March 11, 2013 – The IRS cancelled its planned March 12 public hearing on a proposed rule to allow the use of truncated taxpayer identification numbers, though that proposed rule is still under review.
The IRS issued a proposed rule this January that would allow filers of certain information returns to display just the last four digits of the taxpayer identification number in reports sent to IRS and taxpayers. Specifically, the proposal would permit use of a truncated TIN, or TTIN, in payee statements to identify payees.
For purposes of the proposed rule, an information statement could be a return, statement, form or other documents that must be filed with IRS to report transactions with another person during a calendar year.
The IRS, in its cancellation notice, says it has already conducted a pilot program for the TTIN, which generally went over well with return filers; the program yielded recommendations for improvements as well.
The public comment period ended last month, but the IRS also planned to allow discussion in a public hearing tomorrow. It only received one request to participate, and that request was later withdrawn.