what to tell clients when they ask.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
long, long ago, humans began to use tools. technology began with the sharpened stick and the stone hammer and soon grew into the wheel, the arch, the printing press, electricity, interplanetary transportation, finally reaching a lofty pinnacle known as the “where’s my amended return” tool at the irs.
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today, with a few clicks of a mouse and a few keystrokes of information, a taxpayer can discover virtually nothing about the fate of an amended return. and it takes only a few minutes!
the scanty information available from the irs can be a pain in the necks of innumerable tax preparers who are expected to know the status of filed returns and somehow do something about them when they disappear into the irs.
little-known facts
here are a few little-known facts about amended returns:
- the 2,600 pages of the internal revenue code never mention amended returns.
- taxpayers are not required to file amended returns.
- the irs is not required to process amended returns.
- the supreme court has held that “an amended return is a creature of administrative origin and grace.” (in other words, the irs could opt out.)
- taxpayers have no right to file a claim for abatement of tax, though the irs may consider a request.
- sometimes the irs declines to consider an abatement, but it does so with no explanation.
- refunds on unaudited amended individual returns are made within four weeks.
- refunds on audited amended individual returns take a median of 29 weeks. (corporate returns: 37 weeks.)
- in 2019, the irs received 2.2 million phone calls regarding status of amended returns, but it answered only 1.4 million.
so, where’s my amended return?
the “where’s my amended return” tool is a relatively crude device, more sophisticated than a sharpened stick, but not much. it doesn’t really answer the question it asks. for whatever it’s worth, it is accessible at irs.gov and at an automated toll-free phone number.
the answer to the amended return question that bugs millions of taxpayers every year is one of the following:
- yes, the irs has received the amended return.
- the irs has made an adjustment based on the return.
- processing of the return has been completed.
that information is nice to have, but the amended return pipeline is long and convoluted, and much can go awry between input and output. where does the return sit in that pipeline? what’s happening to it right now? what’s the expected processing time?
the answers are blowing in the wind.
and that’s just for individual returns. there is no “where’s my amended return?” tool for business taxpayers.
common complaint
problems with amended returns are the fourth most common reason taxpayers contact the taxpayer advocate service. in fy 2019, the tas closed 9,602 cases involving amended returns. in 52 cases, taxpayers had requested abatements. in 22 of those cases, the irs rather tersely declined to consider the request – usually after the taxpayer had been waiting for several months with little information about what was happening with the return.
the terse rejection is a “letter 916c,” in which paragraph m states that “the law doesn’t allow you to file a claim to reduce the tax you owe.”
the tas claims the law says no such thing. in its 2020 report to congress, the tas points out that some 100,000 amended returns result in abatements every year.
the 916c letter is misleading, the tas says, and it undermines taxpayers’ legislated right to a) be informed and b) pay no more than the correct amount of tax.
the tas is recommending that either the irs or congress do some amending, such as:
- irs should inform taxpayers if an amended return is incomplete.
- irs should not use the 916c paragraph that says a taxpayer cannot apply for an abatement until the owed tax has been paid.
- irs should address the causes of lengthy examination times.
- irs should update the where’s my amended return tool to allow taxpayers to see whether the irs has selected the return for an audit, when the audit begins and what the estimated processing time will be.
accepting these recommendations will make life easier for tax preparers, who too often are expected to know what’s happening with their clients’ returns as they wend through the labyrinth of the irs.