Don't Mess With Taxes

Photo by RODNAE Productions Last year, as the country started emerging from COVID-19 closures, the Internal Revenue Service joined the resocialization. It opened some of its Taxpayer Assistance Centers (TACs) across the country so individuals could get some face-to-face tax help, no appointments needed. That resumption of more-normal taxpayer interaction was such a success, the agency is doing it again this 2023 filing season. For one Saturday a month, beginning in February and continuing through May, TACs in 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico will be open on four upcoming Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.... Read more →

The Earned Income Tax Credit, or EITC, is one of the most beneficial tax breaks for lower- and moderate-income workers. It's also one of the most under-claimed. The reasons are many, starting with its complexity. You have to work to be able to claim the EITC. But if you make too much money, you're ineligible. Your marital status comes in the calculation of the final credit, as does the size of your family. And many single people ignore the EITC because they think it's only available to filers with dependent children. "This is an extremely important tax credit that helps... Read more →

Photo by Pixabay The Internal Revenue Service is slowly but slowly becoming more electronic. The pace should pick up once the agency starts spending some of the new money it got this year to upgrade its operating systems. It's also looking for volunteers to offer suggestions on how the IRS can be a better e-agency. Specifically, the IRS is looking for applicants for the Electronic Tax Administration Advisory Committee (ETAAC). Ongoing electronic efforts: The ETAAC was established by Congress as part of 1998's IRS Restructuring and Reform Act. Its primary goal is to help the IRS meet that law's targets... Read more →

Image by Ag Ku from Pixabay There's some good news for taxpayers and the Internal Revenue Service as we near the new year and 2023 tax filing season. The IRS is making progress in working through its backlog of paper tax returns. In a Nov. 10 update on IRS Operations During COVID-19: Mission-Critical Functions Continue webpage, the agency reports that it is "opening mail within normal time frames," and has "processed all paper and electronic individual returns" that had no errors or didn't require further review "in the order received if they were received prior to April 2022." As of... Read more →

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash One of the outcomes of an audit is that the Internal Revenue Service finds no reason to demand changes to a return. That's obviously a welcome result. None of us want to end up paying Uncle Sam more taxes, plus penalty and interest charges. But there's still is a cost. We've likely paid a tax professional to help us through the process. And as the old credit card ad says, our time is priceless. Some audits end up OK for filers: The generally good news, according to the Aug. 4 Kiplinger Tax Letter, is... Read more →

A constant and continual message from the Internal Revenue Service is that more of us should electronically file our returns. But, says the National Taxpayer Advocate, the agency isn't making e-filing easy enough. The Internal Revenue Service IRS offers more electronic amended filings, just day after Taxpayer Advocate says agency's e-filing options are lacking Among the many issues National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins cited in her latest report to Congress is limited e-filing options, for both annual returns and amended ones, The IRS answered that charge at least a little today, announcing that it has expanded e-filing options for... Read more →

TAP members grace the cover of the federal advisory panel's 2021 Annual Report. As the annual tax filing (and payment) deadline nears, complaints about the process increase. It's a natural reaction to the frustration of dealing with our complex tax code, especially these last three years that have been complicated by COVID-created deadline changes, delays, and new laws. Some folks, however, want to do more than grumble. They want to be a part of making the tax system better. They are the volunteer members of the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel, or TAP. And that group now has some new members. 2022... Read more →

Taxpayer Advocacy Panel members provide information on how to improve the IRS at the agency's annual Tax Forums. (Photo courtesy TAP News) That old saying about everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it applies to most things. If you substitute "complains" for "talks," then it definitely applies to taxes. But with taxes, unlike the weather, there is a possibility for change. Really. The Internal Revenue Service is looking for volunteers to serve on the Taxpayer Advocacy Panel (TAP). The TAP is a federal advisory committee whose members look for ways the IRS can improve services and... Read more →

The 2022 tax filing season officially begins on Monday, Jan. 24. Some people, however, are not convinced the Internal Revenue Service is ready. The concern isn't just about the millions of 2021 returns that will be flooding the IRS' system, but also the millions of returns the agency is still processing from the previous COVID-affected filing seasons. That backlog and continuing challenges prompted a coalition of tax practitioners and advocacy groups to write the IRS and Treasury Department, urging those leaders to "take steps to ameliorate the situation." Specifically, the representatives from 11 tax and public advocacy organizations want the... Read more →

There aren't any surprises in National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins' annual report to Congress on the 2021 filing season. Something else that's not surprising is that Collins warns that things aren't likely to get any better for taxpayers, tax pros, or the Internal Revenue Service this year. Unprecedented tax annus horribilis: "Calendar year 2021 was surely the most challenging year taxpayers and tax professionals have ever experienced," wrote Collins in the prologue of the required report issued today, Jan. 12. The problems included long processing and refund delays, difficulty reaching the IRS by phone, correspondence that went unprocessed for... Read more →

