IRS Grants Penalty Relief for MF Global Farmers
The bankrupt financial company didn't send 1099 tax forms by March 1 deadline
The IRS last week announced it will grant penalty relief for farmers and others who lost money when MF Global (MFG) declared bankruptcy and didn’t receive their Form 1099 from the company by the March 1 deadline.
Meanwhile, an MFG financial officer last week, the woman who allegedly sent an email saying MFG CEO John Corzine told her to move $200 million from protected customer accounts to cover a company shortfall in the United Kingdom, invoked her constitutional right to avoid self-incrimination during a House Financial Services Committee hearing into where as much as $1.6 billion in company assets has gone.
Edith O’Brien, MFG assistant treasurer and identified by Corzine in earlier testimony as a person who dealt with transfers during the days running up to the company bankruptcy, was identified in a committee investigation as assuring JP Morgan Chase in an email that the wire transfer to cover a default by MFG was authorized by Corzine.
After refusing to answer any questions and giving no public statement to the committee, O’Brien was dismissed. Other MFG witnesses at the hearing – including the firm’s general counsel, its former chief financial officer and the current chief financial officer – offered no new information on where the lost money may be.
In filing for the IRS penalty relief, the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives is advising applicants to complete a Form 2210-F, Underpayment of Estimated Tax by Farmers and Fishermen, and attach a short statement as to why they received the late Form 1099 from MFG. Applicants should write “MF Global” at the top of Form 2210-F. More information is available from the IRS by going to www.irs.gov, and searching for Information Release IR-2012-37, March 23, 2012.
