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I'm glad to see this, but I view the news with a mixture of positive and negative feelings. It's probably more a matter of optics than substance. The US government has probably been leaning on the Indian government to do something about this, since so many of the scammers have identifiable accents. So the Indian government "locates" a site (which was probably already well-known to them), conducts a raid, does a few perp walks, and grabs some headlines. Problem solved (at least the public relations part of it). This operation is probably a drop in the bucket and nothing will really change with respect to the ongoing scams. But the government officials can claim they are cracking down and everybody feels better about it.

Great news. I've been getting a lot of these lately where they come in a series of two calls. One a man another a woman sounding a little robo like. I love their closing, "have a nice day". I hope they do too, making license plates and eating instant potatoes.

Just some FYI. Received this today (10/08/2016) from: KCC Class Action Services <[email protected]> CLAIM ID: 10527616 If you paid the IRS a fee to obtain or renew your Preparer Tax Identification Number (PTIN), a class action lawsuit may affect your rights. Tax return preparers filed this lawsuit against the United States claiming that they have been wrongfully required to pay PTIN fees set by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in 2010 at $64.25 and $63, and in November 2015 at $50. The lawsuit, Steele v. United States, Case No. 1:14-cv-1523-RCL, is pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The Court decided this lawsuit should be a class action on behalf of a “Class,” or group of people that could include you. There is no money available now and no guarantee that there will be. Are you included? IRS records indicate that you paid to obtain or renew your PTIN on or after September 30, 2010. The Class includes everyone that paid a PTIN application or renewal fee on or after September 30, 2010. What is this lawsuit about? The lawsuit claims that Congress has not authorized the IRS to charge fees for the application for or renewal of a PTIN. The complaint also alleges that if the Court decides that the IRS does have the authority to charge a fee for the application for or renewal of a PTIN, the fees charged by the IRS are excessive. The lawsuit seeks to prevent the IRS from charging PTIN fees, seeks the recovery of either all PTIN fees paid or the excessive portion of the PTIN fees, and challenges the annual PTIN filing requirements. The United States denies these claims and contends that the IRS has authority to charge the amounts it has charged for the application for and renewal of PTINs. The Court has not decided who is right. The lawyers for the Class will have to prove their claims in Court. Who represents you? The Court has appointed Motley Rice LLC to represent the Class as “Class Counsel.” Three other firms are also serving as counsel. You don’t have to pay Class Counsel or anyone else to participate. If Class Counsel obtains money or benefits for the Class, they will ask the Court for an award of fees and costs, which will be paid out of any money recovered for the Class. What are your options? If you are a Class Member, you have a right to stay in the Class or be excluded from the lawsuit. OPTION 1. Do nothing. Stay in the lawsuit. If you do nothing, you are choosing to stay in the Class. You will be legally bound by all orders and judgments of the Court, and you won’t be able to sue the United States for the claims made in this lawsuit. If money or benefits are obtained, you will be able to obtain a share. There is no guarantee that the lawsuit will be successful. OPTION 2. Exclude yourself from the lawsuit. Alternatively, you have the right to not be part of this lawsuit by excluding yourself or “opting out” of the Class. If you exclude yourself, you cannot get any money from this lawsuit if any is obtained, but you will keep your right to separately sue the United States over the legal issues in this case. If you do not wish to stay in the Class, you must send a letter to the address below postmarked by December 7, 2016, saying that you want to be excluded from Steele v. United States, Case No. 1:14-cv-1523-RCL. You must include your name, address, telephone number, email address, and signature. If you choose this option, you should talk to a lawyer soon because your claims may be subject to a statute of limitations which sets a deadline for filing the lawsuit within a certain period of time. How do I find out more about this lawsuit? For a detailed notice and other documents about this lawsuit and your rights, go to www.PTINClassAction.com, call 1-866-483-8621, write to PTIN Fees Class Action Administrator, PO Box 30245, College Station, TX 77842-3245, or call Class Counsel at 1-800-447-4645. 1-866-483-8621 OR www.PTINClassAction.com

Mine have stopped also.

