporter, Susan Hogan.

She interviewed Rhode Island Tax Administrator David M. Sullivan, who described how the program works. Channel 12 posted the interview on its website. 

To learn more about the self-audit program, which is aimed at businesses and individuals, see the Division of Taxation's website.

• For those whose applications are approved under the program, who complete their self-audit in accordance with program guidelines, and who pay the tax due, the Division of Taxation will waive penalties and forgive up to two-thirds of the interest that would otherwise be due.

Self-audit program begins

The Division of Taxation today launched a self-audit program. For those whose applications are approved, who complete their self-audit in accordance with program guidelines, and who pay the tax due, the Division of Taxation will waive penalties and forgive a portion of the interest that would otherwise be due.

“This is a great opportunity for taxpayers, especially businesses, to clear their books of a tax liability and get a significant break in the form of a penalty waiver and interest forgiveness,” said Rhode Island Tax Administrator David M. Sullivan.

The program has its own webpage, which includes the program application, FAQs, and other information.

Phase two of computer system changeover

Rhode Island Tax Administrator David M. Sullivan announced this afternoon that the Division of Taxation has successfully completed the second phase of its changeover to a new agency-wide computer system.