Form 851, Corporate Affiliations Schedule
The parent corporation of an affiliated group files Form 851 with its consolidated income tax return.
Form 851's printed from the Top Consolidation return, but consists of information entered in the parent and subsidiary returns.
To create Form 851 correctly, it's important to know where to enter information for each field and section of this form. These instructions will lead you through the process.
Generally information for Form 851 comes from these 3 places:
- the Top Consolidation return,
- the parent return, and
- the subsidiary returns.
When you create a consolidation return, you select the active members to be included in the consolidation on the
What to Consolidate
screen. The system can now transfer in certain information from the entities you've listed. The corporation name, address, FEIN, estimated and extension payments, principal business activity, and PBA code information will carry in from the general information area in the respective parent and subsidiary returns.Consolidation carry information
The information that transfers into the Top Consolidation from other returns is referred to as “consolidation carry information.” Every time you perform a consolidation, the system sweeps the parent and subsidiary returns to collect the Consolidation Carry Information.
important
Be careful not to enter any of this information in the Top Consolidation's Organizer or Tax Forms. If you manually enter any data in these fields, the system overwrites this information each time you consolidate when it transfers the Consolidation Carry Information into the Organizer.
Parent
The following information carries automatically to the Top Consolidation return from the parent. To have this transfer occur, you must enter the company locator numbers on the Top Consolidation return in
Organizer
, Consolidated Returns
, What to Consolidate
.- Name and address (street, city, state, zip code)
- Tax year ending
- Employer identification number
- Prepayment credits
- PBA Code number
Subsidiaries
The following information carries automatically to the Top Consolidation return from the subsidiary returns:
- Names and addresses
- Employer identification numbers
- Prepayment credits
- Principal business activity
- PBA Code numbers
Top Consolidations
Enter this information in the Top Consolidation return:
- Inactive subsidiary information- If you don't prepare returns for inactive members of the consolidation, you can add these members to your Form 851 on the Top Consolidation return. This information carries to Part I of Form 851. In the Top Consolidation, go toOrganizer,Informational Forms,Affiliation Schedule,Inactive Subsidiary Information. Enter the name, address, FEIN, and PBA information for each inactive member. Be sure to assign the first inactive subsidiary a company number that follows the last number assigned to active subsidiaries onConsolidated Returns,What to Consolidate,Consolidation Locator List.
- Voting stock information- Enter your company number, and the PBA activity and code will appear.
- Part III and Par IV information- Enter parent and subsidiary information for Parts III and IV of Form 851.
Related Content
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Form 851 data entry
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