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Monthly Archives: March 2020

Email and Digital Signatures Now Accepted by IRS due to coronavirus

The Internal Revenue Service is now accepting email and digital signatures on tax documents to make it easier for tax professionals and taxpayers to communicate with the agency during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The IRS stated in a Memo dated March 27, 2020, that, effective immediately, it would “begin temporarily accepting images of signatures (scanned or photographed) and digital signatures on documents related to the determination or collection of tax liability.”

In Addition, The IRS Is Letting Its Employees Accept Documents Through Email, Transmitting Documents
To Taxpayers Using SecureZip Or Other
“Established Secure Messaging Systems.”

The categories of documents included in the scope of this memorandum are:

  1. extensions of statute of limitations on assessment or collection,
  2. waivers of statutory notices of deficiency and consents to assessment,
  3. agreements to specific tax matters or tax liabilities (closing agreements), and
  4. any other statement or form needing the signature of a taxpayer or representative traditionally collected by IRS personnel outside of standard filing procedures (for example, a case specific Power of Attorney).

Questions on whether this memorandum applies to a specific form or document should be addressed to the applicable Business Operating Division’s policy office.
 

Signatures

The IRS will accept images of signatures (scanned or photographed) in one of the following file types: tiff, jpg, jpeg, pdf, Microsoft Office suite, or Zip.

 

The IRS will accept Digital Signatures that use encryption techniques to provide proof of

original and unmodified documentation on one of the following file types: tiff, jpg, jpeg, pdf, Microsoft Office suite, or Zip.

 

Additional Methods to Receive Documents Electronically

To eliminate mailing documents to the extent possible, IRS employees should use all existing and previously allowable means of receiving and transmitting documents, such as, eFax or established secured messaging systems.

 

“The IRS is continuing to monitor methods to lessen the burden on taxpayers and professionals during this period,” said Sunita Lough, IRS deputy commissioner for services and enforcement, in a statement Monday. “We greatly appreciate the patience, support and valuable comments we continue to receive from the tax professional community as we move forward.” 

Have an IRS Tax Problem?
 


Contact the Tax Lawyers at
Marini & Associates, P.A.
  
 
for a FREE Tax HELP Contact us at:
www.TaxAid.com or www.OVDPLaw.com
or
Toll Free at 888 8TAXAID (888-882-9243)

 

 

 

 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 

 
 
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Read more at: Tax Times blog

COVID-19 Tax Relief Fails to Extend to Certain Foreign Information Return Filing Deadlines

On March 25, 2020, we posted IRS FAQs Answer Filing, Payment Postponement Questions, where we discussed that the IRS has launched a webpage entitled Filing and Payment Deadlines Questions and Answers, which answers Filing, Payment Postponement Questions in Notice 2020-18.

Then upon closer analysis it became evident that this COVID-19 tax relief fails to extend certain foreign information return filing deadlines.


Day Pitney has an alert that discusses whether the filing deadline for an information return is affected by the income tax return filing extension largely depends on whether the information return's due date is explicitly tied to the taxpayer's income tax return due date.

Day Pitney has evaluated whether the due dates for the foreign information returns have been extended and provide a list by Form, in tabular format, as to what is covered by the emergency COVID-19 Tax Relief allowing filings to be postponed to July 15, 2020 and which Foreign Information Return Filing have been extended by this relief.

Have an IRS Tax Problem?


Contact the Tax Lawyers at
Marini & Associates, P.A.
  
 
for a FREE Tax HELP Contact us at:
www.TaxAid.com or www.OVDPLaw.com
or
Toll Free at 888 8TAXAID (888-882-9243)

 
 
 
 


Read more at: Tax Times blog

Tax Paying Non-Resident Aliens Cut Out of COVID-19 Stimulus Package

According to Law360, thousands of tax-paying immigrants won’t be eligible for stimulus checks under the $2.2 trillion coronavirus relief package that sailed through the Senate, which excludes “nonresident aliens” and those without Social Security numbers.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act specifically mandates that people considered “nonresident aliens” won’t be eligible for the $1,200 per adult and $500 per child benefit that Congress is hoping to slip into people’s bank accounts sometime this spring.

