Don't Mess With Taxes

If you’ve glanced at the filing extension countdown in the ol’ tax blog’s right column, you know time is running out to file your extended tax return. The incessantly ticking clock isn’t a reason to panic. It is, however, a reminder that you don’t want to push that Oct. 15 deadline. The Internal Revenue Service doesn’t give you any more time to file your Form 1040. So, you should be thinking about finishing up that paperwork now. Here are some tips to help. Gather your filing documents. This shouldn’t be too much of a problem. You probably used the material... Read more →

The Internal Revenue Service’s long-standing goal of regulating noncredentialed tax preparers got some support from the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee’s (ETAAC) 2024 annual report. Such oversight is one of a dozen recommendations in the latest ETAAC document, released June 26. It is one of three suggestions the panel directed to Congress; the remaining nine ETAAC recommendations are for the IRS. ETAAC goals: ETAAC is a volunteer panel established by Congress in 1988 to provide public input into the development and implementation of the IRS organizational strategy for, as the name says, electronic tax administration. To that end, ETAAC researches,... Read more →

Unsplash+ in collaboration with Kateryna Hliznitsova One of the biggest, most persistent complaints about the Internal Revenue Service is the agency’s service, or lack thereof, in answering taxpayer phone calls. The IRS has improved in this area, according to the National Taxpayer Advocate’s midyear report to Congress released today. The Treasury Department and the IRS established the Accounts Management (AM) Customer Service Representative Level of Service (LOS) standard to measure taxpayer service. For the past two filing seasons, notes National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) Erin M. Collins in her report, the Treasury/IRS LOS goal of at least 85 percent was met.... Read more →

There’s good news for the Internal Revenue Service’s efforts to get rid of as much paper as possible. The agency’s Document Upload Tool, or DUT, recently received its 1 millionth taxpayer submission. The online option lets taxpayers and tax professionals respond digitally to a wide range of tax issues. One of those issues is potentially underreported income, which prompts the IRS to issue Notice CP2000. With the DUT, taxpayers or their preparers can easily scan the material that answers the notice’s questions and electronically submit it to the agency, said the IRS. DUT growth: The upload tool was launched in... Read more →

The Internal Revenue Service recommended, and the U.S. Treasury agreed, that the free tax software program created and operated directly by the IRS will be a permanent tax preparation and electronic filing option. Federal tax officials are encouraging all 50 states and Washington, D.C., to join the expanded Direct File program in filing season 2025. UPDATE, Sept. 5, 2025: Has your state joined Direct File? Check out this special Direct File 2025 Participating States page. All U.S. taxpayers next year could have another no-cost option to prepare and e-file their federal tax returns. The U.S. Treasury Department and Internal Revenue... Read more →

Sometimes, you can find what you need online or by calling someone for help. Other times, especially when it comes to taxes, getting the answer in person is more reassuring. That's what IRS Taxpayer Assistance Centers offer, and for the last few years, they've held special no-appointment-needed Saturday openings. The tax agency watchdog looked at how well that's worked. (Photo by Amy Hirschi on Unsplash) A week ago, the Internal Revenue Service was holding its fourth and final walk-in Saturday at select Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs) across the United States and Puerto Rico. The IRS has more than 360 TACs... Read more →

This is the Internal Revenue Service’s fourth and final Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) Saturday opening in 2024. IRS reps will be accepting walk-in help requests at 59 TACs in 30 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C. Photo by Tim Douglas The Internal Revenue Service is offering taxpayers in 32 jurisdictions one more chance this year to get help at a Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) without having to make an appointment. The agency’s final Saturday walk-in is tomorrow, May 18. At the select TACs — 59 total — across the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, you can... Read more →

The Internal Revenue Service is holding refunds sought by thousands of filers it suspects inflated those amounts by improperly claiming some tax credits. While the IRS sorts through these questionable claims, those taxpayers aren’t going to see any refund money. Not even that amount unconnected to the questionable credit claims. The dubious claims delaying the refunds involve the Fuel Tax Credit, Sick and Family Leave Credit, and household employment taxes. “Scam artists and social media posts have perpetuated a number of false and misleading claims that have tricked well-meaning taxpayers into believing they’re entitled to big, windfall tax refunds. These... Read more →

To paraphrase the oft-covered pop song, you fought the Internal Revenue Service law, and the IRS won. But that’s not necessarily the end of the process. You have the right to appeal the IRS’ decision. The agency itself says so in its Taxpayer Bill of Rights. And the IRS has a separate appeals office created to deal with these taxpayer-auditor disputes. There are around 1,500 appeals office employees, most of whom were auditors themselves, and generally have legal or accounting experience. I know. You saw that phrase “were auditors themselves,” and are having second thoughts about appealing your tax finding.... Read more →

