IRS ANNOUNCEMENT NOT ENCOURAGING

[Lee B]

"The IRS continues to reduce the inventory of prior-year individual tax returns that have not been fully processed. As of Dec. 3, 2021, the IRS has processed nearly 169 million tax returns.  All paper and electronic individual 2020 refund returns received prior to April 2021 have been processed if the return had no errors or did not require further review."

[Lion EA]

Just had a call from a client. E-filed 5/17/2021. Friday 1/7/2022 she got a letter to verify her identity. Over the weekend, she tried online, but it's unwieldy. Today she called and was hung up on. She retried online and was successful at verifying her identity, but site told her the IRS would release her refund in NINE weeks!

By the way, she had no luck on her smart phone, but was able to complete the process on her tablet.

[mcb39]

I had two clients over the weekend and one today that just received results of their 2019 returns.  The one today received a check, no information except 2019 tax refund.  This money was supposed to have been applied to 2020.  Prior to this, they wanted him to send them money for 2020 and said that he had never filed in 2019. WRONG!!  I had proof that he had filed; date of filing; date of acceptance and they are just now getting around to processing it.  Now, to straighten out the 2020 mess.  I advised him to put the money in the bank and wait for further clarification.  Honestly, they are SO broken.  I won't even go into the details of the other one because it involves two years as well.  Is this madness ever going to end?  They send no explanations and I am unable to contact them.......EVER!!!!

[ETax847]

Currently on hold with the IRS for over an hour now.  Tax season is only a few days old and I'm already dreading it.

[Abby Normal]

1 hour ago, ETax847 said:

Currently on hold with the IRS for over an hour now.  Tax season is only a few days old and I'm already dreading it.

Well that's an improvement over getting a message that they're too busy and to try later, which is all I got for most of the past year.

[FDNY]

I would like to remind everyone of my method of getting through to PPL.

Today I called at one minute to 8 and got right through.  That was lucky, because I forgot they open at 7

So at one minute to 7 I start dialing, get the message they are closed and then keep hitting redial.  It works every time for a brief amount of time on hold.

Don’t tell anyone, we don’t want to overwhelm that time slot.  Only problem is you have to get to bed early the night before.

[schirallicpa]

I now have 4 clients that have received the letter to prove their identity.  So far we've done nothing but go around in circles with these things.

 

[Lion EA]

I had two clients with the identity verification letter this tax year, and I have a very small practice. One in CO got through via phone fairly quickly. The other was hung up on, struggled on the online site, was texting me out of desperation, even though she knew I was in a tax class. By the second day, she switched to her tablet instead of her cell (she's in her 40s, but her social group does everything on their phones instead of any other device) to continue calling on her cell while navigating the website on her tablet. On her tablet, the website accepted her ID info that it would not accept on her cell. I would say she was ready to tear her hair out, but she's my hairdresser (and I'm her tax preparer -- we try to stay in our lanes) and would never tear out her beautiful long blonde hair (she probably has extensions, that's one of her skilled services). She did say she was ready to throw her cell, even with its custom case. The CO couple did move to CO last year. The CT gal has had everything the same for years, home, job, everything except a bit less income during Covid.

[Catherine]

11 minutes ago, schirallicpa said:

I now have 4 clients that have received the letter to prove their identity.  So far we've done nothing but go around in circles with these things.

 

I can understand this if there are address changes, name changes - or heck, even bank changes.  But suddenly demanding proof of identity from people who have the same name, same address, same ssn, same bank, same frimping everything, as for the last decade - jeezel louizel, that's just bone-deep stupid.  All my clients who have gotten those letters - except for one, who moved - have had no IRS system changes for a decade or longer.  

[TAXMAN]

My sentiments as like Catherine. NOTHING changed. IRS to send code. That was last October. To date no code no letter no nothing. What are we to do? Strange that cell phone tp has had for 10+ years IRS says is not his. Boy they know more than the TP.

[TAXMAN]

Funny in that I read where it said go ahead and file 2021 even if 2020 had not been processed. If I show credits coming from 2020 and it has not been processed then errors start flying.

[Sara EA]

When a taxpayer who hasn't had any changes for years receives an identity verification notice, it shows the system is working!  Most likely another return was received for the same client but this one showed changes so IRS flagged it as suspicious.  The agency has no idea who the real taxpayer is, so they query both of them. This is a much better process than just a few years ago when the first return filed got the refund and the real taxpayer had to file affidavits and wait forever for the money (and the thief is long gone with our tax dollars).  I did have two clients who got odd requests from IRS this year to provide copies of all their tax docs.  In both cases all the docs were ones the IRS would already have like W2s and 1099s.  My hunch is that suspicious returns were filed and IRS was trying to identify the real taxpayer without calling it identity verification.

[Lion EA]

If the IRS is really trying to stop identity theft, then why wait 8 months to query my client?

The IRS is hurting the people they say they're trying to help, those earning less in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid, by making them wait a year for their refunds which include all those credits they advertise so heavily. 

[Catherine]

On 1/13/2022 at 9:55 PM, Sara EA said:

When a taxpayer who hasn't had any changes for years receives an identity verification notice, it shows the system is working! 

I disagree.  If another return was filed, *that* one is the one to flag.  Not the one where everything matches the IRS master file going back 10+ years.  Going back one year, sure.  Two years, maybe.  Ten or more?  Nonsense.  Incompetent programming.