Category: 8. Tax & IRS Updates

The IRS Annual Filing Season Program (AFSP) is a voluntary program designed to recognize tax preparers who have completed a certain level of tax education and have met the IRS's

Are you looking for a career in the tax industry? Have you considered becoming an enrolled agent (EA)? An enrolled agent is a federally-authorized tax practitioner who has technical expertise

Three years ago the Internal Revenue Service established the new tax preparer initiative requiring paid preparers to register and secure a PTIN, take a competency test, and engage in 15 hours of continuing education every year.  These requirements were established to provide the IRS with more oversight of the preparer industry while enhancing taxpayer compliance […]

Business Owners and Non-Profit Organizations: The IRS Announces a Formula for Calculating Telephone Excise Tax Refunds In May of 2006 the Treasure Department announced that beginning April 1 the government would no longer collect federal excise tax on long-distance telephone service. They also announced that taxpayers could request refunds for telephone excise tax collected after […]

Every year the National Taxpayer Advocate submits a report to Congress identifying significant tax issues the TAS (Tax Advocate Service) will focus on in the upcoming fiscal year.  On June 27, Nina E. Olson (current National Taxpayer Advocate) released the mid-year report expressing particular concern about the “taxpayer impact of expired and expiring tax provisions, […]

We’ve been updating our readers on the status of the RTRP court case for the past few months.  Our last update ran in April.  Here is what’s happened since: May 16, 2013.  The IRS released a statement regarding the refunds for cancelled RTRP scheduled tests: Fee amounts collected for scheduled registered tax return preparer test […]

Every year the National Taxpayer Advocate submits a report to Congress identifying the most significant issues encountered by taxpayers.  On January 9th, 2014, National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson released the 2013 annual report which focuses on two main concerns: the need for a taxpayer bill of rights and inadequate IRS funding. In regards to […]

Every year the National Taxpayer Advocate submits a report to Congress identifying the most significant issues encountered by taxpayers.  On December 31st, Nina E. Olson (current National Taxpayer Advocate) released the year-end report which focuses on three main concerns: the need for tax reform, budget increases to aid the IRS in better serving taxpayers and […]

The National Taxpayer Advocate Submits Mid-End Report to Congress Every year the National Taxpayer Advocate submits a report to Congress identifying priority issues the TSA plans to focus on the upcoming fiscal year.  On June 26th, Nina E. Olson (current National Taxpayer Advocate) released the mid-year report which noted three main concerns: how budget cuts […]

The IRS announced that the 2014 tax season opens on January 31st and ends on April 15th. This start day comes one day later than the opening day last year, partly to give the IRS more time to program and test a new tax processing system. IRS Acting Commissioner Danny Werfel explained, “Our teams have been […]

The IRS is interested in helping Americans save for the future and has taken time to create some guidance that will enable taxpayers to better choose a retirement plan that suits their unique needs. In a March 21, 2012 press release, the IRS detailed four ways they are helping Americans put their savings to better […]

Recently we posted an article updating you on the RTRP Court Ruling as of February 1st, 2013.  The IRS continues to battle the ruling, attempting to advance its case as follows: The IRS took advantage of its right to file an appeal within 60 days from the ruling, and on February 21st, 2013, the Department […]