The IRS Recently released an update to Form 945-A, the Annual Record of Federal Tax Liability for the first time since December 2020 and its respective instructions which were last updated in 2022. This form is used for recording tax liability throughout the months of a year. Most of the form changes were removal of pointer arrows to show where totals should be entered. The only substantive change was that the instructions for section M previously stated that Total Tax liability for the year must equal line 3 on Form 945 (line 19 on Form CT-1, line 9 on Form 944) and the current form states that it should be line 15 on Form CT-1 now. The form revision date is listed as December of 2024.
Most of the changes to the instructions which were released this year involve the removal of mentions of prior credits including the nonrefundable credits which were previously claimed on Form CT-1, credits for qualified sick and family leave compensation or wages, and COBRA premium assistance credits, which were related to now expired provisions that were enacted due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The only other notable addition was the explanation regarding the amount of the Qualified Small Business Payroll Tax Credit for Increasing Research Activities, which is listed at a credit of up to $250,000. This credit was discussed in the previous version of the instructions, but the amount and other details were not as clearly explained. The last part of the instructions gives the instruction for how to input the amount for Part M which is noted to have been changed on the form itself.
To view Form 945-A, click here.
To view the instructions for Form 945-A, click here.
