Tax preparers report serious disruptions at IRS

Tax preparers are confronting numerous problems with IRS services because of the partial government shutdown, including an inability to challenge asset seizure warnings, difficulty accessing taxpayer transcripts and a lack of clarity on some aspects of the new tax law, a prominent trade group said Friday.

“According to our members, many IRS services and processes are not functioning, or are not functioning at their normal levels, which creates more problematic issues,” the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants said in a letter to Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and IRS Commissioner Chuck Rettig.

The IRS has recalled thousands of furloughed workers and hopes to have about 57 percent of its total workforce on the job for the tax filing season, which begins Monday. But less than half have reported to work this week, and the tax industry fears the recall won’t be enough to avert disruptions, including quick processing of refunds.

AICPA outlined numerous challenges it said tax professionals are already facing.

For instance, the IRS continues to mail automated collection, levy and asset seizure warnings, but “there is no staff to respond to taxpayers’ attempted replies to resolve the issue or prevent the IRS threatened action from occurring,” the letter said.

Online systems and accounts are either not available or experiencing interruptions. Taxpayers and preparers “need, but are not able, to timely access IRS transcripts for verifying financial information when preparing tax returns or for addressing time-sensitive audit correspondence,” AICPA wrote.

The letter also said implementation forms and guidance for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, H.R. 1 (115), have been slowed.

AICPA called on Treasury and the IRS to provide automatic extensions of notices and collections until 90 days after the shutdown ends, and to stop assessing penalties and interest. The group also said the IRS needs full staffing during the filing season and more attorneys to work on TCJA guidance.

Article originally published on POLITICO Magazine

Source: https://www.politico.com/story/2019/01/25/tax-preparers-disruptions-irs-1117556
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The Article Was Written/Published By: teckert@politico.com (Toby Eckert)

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