Partnerships will not have to pay penalties for missing a new, earlier deadline to file 2016 tax returns, the IRS said in September.

The IRS made the statement in Notice 2017-47.

Partnership tax returns used to have to be filed by April 15 for partnerships that report income on a calendar-year basis. Congress moved up the deadline to March 15 in the Surface Transportation Act in late 2015 as a way of raising more money for the federal government.

The change applied for the first time to 2016 tax returns that had to be filed in 2017. Many partnerships missed the deadline. The IRS said it will not make any partnership pay a penalty that filed its 2016 return or asked for an extension by the old deadline. Similar relief is not expected in 2018.