George Hani was quoted regarding amendments to the centralized partnership audit tax regime and §§ 6621 and 6241 of the Internal Revenue Code, which were signed into law with the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA). Under the new law, the statutes of limitations of sections 6501 and 6511 no longer apply when a partner files a return relating to adjustments to a reviewed-year partnership-related item. "This is a step in the right direction," Hani said. "Now they can file an amended return notwithstanding either statute of limitations. If either the assessment statute of limitations or the refund statute is closed, they can still file an amended return under these rules." Before the bill was passed, if one statute of limitation was closed, then the amended return option was no longer available, he said, adding that this has been changed to refer to both statutes of limitation, which makes the amended return a more viable option for modification. The CAA also allows partners to plug tax decreases into an individual's return, which helps get closer to the right tax number by allowing for negative adjustments as well as positive adjustments, Hani said. The new rules are beneficial because now, something like the depreciation on an item can be used to determine the amount someone would calculate and report on the next filed return, Hani said, adding that under the old rules the partner could not benefit from depreciation of an item during the intervening years between the reviewed year and the adjustment, or finalized, year.