This is very good news. Based on the number of persons involved and the amount of money being collected, this was a large scale operation. Other operations that have been shut down involved a handful of people. There are surely others still out there, but for the meantime, my "IRS" calls have stopped.

in Judaism, the number 18 [chai] is lucky so many people make contributions in multiples of 18,180,1800 and many will use 18 in the amount, ie 218, 518, etc. I once had an audit and the agent [not Jewish] didn't want to accept the cancelled checks saying that they must have been for tickets or something run through the temple. [pre 250 letter requirement days]. I asked him how long he has been auditing here on the North Shore of Nassau County and he said 1 week. I laughed and explained it to him. Months later he called me to thank him for the education and how all he sees are donation such as I listed above. I guess not many Jews from where he came from, somewhere down south.

They got 'em! Police in India arrested more than 70 people and more than 600 are being questioned and facing arrest. Here is just one report: http://abc27.com/2016/10/06/dozens-arrested-at-india-call-center-linked-to-irs-scam-calls/ Just today a client called and said the IRS has been calling her (she does have IRS issues), but she could hardly understand their thick accents in the message and every time she called back no one picked up. Hopefully that indicates the authorities have shut off their phones and with everyone in jail there is no way they can answer anyhow. I told her to read today's paper. Of course, I'm sure there are many more scams like this one still operating. And like with local drug gangs, when one gets taken out of commission others pop up to fill the void. Well, at least we and our clients will have a reprieve.

Glad you made it home safely.

I made it home last night from Orlando. I am never going to Florida again if there is ANY chance of a storm within 2,000 miles. We certainly didn't expect that we would have any effects that far inland. We got there late Monday night and by Wednesday afternoon were trying to find flights home. I am just glad that it wobbled and was ten miles farther offshore than they expected. At least we used our park tickets on Tuesday and Wednesday so they didn't go to waste. I was ready to drive home, but my husband vetoed it. He didn't want us driving in that traffic and it was not easy to find gas. A lot of gas stations were out of fuel until after the storm. I finally bit the bullet and bought tickets for myself and my son's girlfriend for Saturday AM, which were cancelled. I changed the flights twice and was so happy to see Omaha last night. My son can fly in any airline's jumpseat, but he had to request an additional day to report back to his hub, because they closed the airport Thursday afternoon until 10 Saturday AM. Going through a hurricane was not on my bucket list, but now I can say that I've seen hurricane force winds and rain. We were lucky, because our timeshare did not lose power, but it was very scary with the number of large trees on the property. It was great getting away for a bit, but I was a wreck for two days worrying about how I would get home and knowing how much work I had waiting for me.

Client always whines because she owes. They have several 1099-Rs with little or no withholding. Same with W-2s. I tell them every year it would be good to have more withheld. OK, they say. No, they never have more withheld. So, today she actually tells me, "But they won't withhold more than that". Mmmm hmmmm. I Google "How do I have more withheld from my (insert name of company) retirement?" I print the W-4Ps and addresses for all the companies. Print W-4s, too, and highlight line 6. It's one thing to ignore my advice, it's another to treat me like a fool. It was worth a Google. No, no forms with get completed. But it's not wasting time if you enjoy it. It was the same feeling you get when you mess with scammers. It was worth it.

I agree! I am NOT a babysitter! 9 1/2 months is enough time for ANYONE! I have even resorted to telling people the deadline is still Aug. 15. Guess when they bring me their information??? Intentionally Apathetically Ignorant and Clueless!! I just fired 2 clients this week because I could not complete their just provided documentation completed in one day. I told them where the closest H&R is located. I'll bet they pay their Cable TV, Internet and Cell phone bills on time!!

