R&G Brenner has just been informed by our commercial tax software provider, that the IRS has indicated that the 2015 tax season (for filing tax returns for tax year 2014) will be delayed AT LEAST until January 23, 2015. This means the season could potentially be delayed even beyond 1/23.
IRS Commissioner John Koskinen recently suggested that the 2015 tax filing season could be misery for taxpayers and IRS employees alike. Between extensive wait times to speak to a representative, implemented laws that have not yet been reflected in the tax code and congressional gridlock, this may be the worst tax season on record.
In a recent report by National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olsen, the IRS was only able to answer 61% of phone calls made by taxpayers to the agency. Just 10 years ago, the IRS was able to address 87% of calls. The reasons cited were the increasing complexity of tax questions unable to be answered by automated systems as a result of the overall increasing complexity of the tax code. This coupled with budget cuts to the agency resulted in nearly 4 out...
If you need help with a federal tax question, the Internal Revenue Service offers free, live assistance by telephone. But you’ll probably need to be patient when you call.
Did I calculate my return correctly? Did I take all the deductions I’m entitled to? Do I qualify for a credit and should I take it? These are all samples of the many questions that cross many a taxpayer’s mind before they submit their returns to the Government. However, one thought–or rather plea–that’s almost always on the mind is: Please, just don’t Audit me.
In the wake of the newly imposed regulations governing paid tax preparers, Nina E. Olson of the office of The National Taxpayer Advocate–an IRS watchdog–issued a report faulting the IRS on collecting delinquent taxes. She called it “…an astonishing lack of transparency as to what is included in these revenue figures and how they are computed,”. After the IRS reported $118 Billion in collected delinquent taxes, the figure turned out to be more like $86 Billion. This 27% difference was...
