IRS temporarily changes U.S. residency application policy

The Internal Revenue Service initiated a temporary change in policy Monday for U.S. residency applications for the next two years.

The change pertains to Form 8802, “Application for U.S. Residency Certification.” The temporary change in policy lowers the paperwork requirements and could help the IRS deal with the massive backlog of paperwork it’s coping with as it tries to catch up on millions of unprocessed tax returns from last year.

“Effective Monday, April 4, 2022, if you received a request from the IRS for a signed copy of your most recent return to support an application for a U.S. residency certification because your return had not yet been posted by the IRS by the time you filed your Form 8802, you will only need to submit a signed copy of the current year base income tax return (i.e., the tax return without any accompanying forms, schedules, or attachment (for example, Form 1120, pages 1-6, Form 1120-REIT, pages 1-5, etc.)) rather than a copy of your entire return,” said the IRS in a post on its website Monday. “If, at the time of filing Form 8802, you are unsure if your most recent return has yet to be posted by the IRS, it may take less time to process your application if you include a signed copy of the base income tax return with your Form 8802. By filing a signed copy of the base return with your Form 8802, you are attesting that you have previously filed the income tax return with the IRS as shown on the signed copy.”

The IRS plans to monitor compliance over the two-year pilot period to decide whether to extend this policy for even longer.

“The change is aimed at streamlining applications to avoid duplicative filing in cases where the taxpayer return has not yet been processed or posted,” said an IRS spokesperson. “The change is in response to stakeholder feedback and will be monitored closely for compliance.”

Stefani Reynolds/Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/B