From the July 15, 2011 IRS Newswire – IRS Gives Truckers Three-Month Extension; Highway Use Tax Return Due Nov. 30, 2011
WASHINGTON — The Internal Revenue Service today advised truckers and other owners of heavy highway vehicles that their next federal highway use tax return, usually due Aug. 31, will instead be due on Nov. 30, 2011.
Because the highway use tax is currently scheduled to expire on Sept. 30, 2011, this extension is designed to alleviate any confusion and possible multiple filings that could result if Congress reinstates or modifies the tax after that date. Under temporary and proposed regulations filed today in the Federal Register, the Nov. 30 filing deadline for Form 2290, Heavy Highway Vehicle Use Tax Return, for the tax period that begins on July 1, 2011, applies to vehicles used during July, as well as those first used during August or September. Returns should not be filed and payments should not be made prior to Nov. 1.
To aid truckers applying for state vehicle registration on or before Nov. 30, the new regulations require states to accept as proof of payment the stamped Schedule 1 of the Form 2290 issued by the IRS for the prior tax year, ending on June 30, 2011. Under federal law, state governments are required to receive proof of payment of the federal highway use tax as a condition of vehicle registration. Normally, after a taxpayer files the return and pays the tax, the Schedule 1 is stamped by the IRS and returned to filers for this purpose. A state normally may accept a prior year’s stamped Schedule 1 as a substitute proof of payment only through Sept. 30.
For those acquiring and registering a new or used vehicle during the July-to-November period, the new regulations require a state to register the vehicle, without proof that the highway use tax was paid, if the person registering the vehicle presents a copy of the bill of sale or similar document showing that the owner purchased the vehicle within the previous 150 days.
In general, the highway use tax applies to trucks, truck tractors and buses with a gross taxable weight of 55,000 pounds or more. Ordinarily, vans, pick-ups and panel trucks are not taxable because they fall below the 55,000-pound threshold.
For trucks and other taxable vehicles in use during July, the Form 2290 and payment are, under normal circumstances, due on Aug. 31. The tax of up to $550 per vehicle is based on weight, and a variety of special rules apply to vehicles with minimal road use, logging or agricultural vehicles, vehicles transferred during the year and those first used on the road after July.
Last year, the IRS received about 650,000 Forms 2290 and highway use tax payments totaling $886 million.
QuickBooks 2011 offers the ability to exclude Estimates, Sales Orders and Purchase Orders from the Closing Date lock. This is a key piece of functionality that will be attractive to contractors and other business types who often have open Estimates, Sales Orders or Purchase Orders; which I just learned about yesterday in a “New Features in QuickBooks 2011” webinar presented by Joe Woodard.
The Closing Date feature in QuickBooks is designed primarily to protect transactions from previous reporting periods from being changed – for example, it is often a general practice for an accounting professional to set a closing date in a clients QuickBooks file after they have finished preparing their tax returns. Setting a Closing Date allows the accountant to know that the client cannot go back and make changes to transactions that would impact the tax returns that were filed.
Unfortunately, the Closing Date feature works as a “lock”; and effectively prevents a user from making changes to open “non-posting” transactions such as Estimates, Sales Orders, and Purchase Orders.
It’s common in the construction industry to have Estimates that remain open for 6 months to sometimes several years – depending on the size of the job, when they were awarded the contract, and even when they actually start to work on their piece of the project.
With previous versions of QuickBooks, a business owner who utilized these types of non-posting transactions could not use this feature until AFTER the transactions had been closed (Estimate fully invoiced, Sales Orders fulfilled, or Purchase Order completely received); however, their accountants would frequently enter a closing date when they were finished with the tax return.
This caused a lot of hassle and additional work for the business owner. They would need to create a 2nd Estimate in it’s entirety and then create a single progress invoice billing out everything that they had billed up until the time that their books were “closed” by their accountant – they then had to set the invoice as “Mark as Pending” so that it wouldn’t show up in their Accounts Receivable.
With QuickBooks 2011, you can now choose to exclude these open, non-posting transactions when you set a closing date!
If you are a QuickBooks user be sure to tell your accountant about this feature, and if you are an accounting professional, ask them if they need access to these transactions BEFORE you set the closing date, they’ll love you for it!
This option is available from the Edit menu -> Preferences -> Accounting -> Company Preferences tab -> click on the Set Date/Password button -> then check the option to “Exclude”.
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To some this will seem like a small and perhaps unimportant change; but for some it will be a HUGE improvement in the functionality.
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Many companies fail to set up their charts of accounts correctly in QuickBooks. Over the years I have seen charts of accountants that look like a collage of accounts in helter skelter format without any logical order, containing duplicate if not triplicate accounts, inconsistent protocols, and even inappropriate, if not undecipherable, names.
At tax time, when their CPA receives either a backup or Accountants copy of the file like OR reports that have been created from the file, it becomes an even bigger mess. The trial balance that must be created by the tax preparer requires countless hours of reclassifications and groupings to mesh and coordinate the amounts within the file to the classifications required on tax returns and financial statements. Business owners then bear the costs of needless and expensive clean ups, often tacking on an additional $500 to $1000 per year to their annual accounting bills.
