Monthly Archives: March 2021

On the IRS Operations During COVID-19: Mission-critical functions continue (rev. 3/15/2021), the IRS has said that it is resuming programming for notifying the State Department of taxpayers certified as owing seriously delinquent tax debt following the temporary suspension of certain collection activities with the March 25, 2020, People First Initiative announcement in response to COVID-19. 

Beginning The Week Of March 14, Affected Taxpayers Will Receive Notices And Are Encouraged To Pay What They Owe Or Enter Into A Payment Agreement With The IRS
To Avoid Putting Their Passports In Jeopardy.

Affected taxpayers generally owe the IRS more than $54,000 in back taxes, penalties and interest for which the IRS has filed a Notice of Federal Tax Lien and the period to challenge it has expired, or the IRS has issued a levy. As of December 2020, taxpayers previously certified owe on average more than $200,000 in outstanding tax debt, often extending back more than 6 years. The great majority of these are pre-pandemic liabilities and are considered a priority for the IRS due to the amount owed and length of time the taxpayers have been delinquent without working with the IRS to resolve their debts. Per the law, the State Department generally will not renew their passport or issue a new passport after receiving this certification from the IRS, and in some cases may revoke the passport. 

IRS offers a number of programs to help taxpayers meet their tax obligations including payment agreements, Offers in Compromise, and, if the IRS determines a taxpayer cannot pay any of their tax debt, a temporary delay of the collection process. When the tax liability is paid in full, the taxpayer has been found to be currently not collectible, or the taxpayer has entered into an installment agreement or has a pending Offer in Compromise, the tax debt is no longer considered to be seriously delinquent and the certification to the State Department is reversed. 

Taxpayers Who Have Already Taken Significant Steps
To Resolve Their Debt



Can Still Resolve Their Passport Issues By Contacting
 TAS, Who Can Request Manual Decertification.

Then IRM 13.1.24.8.5.3, Decertify the Debt with the Department of State, is superseded and replaced with the following: 

1. Once the taxpayer meets a criterion for decertification under IRM 5.19.1.5.19.9, Reversal of Certification, review IRM 13.1.24.8.8 to determine if the account will require manual decertification. If so, send an OAR to the SB/SE Passport Office seeking manual decertification.
2. If the taxpayer has an imminent need for a passport as defined in IRM 5.19.1.5.19.9.1, Expedited Decertification, gather the supporting documentation described. If the IRS function that resolved the debt did not complete and sign page one of Form 14794, Expedited Passport Decertification, prepare the form for LTA signature on page one.
3. Send an expedited OAR to *SBSE Passport Group mailbox, requesting that the taxpayer be decertified within one business day. Include the signed Form 14794 and the required documentation. If the OAR is not complied with timely, or if you disagree with the response, immediately elevate the case to your LTA for issuance of a TAO.

 

If You Face This Problem, You Should Consult with Experienced Tax Attorneys, As There Are Several Ways Taxpayers Can Avoid Having the IRS Request That the State Department Revoke Your Passport. 

  Want To Keep Your US Passport?
 

 

Contact the Tax Lawyers at 

Marini & Associates, P.A.

 

for a FREE Tax Consultation 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

Here's news that my accountant friends will be happy to hear: according to Bloomberg the Internal Revenue Service is planning to delay the April 15 tax filing deadline by about one month, giving taxpayers additional time to file returns and pay any outstanding levies, according to three people familiar with the discussions.

The IRS is still figuring out what the final deadline will be. The agency is considering setting the filing deadline either on May 15 or May 17, according to two of the people, who were not authorized to speak publicly because the decision had not been finalized. May 15 is a Saturday and the IRS typically delays filing deadlines that fall on a weekend or holiday to the next business day.

The filing extension would give taxpayers additional breathing room to meet their tax obligations in what is becoming one of the most complicated tax seasons in decades. The change would come after calls from accountants and leaders in Congress to delay the due date as new legislation and pandemic-related work changes disrupt taxpayer plans.

