March 22,1999

Roth Applauds IRS Rule Change that will Help Small Businesses

WASHINGTON -- Senate Finance Committee Chairman William V. Roth, Jr. (R-DE) today cheered an IRS regulation change that will help some small businesses.

The rule change announced by the IRS today, which will become effective January 1, 2000, will exempt small businesses with aggregate deposits of $200,000 or less from being required to use the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System. Until the regulation becomes effective, the IRS also announced that it will waive EFTPS penalties for small businesses with aggregate deposits of $200,000 or less in 1998.

"I am pleased that the Internal Revenue Service and Treasury Department have listened to the concerns of the small business community by issuing proposed regulations that exempt small businesses with aggregate deposits of $200,000 or less from being required to use of the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System ("EFTPS")," Roth stated.

"Filing tax returns and making tax deposits electronically should be encouraged. It is accurate and convenient. I hope that taxpayers will feel increasingly more comfortable using EFTPS and voluntarily choose to use the system. However, until that comfort level is attained, I am pleased that the threshold will be increased and that penalties will be waived until next year for most taxpayers who choose to not file electronically."