Another IRS snafu.

Imagine having filed and paid your taxes last year, then months later you get a letter in the mail from the IRS saying you didn't.

That's what's happening to many taxpayers this year thanks to automated notices being sent by the IRS.
But if you got one, don't panic. There's a fair chance the IRS simply hasn't seen what you already sent in. That's because it's dealing with a mountain of returns and correspondence that has built up over the past two years. During that time, the agency was called on to deliver several rounds of economic impact payments and other financial Covid-19 relief, while trying to protect its own workforce from Covid.


The 2021 tax filing season has begun. Here's what you need to know
The good news is that you're not likely to get another notice for awhile. The IRS announced this week that it will temporarily suspend issuing more than a dozen different types of automated notices indicating balances due, unfiled returns and other deficiencies so that it can work through its pandemic-induced backlog. [Here is the list of notices being suspended.]
Automatic notices typically require you to respond -- for example, by filing a return, making a payment, providing requested information or explaining why the notice is inaccurate.
But the IRS is too busy at the moment to respond in a reasonable amount of time.
Last year, the agency took an average of 199 days to process 6.2 million responses from filers to IRS-proposed adjustments on their returns, according to the National Taxpayer Advocate.
Tax preparer and enrolled agent Donna Byrne herself got a notice asserting she hadn't filed her 2019 tax return, even though she did, she said. "It drives you nuts, because you know you did stuff."
And trying to reach an IRS representative by phone to address a matter can feel futile: The agency has been getting 1,500 calls per second, according to a recent IRS letter to lawmakers.
This week's announcement is a good first step but more still needs to be done, according to the American Institute of CPAs. The AICPA is part of a coalition of tax professional associations that has been urging the IRS to implement four short-term recommendations to provide relief for tax filers this year, of which notice suspension is one.
"We are encouraged by recent actions taken by the IRS to suspend more automated notices and pleased to know that the IRS is listening and acting. Taxpayers, practitioners and IRS will benefit from reducing unnecessary contact, such as erroneous notices or warnings of levy, and provide much-needed relief during an already stressful and overwhelming tax season," the AICPA said in a statement Thursday.
What to do if you already got an automated notice
The IRS did not provide an estimate of how many tax filers may have already received the automated notices in the past few months. But it did note that some notices may still be on their way to tax filers and may be received over the next few weeks.


If you already have received a notice or soon get one, "Generally, there is no need to call or respond to the notice as the IRS continues to process prior year tax returns as quickly as possible," the agency said in a statement. That is, unless you or your tax preparer think the information in the notice is accurate. In that case, the IRS said, "act to rectify the situation for the well-being of the taxpayer."
But Edward Karl, AICPA's vice president of taxation, recommends you respond in either case. The letter should indicate where to send your response.
Otherwise, he said, "you could continue to get additional notices when they turn the [automatic notification] machine back on. And you want to make sure you try to stop it as soon as possible."
Here's why, Karl said: At some point, if the assertion is you owe more in tax and penalties and IRS records show you haven't responded at all, it could escalate to the point where the agency can garnish money from your wages or bank account.
Correction: The original version of this article incorrectly stated the reason Byrne got an IRS notice.
link: https://www.cnn.com/2022/02/11...suspended/index.html

It's AMAZING how incompetent the .gov is at virtually EVERYTHING they do!

What a shit show. Morons!

quote:

Originally posted by nhracecraft:
It's AMAZING how incompetent the .gov is at virtually EVERYTHING they do!

If they ran the Sahara desert, it would run out of sand within a year.

I've worked with Government employees a lot when I had my own company and it amazed me how little they did and how little was expected of them.

My contact with Homeland Security was a ball of fire compared to all the other employees I met and worked around there and he worked maybe...3 hours a day tops. And when working those 3 hours, he had two speeds, slow and compound slow.

I dealt with this last year with employment withholding.

Got a notice in the mail including penalties and interest. Called. Woman who answered told me that my return was sitting in their warehouse, they'd get to it eventually, and told me to watch my account for the check to clear.

So they are well aware of the issues, and instead of simply not issuing these notices waste money doing so anyway.

I wonder how many people sent in checks to cover the late fees and interest that were never owed.

I got one of those notices stating I had not filed my 2020 Fed Tax Return. Now they DID have the check that was with that return, and had deposited it!! Their website came out a few days later and said(CYA) if you got a notice for 2020, do NOT refile your return.

quote:

Originally posted by GT-40DOC:
I got one of those notices stating I had not filed my 2020 Fed Tax Return. Now they DID have the check that was with that return, and had deposited it!! Their website came out a few days later and said(CYA) if you got a notice for 2020, do NOT refile your return.

Me too.

Same.

I got my tax refund deposited today after filing electronically two weeks ago.

I consider this a miracle, so two more to go and I can be a saint.

We got our tax refund last year in October.

And as I was finishing up this years, we got a refund for the interest on the delayed payment, which is taxable.

Back to refiguring it all over again.

Be advised we don't need an income tax at all, and up to 1917 or so didn't have one, after that it only covered the top ten percent. Now we pay the tax and the top ten percent have extensive cutouts, incorporation dodges, etc.

Support candidates who will abolish it and it will be. Ask to see who does and it's like turning on the light in the pantry . . .

My dad is in the same boat as GT-40DOC. We also received a nasty letter for our LLC saying we didn’t file on time. The IRS sent it to the wrong member, claims there was tax owed and paid, says we have a June 30 year end, and says we filed late now owing interest and penalty. It’s an LLC and owed now tax as all the income and expenses flowed through to the members returns. The LLC has always had a calendar year end. It has never paid any estimates and never owed any tax. I file an extension on time and the return was file March 24 and received by the IRS on March 29.

I once toured a government facility (underground storage facility). Everyone that introduced themselves told me their pending retirement date. Is that common? In was truly bizarre to me. Seriously, I do believe it was each and every individual that sis this. WTF?