Every tax season is challenging. Often, it's because Congress has fiddled with tax laws, presenting new learning curves for both taxpayers and the preparers they hire to lead them through the Internal Revenue Code. Problems during the last two years, however, can be blamed on COVID-19. Not only did the pandemic produce new laws, there have been delayed deadlines and health-related closures that created processing problems for the Internal Revenue Service. The latest 2021 filing season hurdle, for both taxpayers and the IRS, is the amount of tax returns the agency says must be processed by hand. The IRS is... Read more →

Some people got less COVID-19 relief money because the IRS took some to pay other debts. Every year, some taxpayers find the tax refunds the Internal Revenue Service sends them are less than they expected. The usual reason for the shortfall is that the federal refund amounts were offset by other debts, such as unpaid taxes, student loans or delinquent child support. That situation cropped up last year when the Recovery Rebate Credit was created as part of COVID-19 relief legislation. The rebates were paid in advance to millions of taxpayers. And in some, but not all, instances, economic impact... Read more →

The Internal Revenue Service has delivered two rounds of COVID-19 economic impact payments (EIPs). The first was the $1,200 per person approved in late March 2020 under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The second EIP for $600 per person was authorized at the end of last December as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA), with payments distributed through the first two weeks of January 2021. By now, folks know that if they didn't get the full amounts, which included additional payments for eligible dependents, they need to claim the Recovery Rebate Credit (RRC). You'll do... Read more →

Image via GIPHY If you were part of the millions of taxpayers who didn't get their refunds — and I am seeing on social media that even into 2021, some people are still waiting … — the National Taxpayer Advocate (NTA) feels your pain. NTA Erin M. Collins included that complaint in her list of the 10 most serious problems facing taxpayers. The list is part of the Internal Revenue Service watchdog office's Annual Report to Congress, which was released on Wednesday, Jan. 13. Tax fraud fighting delays: There's a common thread among the 1040s where refunds are delayed. These... Read more →

Congress is debating, sort of, the possibility of, among other pandemic-related issues, another round of COVID-19 economic relief payments (EIPs). That's good news for folks struggling to make ends meet in the wake of coronavirus-related economic troubles. But some folks haven't yet received the first stimulus checks created back in March under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Created to help, but…: Now there's some good news for some encountering relief payment problems. The Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) now can help taxpayers in certain situations resolve their COVID-19 payment issues. "Previously, the IRS did not have a... Read more →

The Hon. John Lewis receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2010. (Obama White House photo) The celebration of the life of the Hon. John Lewis continues. Today, the late civil rights leader and long-time member of Congress lies in state in his native Alabama. Other key moments from his early days in the South also will be commemorated as part of the six-day journey of memorialization and tributes that continues in Washington, D.C., before he goes to his final rest in Atlanta. America, the world actually, lost a true hero when Lewis passed away on... Read more →

Erin M. Collins took over as National Taxpayer Advocate on March 30, just as the United States was coming to grips with the coronavirus, so it's no surprise that the pandemic and its effects on taxes are part of her first official report to Congress. "Starting in the midst of a pandemic and witnessing IRS offices closing one by one was not the way I envisioned my role when I accepted the position," wrote Collins in the report's preface. But, added Collins, there's been a silver lining. In conference calls with her leadership team, Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) employees and... Read more →

Millions of folks — around 152 million of us, by the Internal Revenue Service's latest count — have received COVID-19 economic impact payments, or EIPs as they are called in the acronym crazy federal government (and tax) world. The payments of up to $1,200 per individual and $500 for each eligible child were created by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. The IRS began sending out EIPs in April. But now, two months after the CARES Act became law on March 27, some EIP-eligible recipients are still waiting for direct deposit or a paper check or a... Read more →

Law schools and their students, like these at Georgia State University College of Law, are major contributors to the success of Low-Income Taxpayer Clinics nationwide. (Photo courtesy Philip C. Cook LITC) Sometimes, taxpayers encounter issues more serious that just filing their returns. They discover that the Internal Revenue Service has some questions about a prior return or an appeal of an agency decision isn't going as expected or that the federal tax collector is taking his name to heart and initiating collection procedures. What to do? Specifically, what to do if you don't have much money? Find your nearest Low-Income... Read more →

Erin Collins, representing KPMG, speaking at the 2014 Step Up Inspiration Awards (Photo courtesy Step Up) Erin M. Collins was named today as the Internal Revenue Service's National Taxpayer Advocate. The former managing director of KPMG's Tax Controversy Services practice for the Western Area in Los Angeles assumes the post vacated last July by Nina E. Olson. Bridget Roberts of the Taxpayer Advocate Service had been serving as interim Taxpayer Advocate. "I am deeply honored to join the talented team at the IRS as the National Taxpayer Advocate," said Collins. "I will work every day to be a strong and... Read more →