Oh, *I* have seen penalties assessed. Big fat hairy ones with fangs. Non-filing, late-filing, plus interest. One client is a contractor (who really NEEDS to bring his records here so we can do accounting for him but he doesn't) is late- very, very late - EVERY year. I charge him triple my usual price as my own penalty (so in all, FOUR times normal fee). I am STILL waiting for info for the 2015 1099's. But the IRS sends him penalty bills, every year. He hasn't wised up yet.

Absolutely NOT! Their shoes are clueless (and probably have Athlete's Foot). What we have to do is understand what it's like to stand in those shoes. But I ain't puttin' 'em on. No way, no how!

Same here. They've got six months with the extension and I send reminders off and on. No guarantees this time of year.

Rfassett, thanks for that insight into the client mindset. We do need to put ourselves in their shoes more often. Of course they jump to the conclusion that a tax letter is from the IRS even though it's from the state, because the IRS is most fearful in their minds. And of course they deliver to us any correspondence that has numbers on it (property re-evaluations, insurance bills, etc), ask us questions about working and taking Social Security, whatever. Our receptionist pointed this out to me this week. I had had it with clients who haven't paid their state registration fees and secretary of state fees for a few years and get furious with us for "our" omission. Excuse me, we don't renew your sales tax license or driver's license or law license or medical license, why are we responsible for renewing your business license? The recept made me see it in layman's terms: You get a notice that says "tax" or looks like a bill from the state, and you assume your trusty accountant is handling it. We don't pay their bills, but they just don't see it that way when it looks like a tax TO THEM even though it isn't. Maybe we should get certified to issue marriage licenses and to register motor vehicles too. It would make our clients' live so much easier. Heck, Block is offering to renew ITINs for free.

I have filed late ones every year for the very same reason you stated. I have never seen a penalty assessed. But I do hear that January 2017 is the year they will start assessing the penalties. Who knows.....we can only do what they bring us. every year I tell them I need before end of January and still they wait.

She also wanted to deduct all her household utilities. My feeling is they knew better. If not, they do now.

You mean having a place to go to the bathroom isn't an ordinary and necessary expense for a farmer?

I've never seen a penalty assessed for a late-filed 1099-MISC. (But maybe that will change now that the amount has been upped to $250)

I've never tried, but I did find the following that might help you decide if it's possible or put it back in the lap of the client: "The penalty will not apply to any failure that you can show was due to reasonable cause and not to willful neglect. In general, you must be able to show that your failure was due to an event beyond your control or due to significant mitigating factors. You must also be able to show that you acted in a responsible manner and took steps to avoid the failure." https://www.irs.gov/instructions/i1099gi/ar02.html#d0e2122 My lady in my thread about "they won't withhold more than that" once tried (all by herself) to get out of failure to file penalty because a family member had an accident on Oct 20. That went over like a fart in a space suit. But I digress.

They also never used the 1040-ES forms I printed for years. Pretty sure they just didn't want to deal with anything. Common for October clients. At least they showed up I guess.

You may be right. When I asked her if there were assets in her farm Maintenance and Repair, she said, "Yes, $2,000 for bathroom remodeling."

I get what you are saying. But sometimes, nay, most of the time, the client believes what he is telling you. He probably has received multiple W-4Ps from the pension/IRA places but said "what the heck is this form for?". And unless he asked you at the time, it just went into the file or the round file, never to be thought about again. The longer I am in this business, the more I understand the client mindset. The client, unlike you and I, usually has a very strong aversion to anything tax and IRS related. I cannot tell you how many times I have had a client tell me they got a letter from the IRS when it was really from the State. But they BELIEVED it was from the IRS. I had one client recently bring the "IRS" notice in and argued with me that it was from the IRS - even after I pointed out that the letter was from the State. And my clients are not stupid. They just do not want to deal with anything tax related. Anyway - on another note. I am down to my last ten returns - none of which are in-house yet. Seeing how today is the sixth of October, it is highly likely that those ten returns will go delinquent. I do not do overtime in October.