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Re Tax Court - tax court practitioners are mandated to electronically file their petitions. Only pro se taxpayers may submit a paper / snail mailed petition.

Actually, it's improved a lot over the years... but it still basically sucks compared to modern websites.

Tax court is shut down so hand delivery of a petition is not an option at this time and neither is hand delivery of returns to IRS. The postmark date would be used to determine whether the taxpayer met the deadline in a timely manner.

We ALL get that way, at times. We beat our heads around one problem and get tunnel vision, and cannot see the actual problem. That comprises two of the excellent attributes of this forum: first that we (sometimes, not always!) get to take a step back as we are describing our issues, and second that our colleagues can see the stumbling blocks that we are too close to notice. I have also noticed a strange but persistent tendency for answers to stay hidden until I hit "submit" on a query, and then suddenly they jump out from under whatever they were hiding in!

Edsel, please note that in the bottom left corner of the "IDS" screen, there are boxes that can be checked that will allow the e-file to process if the states included in the return don't require the DL or state i.d. to be entered. One box indicates that the TP doesn't have a DL or i.d., and the second box is if the TP didn't provide one of those.

Let's not get carried away here. Form 886-H-EIC is sent by the IRS when they question a taxpayer's EIC eligibility. On the other hand, Form 8867 gives a list of acceptable documents but states that none of them is "specifically required." A birth certificate shows the child's parents, child care statements show names and addresses--good enough for 8867 but not the 886 under audit. In fact 8867 has a line where you mark if you asked the taxpayer if s/he could provide the underlying documentation. It doesn't demand that the preparer see it. I do very few EIC returns, and we know our clients, so I don't anticipate that someone else will claim their children. If you have a lot of walk-ins, that might not be the case and you may want to do more to CYA.

From a local new article: Despite the shutdown of the federal government, the tax return you're owed for 2017 won't be affected as long as the shutdown doesn't last too long. Internal Revenue Service released a contingency plan that explains how the agency will handle the filing season, which is supposed to begin on Monday, Jan. 29. CNN Money reports the IRS is keeping 35,076 employees on the job, and that as part of the contingency plan, processing electronic returns, testing upcoming filing year programs, and computer operations to prevent the loss of data are IRS functions that will continue despite the shutdown. Some functions the IRS will not perform include audits, return examinations, non-automated collections, and issuing refunds. "Unless the shutdown drags on for weeks, the refund you're owed for 2017 likely won't be affected," CNN reports. "Why? The IRS already announced it wouldn't start accepting 2017 tax returns until January 29." The Department of the Treasury and IRS can reassess how many people they need on the job, and what functions need to be performed, according to the report.

No, but Greenville is incredibly close to Clemson - I have contacts there. Also will ask on another forum - I know a guy from Rock Hill, too far but well-connected. Give me another day or two.

The U S Treasury announced that 56 % of IRS employees have been furloughed. So the chance of an IRS employee answering the phone is about zero.

The sky will NOT fall!!

Part 2, line 16 is for reporting the monthly liability, not the deposits. That is your problem. The total show in part 2 must agree with line 12 on page one. In your client's case, it will not agree with line 13. Line 13 is where the deposits are reported. IRS knows when the deposits were made and will match those up with the liability reported in part 2.

Its funny how things work sometimes. We get so involved in what we're doing that it clouds our ability to recall stuff we usually know. Then posting here all of a sudden turns the light on. I guess its good to just talk about things. Happens to me all the time.

Thank you Black Bart, I'm not so sure about either one.

I got so annoyed on Facebook at a tax pro who thought a SS card and birth certificate proved something worthwhile. Uh. Yeah. A child was born back there somewhere and was issued a SSN. The end. I started to point that out but she got four likes before I could type it so I just banged my head on my desk and came back here.

only reason i ever logged into the dumb site is verify my EFIN.. the whole site is a train wreck

You can't bulk sale different kinds of property. Well, apparently you can but you really should not.

Yes.