Photo by Amina Filkins If National Small Business Week has you thinking about starting your own company, congratulations. You’ll be joining a growing sector of the U.S. economy. The Small Business Administration (SBA) describes a small business as one with fewer than 500 employees. That covers enterprises from one-person shops to manufacturing facilities with hundreds of workers. The U.S. Census Bureau’s Business Dynamics Statistics indicate there were 5,358,600 firms that met that definition in 2021, the latest year for complete data. That was an increase from 5,322,155 in 2020. But small really is key here. County Business Patterns (CBP) data... Read more →

Photo by Joshua Rodriguez on Unsplash It’s National Small Business Week 2024! Technically, the U.S. Small Business Administration’s annual recognition event started yesterday, Sunday, April 28. The kick-off yesterday of this year's National Small Business Week (NSBW) included an awards ceremony where this year’s National Small Business Person of the Year and runner-up were named, along with the Small Business Persons of the Year from each state, the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico. The event, with a theme this year of Building on America’s Small Business Boom, continues through Saturday, May 4. Your small business taxes: The full... Read more →

Tax Day 2024 is Monday, April 15. Have you filed your 1040 yet? By the end of March, the Internal Revenue Service had received more than 90 million tax returns. Sounds like a lot, right? But that's just 70 percent of the almost 129 million returns the tax agency is expecting to get this tax season. So a lot of taxpayers (or their tax preparers) are busy this weekend. Of course, not all those 39 million yet-to-be-filed returns will be finished by April 15. A good portion will be extended, giving the taxpayers (and their tax preparers) until Oct. 15... Read more →

A fourth, and final, Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) Saturday opening is set for May 18. Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash The third round of special Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) Saturday openings is this weekend, April 13. But don't let the date confuse you. Just because Internal Revenue Service reps will be available to help taxpayers who live near the TACs open across the United States, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico on April 13 doesn't mean the tax agency staff will help filers complete 2023 tax returns (or extension requests) due on Monday, April 15. They won't. These... Read more →

Conversations in American Sign Language (ASL) are common. Getting tax help from preparers fluent in ASL, not so common, despite a large hearing impaired or deaf taxpayer community. (Photo by SHVETS production) The U.S. Census Bureau's 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) says about 3.6 percent of the U.S. population, or about 11 million individuals, consider themselves deaf or have serious difficulty hearing. The Hearing Loss Association of America estimates that 48 million Americans have some degree of hearing loss. Deafness not only affects individuals, but also their families and friends, their jobs, and yes, taxes. IRS options for deaf taxpayers:... Read more →

Doing your taxes can be stressful, but don't add to it by making an avoidable filing error. (Photo by Unsplash+ in collaboration with Getty Images) The tax filing, and paying if you owe, deadline is nearly here. Millions of us have yet to send our 1040 forms to the Internal Revenue Service. So next week is likely to be frantic, especially on the part of taxpayers who are doing their own taxes. This also means that these last-minute filers might make some mistakes as they hurry to get their taxes done by April 15. Don't be one of them. Tax... Read more →

Internal Revenue Service Commissioner Danny Werfel recently spoke to a group of students, faculty, and IRS guests at the Kogod Tax Center at American University in Washington, D.C., revealing what has been dubbed the IRS' generational digital transformation plan. That plan is part of what the Biden Administration said it expects from the federal tax agency when it offered Werfel the commissioner job in the fall of 2022. "They told me, the next commissioner could lead the IRS through the most important tech-enabled transformation of a government agency in U.S. history," said Werfel. "So again, my jaw dropped to the... Read more →

The Internal Revenue Service has held two special walk-in Saturdays this year at its Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs) across the United States. Two more are scheduled for April and May. The no-appointment-needed sessions are welcomed by taxpayers who need help (note, however, that the TAC reps aren't offering tax return filing assistance), as long as you can find them. A recent report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) found that's not always easy, especially if you search online for a TAC office. Issue reported by the IRS: To the IRS' credit, the agency brought this concern to... Read more →

Two more IRS Taxpayer Assistance Center (TAC) Saturday openings are scheduled for April 13 and May 18. Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash The Internal Revenue Service's second special Saturday openings this year of Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs) will be this Saturday, March 16. As with the February event, and the two openings in April and May, there's no need for taxpayers to make appointments. They can just walk into the TACs, which will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. local time, for help. The following 70 TACs in 34 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico... Read more →

Photo by Elissa Garcia on Unsplash If you're ever tempted to utter "these kids today" with a sigh and head shake, then take a few minutes to read about some California teenagers who are making a big tax difference in their community. The Rancho Cucamonga high school students come back to campus every Saturday during tax filing season to run a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) clinic. The students, many of whom are planning on financial careers once they graduate high school and college, filled out 250+/- Internal Revenue Service returns last year for taxpayers in the city just east... Read more →

Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) members adorn the cover of the federal tax advisory committee's 2022 report. Do you constantly look at things and think, I know how to make that better? Then the Internal Revenue Service wants you. Specifically, the IRS' Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP) wants you. This all-volunteer group with members from across the United States, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico is committed to improving the IRS and the U.S. tax system. An additional member represents the interests of taxpayers working, living, or doing business abroad. "TAP volunteers consistently work to identify issues, and most importantly, come up with... Read more →