tax practice

lessons learned: how the federal shutdown hit busy season 2019

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broken system. broken trust. broken tax season.

selected irs inventories and levels of service pre-shutdown and post-shutdown

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

the government shutdown of 2018-19 was a traumatic experience that cpas and tax preparers will remember, with a shudder, for years to come.

more on busy season: the irs mess: taxpayer’s roadmap is a plumber’s nightmare |  fixing the irs: tax professionals speak out |  refunds rebound, up 1.3% from last year  | tax refund fury roils busy season |  irs in crisis: tax professionals bear the brunt  |  the tax season funnies: worst video game ever  |  taxpayer advocate slams congress over funding  |  1.6 million tax clients gone missing?  |  busy season: fear, hope & frustration  |  alternative minimum tax: what’s it like today? |  clients’ top worry: going broke  |  the latest rules on charitable donations |

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

it was the longest shutdown in history, and it hit precisely at crunch time for the tax cuts and jobs act and just as tax season was getting underway.

look at some of the stats from the taxpayer advocate service for service just before and just after (not during) the shutdown: read more →

the irs mess: taxpayer’s roadmap is a plumber’s nightmare

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fixing the irs: add your comments with the busy season barometer here.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

every year, the taxpayer advocate service, an independent agency within the internal revenue service, issues a report to congress on the 20 most serious problems taxpayers face in trying to fulfill their patriotic duty to fund their nation.

 

today’s bonus question: fixing the irs

more on busy season: fixing the irs: tax professionals speak out |  refunds rebound, up 1.3% from last year  | tax refund fury roils busy season |  irs in crisis: tax professionals bear the brunt  |  the tax season funnies: worst video game ever  |  taxpayer advocate slams congress over funding  |  1.6 million tax clients gone missing?  |  busy season: fear, hope & frustration  |  alternative minimum tax: what’s it like today? |  clients’ top worry: going broke  |  the latest rules on charitable donations |

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

taxpayer advocate nina e. olson, who just this year announced her retirement from the agency, notes that identifying the 20 problems that are most serious is not objectively possible or even desirable. sometimes, for example, the problems are the same as those of previous years, so the legislated mandate allows for subjective decisions about what to include. read more →

fixing the irs: tax professionals speak out

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what accountants are saying, in a word cloud

“all it takes is money.” sounds easy? except for the politics.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

wow! we asked for it, and we got it: an avalanche of advice on how to fix the irs.

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 has always received smart, candid, and often outspoken responses to our busy season survey—  thousands of tax preparers from sea to shining sea telling us what’s happening in their offices.

click here to open survey

more on busy season:  refunds rebound, up 1.3% from last year  | tax refund fury roils busy season |  irs in crisis: tax professionals bear the brunt  |  the tax season funnies: worst video game ever  |  taxpayer advocate slams congress over funding  |  1.6 million tax clients gone missing?  |  busy season: fear, hope & frustration  |  alternative minimum tax: what’s it like today? |  clients’ top worry: going broke  |  the latest rules on charitable donations  |  busy season: accountants worry for u.s. economy  |  tax shops bulk up for big busy season  |  busy season: the busiest ever? |  more real-time busy season coverage here

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

but this year, halfway through the season, we asked a loaded question: how would you fix the irs? the professionals in the trenches of tax prep know what the problems are and what to do about them. they also seemed a bit miffed (to put it mildly) that the solutions seem so obvious, yet the problems keep compounding. read more →

refunds rebound, up 1.3% from last year

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blanton

but filing remains sluggish and tax pro market share loses 1.5 million filers.

busy season barometer
today’s bonus question: how to fix the irs?
join the survey. get the results.

by beth bellor
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

four weeks into tax filing season, we’re seeing some positives.

more: tax refund fury roils busy season | tax pro efiling drops 12.5% after shutdown  | tax shops bulk up for big busy season | 16 big questions for tax season
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

is it a misleading positive because we’re just now seeing refunds that include the eitc and child tax credit? mmm, maybe. but after a gloomy first few weeks, we might be willing to take whatever good news we can get.

“we’re definitely off to a slower start this year.,” cpa and financial planner brian blanton in carmel, ind., tells the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer. “clients are behind in sending in tax information compared to last year.”
read more →

irs in crisis: tax professionals bear the brunt

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join the survey. get the results.

america’s tax and accounting practitioners are suffering the brunt of the shortcomings at the irs. but the profession may have some of the solutions.

that’s why we’re asking in today’s bonus question:
how would you fix the irs?
join the survey. get the results.

special to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

national taxpayer advocate nina e. olson has issued to congress a scathing report on worsening dysfunction at the internal revenue service.