There is no excuse for not having a QuickBooks chart of accounts set up in a format compatible with what is reported on a company’s tax return as well as their financial statement. Once set up, a simple click in QuickBooks prints a readable and well-organized financial report for internal management, bankers, other creditors, bonding companies, shareholders, etc. In addition, with some mapping to an Intuit tax software program, the client’s trial balance amounts can be exported to the company’s tax return by the tax preparer with another click of the mouse.
In order to minimize the costs associated with having their tax returns prepared, as well as interim and year-end financial reports, businesses owners would be well advised to adopt account names, groupings, and an overall format required by their tax returns. A good chart of accounts can accommodate the requirements of both internal and external financial reporting, since subaccounts would provide any necessary detail required by management and interested outside parties – while a simple click of the Modify Report button in QuickBooks re-arranges the expense accounts in alphabetical order – often the desired presentation for banks.
Many Certified Public Accountants (CPA’s) and Certified Public Bookkeepers (CPB) prefer to have their clients set up the chart of accounts using account numbers. Many clients do not want to use numbers because they find them cumbersome.
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A compromise is to turn on the “Use account numbers” preference (Edit menu -> Preferences -> Accounting -> Company Preferences tab -> Use Account Numbers) when setting up the chart of accounts. Then, turn off the account numbers preference. When the preference is off, account numbers are not eliminated, simply hidden from view. At the end of the year, the CPA can turn the preference back on and add account numbers to any accounts created by the client during the year.
When the “Use account numbers” and “Reports-Show accounts by Name only” preferences (Edit menu -> Preferences -> Reports & Graphs -> Company Preferences tab -> Reports – Show Accounts by: Name Only option) are activated, account numbers appear next to the account name in QuickBooks financial reports.
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Many users prefer not to have account numbers display on financial reports. If, instead, the preference “Reports-Show accounts by Description only” is activated, the account description entered when the account was setup is used. Therefore, when using account numbers, enter an account description. (This description can be identical to the account name.)
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Every contractor, regardless of their business structure (sole proprietor, partnership, corporation) has to choose an overall method of accounting; before the first federal tax return is filed. Accounting methods include:
the cash method- the accrual method
- the accrual method which excludes retentions, and (possibly)
- a hybrid method(s)
Depending on the type, size, and length of the construction contract, there are various methods of accounting for long-term construction projects that are allowed – each method has its own advantages and disadvantages.
A contractor will need to select a specific long-term contract accounting methods – possibly with different methods for it’s exempt and non-exempt contracts – and also selects sub-treatments for the classification of contracts and the allocation of indirect costs.
In a nutshell, accounting for long-term contracts relates to the treatment method that is chosen; or that is required by the rules and regulations of the tax code, in order to account for income and cost recognition for long-term contracts.
10+ Methods of Accounting for Construction Contracts
| Method | Revenue Recognition | Cost Recognition |
|---|---|---|
| Cash | As payment is received | As expenses are paid, except for depreciation and capitalization rules. |
| Hybrid – (Part Cash/Part Accrual | Cash or accrual – depending upon the method selected | Could be cash or accrual. For example, the contractor could use the cash method for receipts and disbursements AND accrual for inventory and payables related to inventory. |
| Accrual | As billing invoices are issued | Based on economic performance regulations of §461(h) |
| Accrual Excluding Retention | Based on when billing invoices are issued OR billings minus retainage deferred under the contract. Recognition of retainages, once entitled to receive |
Based on economic performance regulations of §461(h) |
| Completed-Contract (CCM) | Billings or total contract price once contract is finished and accepted. See 1.460-4(d) for revenue recognition for disputed contracts |
Costs are deferred as incurred. Specific costs are outlined in 1.460-5(d). Once completed, costs are closed out to expense.SG&A costs are expensed as incurred.
See 1.460-4(d) for expense recognition for disputed contracts. |
| Exempt Percentage-of-Completion (EPCM) | Contract price (including change orders) multiplied by percent complete.Percent complete determined by various alternative methods, such as:
|
Based on economic performance regulations of §461(h).Costs determined by 1.460-5(d).
All costs are expensed as incurred. |
| IRC §460(b)Percentage-of-Completion Method (PCM) | Revenues determined by only the cost-to-cost formula | Based on economic performance regulations of §461(h).Costs determined by 1.460-5(b).
All costs are expensed as incurred. |
| IRC §460(b)(3) Simplified Cost-to-Cost Method | Same formula as §460(b), except costs determined as outlined by §460(b)(4) or 1.460-5(c) | Based on economic performance regulations of §461(h).Job costs are direct material, direct labor and depreciation, amortization, and cost recovery on equipment directly used.
All costs are expensed as incurred. |
| Reg. 1.460-4(e), §460(a) Percentage-of-Completion/Capitalized-Cost Method (PCCM) | Use PCM formula as §460(b) with same type of costs for 70%, and use exempt contract method for the remaining 30%. | For 70%, same as the §460 PCM method, the balance of the contract is accounted for by the exempt-contract method. |
| IRC §460 10% Deferral Method | Same as §460(b) above, except that revenues and billings on all contracts with less than 10% complete, determined by the cost-to-cost formula, are deferred until greater than 10% complete. | Based on economic performance regulations of §461(h).All costs are expensed as incurred.
All costs on contracts less the 10% complete are not expensed as incurred, but rather are deferred in an account similar to an inventory account |