It requires check receivers to have filed their 2018 or 2019 taxes with a “valid identification number,” which the bill specifically defines as a Social Security number, although other taxpayer identification numbers exist.

It’s A Move That Cuts Of Thousands Of Immigrants off
From Accessing The Relief Caused By Massive Layoffs Across The Country As Business Is Rolled Back And People Are Asked To Remain At Home To Prevent The Spread Of

CORONAVIRUS: How Missouri cases breakdown by age

COVID-19, The Disease Caused By The Novel Coronavirus.
 

The United States leads the world in number of diagnosed COVID-19 cases as of Thursday afternoon, surpassing much larger China and heavily afflicted Italy.

“Immigrant workers and families who are paying taxes have been cut out from receiving a single dollar,” NILC Executive Director Marielena Hincapié said in a statement. “ Since no other relief package appears imminent, the stakes are high for millions of low-wage workers and immigrants, who also need economic support and access to health care.”

Many immigrants don’t have Social Security numbers, but they do pay taxes, using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number, or ITIN. The identification number was created specifically for those that don’t have and aren’t eligible for a Social Security number, so that they can still pay taxes.

 
The Language Blocking “Nonresident Aliens”
From Eligibility Delivers Another Blow To Immigrants Hoping To Receive A Stimulus Check.

 

“Nonresident alien” is a tax term, not an immigration one, and the Internal Revenue Service defines it as any immigrant who does not have a green card and hasn’t passed the substantial presence test.

The substantial presence test is a complicated standard that requires counting up the number of days that the immigrant was actually in the United States over the past three years. They have to prove that they were in the country for at least 31 days of the current year and 183 days over the last three years, including the current one, but not all the days count.

  • Only one-third of the days from the year before the current one count toward that total, and
  • Only one-sixth of the days from the year before that.
  • The method does allow immigrants to count each day they were present in the United States in the current year as a full day.

Immigrants who do a lot of traveling or spend chunks of time outside the country in past years or in the current one fail the test and are taxed differently than U.S. citizens and residents, at a flat 30% rate, according to the IRS.

A Tax Planning Idea for These Nonresident Aliens Is for Them to Make Sure That They Spend At Least 183 Days This Year
and Thereby Qualify As Resident Aliens.

But even then, the IRS can whop taxpayers with nonresident alien status for other reasons, including if they find that they have a “closer connection” to a foreign country than to the United States.

Because it’s a tax term, it’s unclear exactly how many immigrants fall under the umbrella of “nonresident alien,” but it’s a broad one, encompassing thousands of taxpayers at the least.

Have an IRS Tax Problem?

Contact the Tax Lawyers at
Marini & Associates, P.A.
  
 
for a FREE Tax HELP Contact us at:
www.TaxAid.com or www.OVDPLaw.com
or
Toll Free at 888 8TAXAID (888-882-9243)

Read more at: Tax Times blog

IRS Practitioner Priority Service Line & E-Services Help Desk line are CLOSED!




Due to staff limitations, Practitioner Priority Service line, the e-Services Help Desk line and the e-Services FIRE and AIR system help desks are closed until further notice.

We are temporarily suspending acceptance of new Income Verification Express Services (IVES) requests at this time and are experiencing delays with existing IVES processing as well as CAF number authorizations.

 
 
Practitioners With E-Services Accounts And With Client Authorization Can Access The Transcript Delivery System To Obtain Prior-Year Transcripts.


Taxpayers should use Where’s My Refund? and Get Transcript, both common requests.

The IRS Is Unable To Answer Any Questions
As Yet On Stimulus Payments.

Normal operations will resume as soon as possible. Please check IRS.gov for updates.

Have an IRS Tax Problem?

Contact the Tax Lawyers at
Marini & Associates, P.A.
  
 
for a FREE Tax HELP Contact us at:
www.TaxAid.com or www.OVDPLaw.com
or
Toll Free at 888 8TAXAID (888-882-9243)

Read more at: Tax Times blog

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