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IRS Alert: IRS retiring two e-Services incentive products on Aug. 11
By Jim Buttonow, CPA; CoFounder and VP New River Innovation - Thursday June 6, 2013UPDATED: The IRS announced late last week that it plans to retire two major e-Services incentive products used by CPAs, attorneys and enrolled agents to file authorizations and resolve IRS account problems. The Disclosure Authorization (DA) and Electronic Account Resolution (EAR) products will be retired on Aug. 11, according to information received from IRS e-help desk representatives. The IRS posted an announcement on IRS.gov earlier today indicating that the products are being retired “primarily due to low usage.” The announcement has since been removed. As a general alternative to support functions previously available in DA and EAR, the IRS website offered phone support through the IRS Practitioner Priority Service (PPS... -
Four steps to bill more for practice and procedure work
By Jim Buttonow, CPA; CoFounder and VP New River Innovation - Tuesday May 28, 2013From the IRS Inside blog. Confession: Like most practitioners, I had trouble successfully billing for post-filing work . The reasons are complicated. It’s often an issue of back-and-forth time with clients or the IRS/state taxing authorities. This time is hard to quantify and even harder to bill for. And that’s not to mention the multitude of client concerns that arise: Clients may think the issue is the practitioner’s fault, they don’t understand the changing compliance environment, they get upset – and they don’t want to pay for research time associated with post-filing issues. All of this leads to low billing realization. When it comes to the three main service areas in post-filing work – federal and state notice... -
How to obtain penalty relief for clients affected by delayed IRS forms
By Jim Buttonow, CPA; CoFounder and VP New River Innovation - Thursday March 28, 2013From the IRS Inside blog. Because of last-minute tax changes this year, 31 IRS forms needed for filing were delayed. Some taxpayers who had to wait for these delayed forms may file an extension. When filing extensions, taxpayers are required to estimate and pay 90% of their tax liability (Treas. Reg. 301.6651-1(c)(3) and (4)). However, some taxpayers may not have had the benefit of the forms, including computations, to help them properly estimate their liabilities. When taxpayers incorrectly estimate and inadvertently underpay their tax liabilities with a filed extension, the IRS automatically imposes a failure to pay penalty. On March 20, the IRS announced that it will waive failure to pay penalties for taxpayers filing extensions... -
IRS expands eligibility for worker reclassification program
By Jim Buttonow, CPA; CoFounder and VP New River Innovation - Friday January 4, 2013
From Jim Buttonow's "IRS Inside" blog . On Dec. 18, the IRS announced a revision to its voluntary classification settlement program (VCSP) that provides partial relief from federal employment taxes for eligible taxpayers who agree to prospectively treat workers as employees. The original program, established in 2011, requires strict Form 1099 compliance, specific audit provisions, and assessment statute extensions, among other criteria. Recently announced changes to the original VCSP include the following temporary eligibility expansions: Taxpayers who are otherwise eligible for the original VCSP, but have not filed all required Forms 1099 for misclassified workers for the previous three years, are eligible for the expanded... -
It's here: Form 1099-K business income matching
By Jim Buttonow, CPA; CoFounder and VP New River Innovation - Monday November 26, 2012The IRS has always been able to match individual tax returns against information statements and propose underreporter adjustments that come in the form of CP2000 notices. ??But things are changing, and a new era at the IRS is upon us. ??Now, the IRS is using information statements to find underreporting on business returns. For practitioners across the country, this will add to the already increasing level of post-filing compliance activity they are seeing. ? More Interest in Business Income ?? In September, the IRS started its first information return-matching program for business return Forms 1120, 1120S and 1065. This program matched business return incomes to the total amounts reported on all information returns. ?? This year...
