Emergency Justification

DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20220

TO:

Alex Goodenough, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs

FROM:

Ryan Law, Deputy Assistant Secretary
for Privacy, Transparency, and Records

Digitally signed by
Ryan A. Law
Date: 2020.03.31
11:14:07 -04'00'

SUBJECT: Justification for Emergency Processing: Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return,
OMB #1545-0029

Pursuant to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) procedures established at 5 CFR
1320, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) requests that the following collection of information,
Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return, be processed in accordance with section 1320.13
Emergency Processing. The IRS has determined that this information must be collected prior to
the expiration of time periods established under Part 1320, and that this information is essential
to the IRS’s ability to effectively implement Division G of P.L. 116–127, the Families First
Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA), and Section 2301 of P.L. 116-136, the Coronavirus Aid,
Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, addressing the economic disruption stemming
from the Novel (new) Coronavirus (“2019-nCoV”) global pandemic.
New Form 7200 was developed for an employer to receive an advance payment of the
refundable portion of credit for qualified sick and family leave wages or compensation pursuant
to Division G of the FFCRA, and to receive an advance payment of the refundable portion of the
employee retention credit pursuant to Section 2301 of CARES , that will be claimed on Form
941, Form 943, Form 944, or Form CT-1. Because an employment tax return isn’t filed until
some period of time (generally, a month after the end of the quarter for which wages are being
reported) after wages are required to be paid, an employer may not be able to fund the sick leave
or family leave required by the FFCRA or fund the qualified wages under CARES. This may
create financial hardship to businesses that are unable to request an advance payment, so the
agency is requesting an emergency approval of Form 7200.
Given the critical impact of the global pandemic of 2019-nCoV, and the damaging effects on the
US economy, Treasury has directed an extremely expeditious implementation of the new
legislation, to be able to inject the necessary funds to the impacted employers. As a result,
Treasury is unable to consult with the public prior to issuing the forms, however the IRS has
ample experience designing other similar forms in a way that is clear and minimizes burden.
Also, due to the nature of this ICR, being voluntary and only one avenue to receive the benefit of
the tax credit (the preferred and recommended avenue is for employers to reduce their FICA
deposits, as noted in the Form 7200), the estimated number of respondents, and the associated
burden is extremely preliminary and provided only to comply with the requirements of 5 CFR
1320.3. Updated burden estimates will be provided as part of the renewal of OMB #1545-0029,
Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return.

Treasury requests approval of the submission by March 31, 2020. Given the inability to seek
public comment during such a short timeframe, Treasury requests a waiver from the requirement
to publish notice in the Federal Register seeking public comment during the period of OMB
review. Public comment will be solicited in conjunction with any future extension of the
approval to collect this information.