2022 Tax Season Postmortem

Kathy Ploch, CPA-Houston

Well, it is that time of year again when practitioners do a self-assessment on how the tax filing season went. Hopefully, many of you are taking off this week or will be (like me) vacationing shortly. I have decided that I need a vacation just trying to get to and from my destination with all the crazy COVID-19 rules.

So, let’s list some of the good, the bad and the ugly that occurred so far this tax season.

The Good

• After the July 15, 2020 due date change because of COVID and the June 15, 2021 due date change because of the Texas winter storm, it was nice to have the April 15 due date back. Oh wait. April 15 wasn’t the due date; it was April 18 because of Washington D.C.’s Emancipation Day holiday. So, we had the weekend for the last of the extensions and returns. However, that was a holiday weekend, so the timing may not have been the best for some people.

The Bad

• There are still issues with contacting the IRS Practitioner Priority Service, although if you do get through and can get a callback, this works very well.

• Although our software did not have the new Form 7203, S Corporation Shareholder and Debt Basis Limitations available for the March 15 deadline, at least we have it now. I am assuming many practitioners extended the returns anyway.

The Ugly

• Schedules K-2 and K-3, need I say more? Forms that are 19 and 20 pages long, respectively, are nothing short of insane. I guess this will be on our summer reading list while we are at the pool, beach or lake.

• I heard yesterday on a call that there are 71 trailers with unopened mail in Ogden. The IRS is also having difficulty trying to find people for the positions and then the additional problems with getting them cleared to be hired.

Although I have not had time to connect with other practitioners to see how their tax season went, I did hear of one funny story. A firm is located at an office complex where four to six offices are grouped together per building. Next door to them is a learning center that has a fingerprinting place inside their office. (I remember that is how the place was where I went to get my fingerprints last year.) Anyway, about four times a day someone would come into their office wanting to get their fingerprints done. Kudos for the front desk person keeping their cool!

I have also heard that many taxpayers were used to having the delays over the past two years and then woke up around April 1 realizing that they only had until April 18. We had over 33% of our total 1040s come in after March 18 and still have about 18% that have not brought their information in at all.

AICPA would like to hear about your experience with the IRS this filing season. Below is a link to a very short survey. Your participation will help AICPA’s Tax Policy & Advocacy team understand what issues the members encountered. Please take five minutes of your time to fill out the survey. I have been on this committee and it is so helpful to hear what other practitioners are experiencing.

https://aicpa.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0JaiGwmh6LzlrBs?utm_medium=email&utm_source=SFMC_RAVE&utm_campaign=&utm_content=435068&AdditionalEmailAttribute2=&AdditionalEmailAttribute3=&AdditionalEmailAttribute4=&AdditionalEmailAttribute5=