Category Archives: IRS

101 Minutes…

Posted on July 15, 2014 by Russ

Yesterday I had to call the IRS Practitioner Priority Service. One of my clients received a refund check where we believed he owed tax. It took 101 minutes–that’s one hour and forty-one minutes–before someone picked up my call. I hate … Continue reading →

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What Happened to the Circular 230 Notice?

Posted on July 13, 2014 by Russ

I sent a client an email today (responding to her query) and she wrote back, “What happened to the Circular 230 Notice?” What happened is that last week the IRS added the new revisions to Circular 230 on their webpage … Continue reading →

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Deadlines for Us, But Not for Them: GAO Gives IRS an F on Correspondence Audits

Posted on July 12, 2014 by Russ

Most reviews of IRS programs are conducted by TIGTA (the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration). However, the GAO (U.S. Government Accountability Office) also can review IRS programs. The GAO is an investigative arm of Congress. Last week, a GAO … Continue reading →

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Judge to IRS: Explain the Lost Emails Under Oath

Posted on July 11, 2014 by Russ

From the AP: U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan gave the tax agency a month to submit the explanation in writing. Sullivan said he is also appointing a federal magistrate to see whether the lost emails can be obtained from … Continue reading →

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Deliberately Not Following the Rules Would Get Me in Trouble, But Not Ms. Lerner

Posted on July 10, 2014 by Russ

The IRS scandal continues to percolate. Yesterday and today we discover that Lois Lerner may have printed out some of her emails. And that she deliberately used an instant messaging system so that her communications wouldn’t be discovered. President Obama, … Continue reading →

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IRS Didn’t Tell a Court About the Missing Lerner Emails

Posted on June 29, 2014 by Russ

Eventually, we will know exactly what happened with the IRS scandal. For now, little pieces continue to drip out. One of the most recent concerns the missing Lois Lerner emails. I had forgotten that Judicial Watch had filed a Freedom … Continue reading →

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IRS Ignores AICPA & NAEA; Court Likely Destination for IRS’s New “Annual Filing Season Program”

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Russ

The National Association of Enrolled Agents sent the IRS a letter stating that they didn’t like the idea of a voluntary tax preparer regulation program. (Full disclosure: I’m a member of the NAEA.) The NAEA pointed out that there’s already … Continue reading →

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Lerner Appears to Have Targeted Iowa Senator Grassley

Posted on June 25, 2014 by Russ

In the IRS scandal news of the day, we learned today that Lois Lerner apparently targeted Senator Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and his wife for an audit. In an email, Lois Lerner wrote, Is this the one where we got the … Continue reading →

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Koskinen Channels His Inner Nixon

Posted on June 24, 2014 by Russ

Those of us who are old enough remember this: That is the late President Nixon who stated he was not a crook. Well, last night we had part two of Koskinen Goes to Capitol Hill. He was in front of … Continue reading →

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We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Backups

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Russ

The IRS scandal continues to be the big issue. And lots more news came out over the weekend. First, it turns out the IRS had a contract with an email backup company, Sonasoft; their motto is “Email Archiving Done Right.” … Continue reading →

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