Form 8986, Partner’s Share of Adjustment(s) to Partnership-Related Item(s)
Form 8986 is the statement a partnership sends its partners to pass along audit adjustments or corrections under the centralized partnership audit regime. Download the official IRS PDF below.
This is the genuine IRS PDF, unmodified. Source: IRS official page.
What is 8986?
Form 8986, Partner’s Share of Adjustment(s) to Partnership-Related Item(s), is issued under sections 6226 and 6227 when a partnership pushes out adjustments to its partners instead of paying an imputed underpayment itself, or when it files an administrative adjustment request (AAR) to correct a previously filed return. Each partner receives a Form 8986 showing their share of the adjustments.
A partner who receives the form generally uses Form 8978 to figure the additional tax or reduction in tax for their own reporting year. Pass-through partners that receive a Form 8986 must in turn either push the adjustments out to their own partners on new Forms 8986 or pay the amount themselves. The form travels with a Form 8985 transmittal when furnished and filed.
Who files 8986?
- Audited partnerships that elected under section 6226 to push out adjustments to their reviewed-year partners
- Partnerships filing an administrative adjustment request that passes adjustments to partners
- Pass-through partners forwarding adjustments they received down to their own partners
- Partners do not file Form 8986 themselves; they use it to complete Form 8978
How to fill out 8986
- Download the official blank PDF below; this form is completed from the partnership’s audit or AAR workpapers rather than filled as a standalone form.
- The partnership identifies itself, the reviewed year, and whether the form results from a push-out election or an AAR.
- Each partner’s share of every adjustment is listed, along with the partner’s identifying information.
- The partnership furnishes a copy to each partner and files copies with the IRS, transmitted with Form 8985, by the deadline in the instructions.
- Partners who receive the form use it to complete Form 8978 with their own return; keep the Form 8986 with your records.
Get 8986
IRS publishes 8986 as a flat PDF with no built-in form fields, so there is no quick-fill form here. Open it in the editor to type directly onto the pages, tick boxes and sign, or download the official blank and complete it in your PDF reader or by hand.
Frequently asked questions
I received a Form 8986. What do I do with it?
If you are a direct partner that is not a pass-through entity, use it to complete Form 8978 and report the resulting tax change on your return for the year you received the form. Do not amend your original return for the reviewed year.
What is the difference between Form 8986 and Schedule K-1?
A K-1 reports your share of the partnership’s current-year items. Form 8986 reports your share of adjustments to a prior year, arising from an IRS audit or the partnership’s own correction, under the centralized audit regime.
What if a pass-through entity receives one?
A pass-through partner must either push the adjustments out to its own partners by issuing its own Forms 8986 with a Form 8985 transmittal, or compute and pay the tax itself, within the deadlines in the instructions.