Among the changes this tax season are last-minute amendments to the $1.9 trillion stimulus bill signed into law earlier this month that give filers a new tax exemption on up to $10,200 of jobless benefits. The individual tax return, Form 1040, is also the mechanism for people to claim any missing $1,200 or $600 stimulus payments from last year.

Besides the disruptions from the pandemic, the changes in tax law will mean some filers will have to wait for updated forms, resubmit their returns, and some will need to consult a tax adviser on how to proceed if they’ve already filed.

The tax extension also comes as the IRS has been handed another big task: processing a third round of direct payments to households, this time for $1,400 each. The IRS said it has so far sent about 90 million payments totaling $242 billion.

Have IRS Tax Problems?

     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

An IRS official speaking at a Federal Bar Association virtual meeting on March 3, 2021 said that three of the IRS’s service centers are facing new mail backlogs due to winter storms and quarterly return filings. The official, De Lon Harris, deputy commissioner for examinations, Small Business/Self-Employed Division, couldn’t estimate how long it would take the IRS to process its incoming mail. 

According to Harris, the IRS is processing payments received immediately. The IRS’s top priority for submissions to process are 2020 tax returns claiming refunds, he said.

However, Harris also said that the IRS’s Austin, TX, Kansas City, MO, and Ogden, UT service centers are a couple of weeks behind in opening mail due to a combination of closures due to the winter storms (Austin) and taxpayers filing quarterly business returns that were due at the end of January (Kansas City and Ogden). The fourth service center, in Fresno, CA, is opening mail the same day it’s received, Harris said.  

When asked about the processing of net operating loss (NOL) carryback claims, which are supposed to be processed within 90 days, Harris noted that the COVID-19 pandemic is continuing to cause processing delays, “but we no longer have these semi-truck trailers sitting at the campuses full of mail like we did several months ago.”

The IRS likely received more NOL carryback claims than usual in 2020 because the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act (PL 116-136; March 27, 2020) allows business with NOLs incurred in 2018, 2019 or 2020, to carry back those NOLs five years so they can get a refund of previously paid taxes.

                                                                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) 

Source  

Thomson Reuters

Read more at: Tax Times blog

According to Law360, A married couple lost their attempt to reverse a $511,000 OVDP settlement agreement they made with the IRS that had settled their failure to report their Swiss bank account holdings when a D.C. federal judge ruled they had entered into it voluntarily.

Robert Harrison and Julianne Sprinkle could not show that they signed their agreement under duress, the court said Thursday, dismissing the case. If they thought their case required judicial review, they should have paid the penalty and pursued the administrative process of seeking a refund, according to the court.

Harrison and Sprinkle took advantage of the Internal Revenue Service's Offshore Voluntary Disclosure Program in 2018 to resolve their failure to file Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts for an unreported Swiss bank account worth up to $1.2 million, the judge said. The OVDP program involves a 27.5% penalty on the highest balance in an undeclared foreign account in exchange for lower civil penalties and possible amnesty from criminal prosecution.

The couple tried to switch to another amnesty program, Streamlined Domestic Procedures, which has a 5% penalty. but the IRS rejected their petition. The couple thus had to choose between the OVDP or going to court and risking a higher penalty. They chose the OVDP and paid $511,000 in penalties and interest in 2018. As part of their settlement, they waived the right to pursue an administrative remedy with the IRS, according to the opinion.

Two years later, the pair tried to nullify the settlement. They claimed they took the OVDP offer under duress, given their fear of a potential penalty should they go to court. 

They also argued the IRS violated the Administrative Procedure Act and due process by failing to provide guidance on the criteria used to switch to the streamlined program.

The court rejected the couple's arguments. Suing under the APA is proper only when there are no forms of adequate remedy, the court said. Harrison and Sprinkle had an opportunity to pursue their damages by paying their penalty and pursing a tax refund suit against the IRS. They did not, the court pointed out.

The government afforded the couple an opportunity for judicial due process, but they chose to settle their dispute through the OVDP, which included an agreement not to take that route, the court added.

The couple's duress claim fails as well, according to the court. The IRS did not threaten them with a particular action, and the steep penalty they might have faced in losing a court action resulted from an act of Congress, not the IRS, the ruling said.

Have IRS Tax Problems?

     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