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September 1, 2023  – When a taxpayer does not file a required tax return, the IRS has the option of preparing the return on their behalf, which is commonly called a Substitute for Return (SFR).   Success Story: TAS ensures statutes are appropriately enforced  Every year the Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) helps thousands of people…

August 29, 2023 – Some penalties require supervisory approval before they can be assessed by the IRS. The applicable statute, however, is vague regarding the point at which this approval must occur. This statutory ambiguity has generated conflicting decisions among the courts, which leaves taxpayers unsure about how they should be treated by the IRS…

August 22, 2023 – One persistent challenge the IRS continually deals with is preventing fraudulent refunds from being issued. Sadly, this phenomenon has become more and more common, as the number of refundable credits and their values continue to increase, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), the Additional Child Tax Credit (ACTC), and…

August 31, 2023 – Starting in 2024, you can begin communicating with the IRS digitally; additional enhancements coming in 2025.  The IRS announced that taxpayers will have the option to go paperless for IRS correspondence by the 2024 filing season, with additional digital enhancements by the 2025 filing season. The IRS Paperless Processing Initiative will…

August 24, 2023 – In a series of earlier blogs, I discussed some of the problematic aspects of the international information return (IIR) penalty regime. In Part 1, I advocated that, especially after the Tax Court’s decision in Farhy v. Commissioner, Congress should make Chapter 61 IIR penalties subject to deficiency procedures. In Part 2,…

August 17, 2023 – TAS Tax Tip: Don’t Fall Victim to an Employee Retention Credit Scheme  Aggressive marketers and scammers have their targets set on the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). You may have seen television commercials or received emails promising employers payouts of this pandemic-related refundable tax credit. Remember, with schemes like this, employers should…

August 17, 2023 – TAS continues to advocate for legislation that would restructure the EITC to make it simpler for taxpayers.  Despite the challenges involved, I encourage all taxpayers undergoing an EITC audit to fully participate in the EITC audit process and work with the IRS by supplying any available documentation to support EITC eligibility.…

August 14, 2023 – Do you have a Tax Pro Account? If not, you should. With the recent improvements and additional functionality coming in the next year, the Tax Pro Account will finally start to provide tax professionals with online tools to assist their clients more efficiently. The recent improvements include the ability to link…

August 11, 2023 – Effective July 24, most unannounced visits by revenue officers will stop. IRS halts most unannounced collection employee visits to taxpayers On July 24, the IRS announced that it will immediately end most unannounced revenue officer (RO) visits.  For decades, IRS ROs have visited households and businesses as part of their efforts…

August 3, 2023 – National Taxpayer Advocate Joins Treasury Secretary and IRS Commissioner for Launch of Paperless Processing Initiative National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins joined Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel at the IRS facility in McLean, Virginia, to discuss modernizing IRS technology and the launch of a paperless processing initiative.  …