New IRS Must-Have Tools for Taxpayers and CPAs

By Janet C. Hagy, CPA-Austin

 

Having issues working with the IRS? Stupid question, right? We now have some limited relief.

 

The IRS has rolled out new and improved tools for accessing taxpayer information, processing timely individual Forms 2848 Power of Attorney (POA), and business owner/officer access to corporation and S corporation tax accounts. Due to the current staffing issues within the IRS, access to the Practitioner Hotline, Taxpayer Advocacy Service and simple POA processing are time consuming, frustrating and often fruitless. Due to USPS delays, many IRS notices are being received without sufficient time to respond or, in some cases, after the required response due date.

 

Online Accounts for Individuals https://www.irs.gov/payments/online-account-for-individuals

 

This feature has been available for a couple of years. Transcripts, account balances and payment options are some of the popular features. Some of the features that may be underutilized are:

 

• Quick approval of Form 2848. The taxpayer can approve the POA for immediate access by the CPA.

• Access to all IRS notices and, if approved by the taxpayer, email notification to the taxpayer that a notice has been sent. The notice is posted to the account the same day it is sent. The email notification does not disclose any sensitive information. The email will not ask for money or a response.

• Retrieval of IPIN. How many times have your clients lost their IPINs? The IRS is encouraging all taxpayers to get an IPIN. So, having a quick way to provide us with that number can expedite filing the return.

• Information about Economic Impact and Child Tax Credit payments.

 

TAX PRO Accounts https://www.irs.gov/tax-professionals/tax-pro-account

 

If you are not already signed up for a Tax Pro account, do it now. Not only can you get POA forms processed in one day if the individual taxpayer approves it through their own individual account, if you link your CAF number to your Tax Pro account, you can easily review and withdraw POAs.

 

Once you have the POA, you can access that client’s tax information online, obtain transcripts and make payments or payment plans on behalf of the client.

 

What you cannot do now is obtain POAs through the Tax Pro account for any taxpayers other than individuals. This is reported to be in the works but is not available currently.

 

Business Tax Account https://www.irs.gov/businesses/business-tax-account

 

Currently eligible to set up a Business Tax account are corporations, S corporations and sole proprietors using an EIN who are not a single-member LLC. Authorized persons within the company can review tax records, make payments and set up payment plans. CPAs with or without POAs are not allowed to be designated persons.

 

An extra bonus is that individual partners and S corporation individual shareholders who have an SSN and get a K-1 can set up a business tax account and retrieve Forms K-1 (1065 K-1 and 1120S K-1) for the years 2006-2023. This feature can be invaluable in establishing basis if the client is missing prior year Forms K-1.

 

Due to issues within the IRS in determining authorized persons, partnerships (Form 1065) cannot set up a Business Tax account. The IRS expects to provide this in the future.

 

Document Upload Tool https://www.irs.gov/help/irs-document-upload-tool; https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-expands-secure-digital-correspondence-for-taxpayers

 

Timely response to IRS notices can be challenging when using the U.S. mail service. Certified Mail with return receipt is time consuming and inefficient for the CPA and the IRS. The new Document Upload Tool (DUT) provides a way to securely send digital documentation for specific notices and receive confirmation of receipt. Responses to notices from the CP series, Premium Tax Credit, refund, EITC, and combat zone status are included.

 

Each notice contains a unique access code and a link. PDFs and certain photo formats are accepted. Max of 15 MB of information per file and up to 40 files can be sent.

 

Note that trusts cannot have an IRS business account at this time.

 

It is encouraging to see these improvements in taxpayer services and the future plans for expansion of these tools. Encourage all your clients to set up online accounts. A financial incentive is that our professional time will be more efficient if they need assistance resolving an issue or researching a notice.

 

More information is available to AICPA members at https://www.aicpa-cima.com/resources/article/irs-online-tools-guidance.

Comments

[Joseph P Sherfy]

Thanks for the great article!

[Patty Wyatt]

Hello, Karen.

The author indicated that trusts cannot have an IRS business account at this time. We will update the blog.

[Karen J. Chamblee]

This is a great summary. I appreciate the links and all the information. Is there an online link for Trusts?