more on busy season 2019:  the tax season funnies: worst video game ever  |  taxpayer advocate slams congress over funding  |  busy season: fear, hope & frustration  |  alternative minimum tax: what’s it like today?  |  clients’ top worry: going broke  |  the latest rules on charitable donations  |  accountants worry for u.s. economy |  tax shops bulk up for big busy season  |  busy season: the busiest ever?  |  free to pro members: busy season 2019 trend report

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

the annual report to congress, mandated by law, presents a lurid indictment of an essential government agency that “is stretched to its breaking point.” read more →

taxpayer advocate slams congress over funding

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“shortcuts’ have become the norm.”

special to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

national taxpayer advocate nina e. olson has slammed congress hard in the taxpayer advocate service annual report 2017. after a series of irs budget cuts over the last several years, olson says she sees the daily consequences of reduced funding and the choices made by the agency in the face of funding constraints.

more: busy season: accountants worry for u.s. economy | tax shops bulk up for big busy season | busy season: the busiest ever? | survey: tax season launches with a whimper | 16 big questions for tax season | survey: tax accountants alarmed by tcja & shutdown

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

“funding cuts have rendered the irs unable to provide acceptable levels of taxpayer service, unable to upgrade its technology…and unable to maintain compliance programs that both promote and protect taxpayer rights,” olson said in her preface to the annual report. “‘shortcuts’ have become the norm, and ‘shortcuts’ are incompatible with high-quality tax administration.”

read more →

1.6 million tax clients gone missing?

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chart of tax filing data for the week ending feb. 8, 2019
^ tax filing data for the week ending feb. 8, 2019

opening days show accountants filed only 40% of irs intake. blame the shutdown.

by beth bellor
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

the irs might have rushed into action as soon as the government shutdown ended, but it still is feeling the effects as all filing statistics remain on the downside two weeks in.

more: busy season: accountants worry for u.s. economy | tax shops bulk up for big busy season | busy season: the busiest ever? | survey: tax season launches with a whimper | 16 big questions for tax season | survey: tax accountants alarmed by tcja & shutdown

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

as of the week ending feb. 8 – the latest data available – the internal revenue service had received 28.8 million returns, down 6.9 percent from the same week in 2018. it had processed 27 million returns, down 10.2 percent, for a processing rate of 93.8 percent.

read more →

busy season: fear, hope & frustration

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how's busy season so far? join the survey. get the results.
join the survey. get the results.

accountants face angry, confused clients.

next question: what to tell clients?
join the survey. get the answers.

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

america’s tax practitioners are in a swirl of fear, hope, and frustration as they recover from the irs shutdown, present their clients with the realities of the tax cut and jobs act, and scramble to deal with new regulations, unobtainable irs forms, obsolete software, and inevitable filing extensions.

more on busy season: accountants worry for u.s. economy  |  tax shops bulk up for big busy season  |  busy season: the busiest ever?  |  survey: tax season launches with a whimper16 big questions for tax season   |  survey: tax accountants alarmed by tcja & shutdown | shutdown: what to tell tax clients during “the lapse” | beware the leeches and consultants | charitable giving under tcja | why padding tax deductions is a risky proposition |  handling the delay in 199a regs |  survey: clients rush for tcja answers|

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

free to pro members: busy season 2019 trend report (log-in required)

the 2019 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer is forecasting a profitable year, but the higher revenues are coming with higher anxiety. read more →

alternative minimum tax: what’s it like today?

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there are only two brackets for 2018.

by barry j. friedman, cpa
industrynewsletters

the tax cuts and jobs act made many changes to the individual tax law, including the alternative minimum tax.

more: the latest rules on charitable donations | beware the taxes of self-employment | charitable giving under tcja | why padding tax deductions is a risky proposition | portability: sharing the estate tax exemption
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one of the goals of the new tax law was to reduce the impact of the amt or even to repeal it entirely. a modification was made – let’s see what it could mean to your clients.
read more →

clients’ top worry: going broke

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survey shows healthcare costs and market volatility drive client fears.  

of all the concerns impacting americans’ retirement today, running out of money, maintaining their lifestyle and rising healthcare expenses continue to top the list, according to a new survey of cpa financial planners.

more on client management: busy season: accountants worry for u.s. economy   |   tax season launches with a whimper  |  when to keep some plans to yourself   |  shutdown: what to tell tax clients during “the lapse”  |  how clients should gather their papers for taxes  |  staffers need to speak up with clients

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

read more →

the latest rules on charitable donations

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5 guidelines.

by barry j. friedman, cpa
industrynewsletters

charitable contributions are deductible, says the irs, only if you itemize deductions.

more: beware the taxes of self-employment | 6 key facts about excise taxes | gifts to charity: 6 facts about written acknowledgments | yes, home equity loans may still be deductible | social security hike the largest in 7 years | how to talk to clients about ‘basis’ | basis: turning a common client question into new business | the w-4 time-bomb and what to do about it
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

but how do your clients know that the charity they are donating to is qualified?
read more →