2020 ProSeries/Massachusetts Readme

Release 2020.340

Contents

Items addressed in this release

Items addressed in previous releases

What's new for ProSeries/Massachusetts

Forms

Electronic filing

Additional Information

Items addressed in this release

• Schedule C/C-1 - Fixed issue where meal expenses were not calculating correctly when both types, travel and daycare, were entered.

Items addressed in previous releases

• Unemployment Compensation Deduction - New worksheet added to support the calculation of unemployment compensation deduction reported on MA Schedule Y Line 9. Since the Massachusetts income threshold is different from the federal income threshold, some taxpayers may be eligible for a deduction on their federal tax return but not on their Massachusetts tax return. Refer to the worksheet for details around household income thresholds and other requirements.
• Schedule HC - Fixed issue where health care penalty was not calculating for certain part year residents who have moved out of Massachusetts during the tax year.
• Filing Due Date Extended - The filing due date for tax year 2020 has been extended to 5/17/2021.
• Retirement Distributions with Form 8915 - Calculation of retirement exclusion amount, when a distribution is taken due to disaster or COVID-related event and Form 8915 is filed, has been updated.
• Taxation of Forgiven Paycheck Protection Program Loans - Massachusetts has updated its conformity to the CARES Act. PPP loans are no longer taxable to Massachusetts. Schedule X has been updated to reflect this recent legislative change.
• Schedule X, Taxable IRA/Keogh Plan Distributions Smart Worksheet - Enhanced calculation to handle qualified IRA Disaster Distributions with basis entered from Forms 8915-B,C,D,E.

What's new for ProSeries/Massachusetts

The following items are new for tax year 2020:

• Tax Rate Change. The tax rate has been reduced to 5.00% (from 5.05%).
• Revised Guidance on the Massachusetts Tax Implications of an Employee Working Remotely due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Due to Massachusetts’ COVID-19 state of emergency for tax year 2020, all compensation paid to non-residents, who would generally perform such services in Massachusetts but for a Pandemic-Related Circumstance, will continue to be treated as Massachusetts source income subject to Massachusetts personal income tax. Visit the Massachusetts DOR website for more details.
• Small Business Loan Forgiveness. Section 1106 of the CARES Act provides loan for-giveness to small businesses for certain loans made pursuant to the Paycheck Protection Pro-gram (“PPP”) under the Small Business Act. Fur-thermore, any amount of cancelled indebtedness resulting from these loans that would otherwise be includable in the gross income for federal in-come taxes will be excluded from federal gross income. Massachusetts does not adopt this change for purposes of the personal income tax, as Massachusetts follows the IRC in effect as of January 1, 2005, on this issue, so these amounts are includable in gross income for Massachu-setts purposes.

Forms

The Massachusetts Department of Revenue has approved for filing all forms and schedules included in ProSeries/Massachusetts.

Electronic filing

Electronic filing functionality is available in this release of ProSeries/Massachusetts.

For a list of forms that can be e-filed, go to the What's New for Massachusetts.

Additional information

Check all returns after printing

The Massachusetts Department of Revenue scans computer-generated forms to quickly process the income tax returns it receives. To meet the requirements for producing computer-generated forms, ProSeries is required to limit the width of the tax information printed on forms that are scanned. In certain cases, data you entered may be truncated. After completing a tax return, review the information that prints (for example, mailing address information), make any necessary changes, and reprint the return before mailing it.

About bar codes on printed state returns

Some states use bar codes on computer-printed tax forms. This special formatting allows the state taxing authorities to process returns more quickly and efficiently. On-screen, you'll see only a small representation of the bar code on the lower-left side of the form. This image is static and does not change based on the information in the return. However, when you print the return, the bar code appears as a large rectangular box on the first page of the form. The width of the bar code is constant; the height varies according to the data in the return. In general, the more complex the return, the larger the printed bar code.

Returns that contain special formatting may be processed at a different location than manually prepared returns. Therefore, the filing instructions that print with the state return may contain a mailing address that's different from the mailing address in the package that is sent to taxpayers. Be sure to have your clients mail their returns to the address in the filing instructions that print with the return.

Important: Because the bar code image is a function of the data in the tax return, it's important that you reprint the page with the bar code if changes are made to any part of the return. Also, do not print blank copies of the main form and prepare them manually. The Massachusetts taxing authority may attempt to scan the form and reject it.

End of ReadMe file for ProSeries/Massachusetts