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Schedule LEP, Form 1040, Request for Change in Language Preference

Schedule LEP, Form 1040, Request for Change in Language Preference

The IRS has introduced Schedule LEP for the Form 1040 if either the taxpayer and/or spouse requests any potential future notices in a different language.

The current choice of languages is:

000 English 001 Spanish (Español) 002 Korean (한국어) 003 Vietnamese (Tiếng Việt) 004 Russian (Pусский) 005 Arabic (العربية( 006 Haitian Creole (Kreyòl Ayisyen) 007 Tagalog (Tagalog) 008 Portuguese (Português) 009 Polish (Polski) 010 Farsi (فارسی( 011 French (Français) 012 Japanese (日本語) 013 Gujarati (ગુજરાતી) 014 Punjabi (ਪੰਜਾਬੀ) 015 Khmer (ែខ�រ) 016 Urdu (اردو( 017 Bengali (বাংলা) 018 Italian (Italiano) 019 Chinese (Traditional) 中文(繁體) 020 Chinese (Simplified) 中文(简体

The instructions further state that:

“If you and your spouse are filing a joint return, file a Schedule LEP with your tax return for each spouse who prefers an alternative language. If both spouses would prefer to receive written communications in an alternative language other than English, file a separate form for each spouse, even if both spouses prefer the same alternative language.”

The NSTP submitted the following question to general counsel at the IRS regarding the role of the tax professional who submits a POA for the taxpayer:

“Schedule LEP allows the taxpayer and/or spouse to select another language for notices. If a POA (Form 2848) is submitted for the taxpayer, does the POA receive the notices in English or the language selected by the taxpayer?”

The answer from general counsel stated:

“The POA receives the notice or correspondence in the language that the taxpayer designates.”

This opens up an interesting discussion as to the likelihood that a tax professional would file the Schedule LEP unless they also speak the same language as their client.