With April 15th rapidly approaching, I thought I would address a common question that I receive this time of year. Who can be the tax matters partner of a partnership?
The tax matters partner is the partner authorized to sign the partnership’s tax return and otherwise communicate with the IRS. In the case of a limited partnership, the tax matters partner is generally the general partner.
In the case of a limited liability company that is treated as a partnership for federal tax purposes, the issue becomes more complicated. A limited liability company is often managed by a manager, and the manager may or may not be a member of the limited liability company. It is very common for the members to select the manager as the tax matters partner. However, this does not work if the manager is not a member of the limited liability company. The tax matters partner must be a partner in the partnership or a member in the limited liability company. So be careful this tax season and make sure that whoever is signing your partnership tax return is appropriately authorized to do so.
