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Cat out of the bag! This is something I discovered years ago by accident. I now always try to have a modest balance due. Like any business, the IRS seems to process profitable envelopes first.

IRS announced it will shutdown for e-filing of business returns on Dec 26th. If planning to transmit on this last day, please check with your software vendor for the cutoff time for transmitting and processing returns for e-filing. EDIT - please see Lynn's post below that ATX will stop accepting returns on 12/22. Drake software is accepting through 11:59pm on the 26th.

To alleviate concerns of practitioners having to meet with clients in person to obtain signatures on forms that are required to be filed on paper while promoting timely filing, the IRS has extended the date through which taxpayers and representatives may use electronic or digital signatures when signing the following forms that currently require a handwritten signature: • Form 3115, Application for Change in Accounting Method; • Form 8832, Entity Classification Election; • Form 8802, Application for U.S. Residency Certification; • Form 1066, U.S. Income Tax Return for Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduit; • Form 706, U.S. Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return; • Form 706-NA, U.S. Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return; • Form 709, U.S. Gift (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return; • Form 1120-ND, Return for Nuclear Decomm.Funds & Certain Related Persons; • Form 1120-RIC, U.S. Income Tax Return for Regulated Investment Companies; • Form 1120-C, U.S. Income Tax Return for Cooperative Associations; • Form 1120-REIT, U.S. Income Tax Return for Real Estate InvestmentTrusts; • Form 1120-L, U.S. Life Insurance Company Income Tax Return; • Form 1120-PC, U.S. Property and Casualty Insurance Co Income Tax Return; • Form 1128, Application to Adopt, Change or Retain a Tax Year; • Form 3520, Annual Return To Report Transactions With Foreign Trusts and Receipt of Certain Foreign Gifts; • Form 3520-A, Annual Information Return of Foreign Trust With a U.S. Owner; • Form 8453 series, Form 8878 series, and Form 8879 series regarding IRS e-file Signature Authorization Forms; and • Form 8038 series, pertaining to tax-exempt bonds. This memorandum is effective for the forms listed above, that are signed and postmarked from January 1, 2021 through June 30, 2021. The above information was taken from the IRS memorandum of Dec 11th that is linked to here in this JoA article.

I have a client who just sent me their info to complete 2018 1040. She inquired as to when it would be completed, to which I reminded her of the million(s) of pieces of mail sitting in tractor trailers at the service centers. She agreed that it will be best to wait until the January 2021 e-filing opens, especially since they expect a sizeable refund.

ATX's notice last night states they will d/c business efiling as of 6 pm on 12/22.

I like IRS worksheets to see how numbers flow, especially for something new or different. But definitely get used to how your software works re EIP reconciliation. I remember the first year of HSA deductions and an early-season client. I looked at all my entries, was getting the bottom line I expected, and the 1040 had the numbers right. I had not stepped through the Form 8889 line-by-line, though, because this was one of my rare clients that liked to sit here while I prepared her return. She got home and called me about a number on a wrong line, appearing that she rolled over into an HSA, I think. Luckily, that wrong line yielded the same result -- but I was embarrassed. (That client now lives across the country, so I have a good excuse to prepare her returns without her in my office.) I learned to step through new forms thoroughly, not just data entry but also each line on the final form as it will be filed, no matter how much a client is pushing me to finish!

Let's not get off track by delving into the whys and wherefores or by choosing up sides here because we aren't going to go there. We're all trying our best to get the work done and keep our clients happy while the IRS and every other business sorts out how best to continue operating under extenuating circumstances.

@PossiI don't know if you have the correct perspective on this situation. I would love to have 3 Million clients returns in backlog who could not go to another business to get their tax work done. I think the IRS must have hired some Ivy League MBA to create their business plan. It is brilliant. Tom Modesto, CA

Don't know whether I'm in the right place for this message or not. My seminars keep referring to the ever-forthcoming IRS worksheet to calculate or reconcile the stimulus payment received in 2020. Basis for calculation is 2020 statistics, but I understand there won't be any repayment to the IRS if the taxpayer has been overpaid. Has anyone seen the IRS worksheet?

The Internal Revenue Service cautioned electronic return originators Monday about a new identity theft scheme aimed at holders of Electronic Filing Identification Numbers from fraudsters posing as IRS contractors. The IRS said the fraudsters suggest they are contacting the EROs to verify or check on their EFIN acceptance letter. The scammers may then ask the ERO to email them a copy of the EFIN acceptance letter and provide a phone number to call for questions. “As with all scams, this one can evolve and the elements may change,” said the IRS in an email to tax professionals. “EROs should remain vigilant and take steps to protect their identities and taxpayer data.” https://www.accountingtoday.com/news/irs-warns-of-new-scam-targeting-e-filers

There was also a similar announcement earlier this month specifically related to Forms 2848 and 8821. The IRS news release said the they wanted practitioners to be aware that this would not speed up the processing time for these forms.

Isn't efiling the real better option?

For the good news, one of our kids, in the health care field, will get a vaccine this month. He has been living in a self imposed bubble, as he sees and deals with the death, and cannot bear the thought of bringing the virus to anyone outside the hospital. I doubt he will pop his bubble, as he reminds us the vaccine has not been tested to see if it stops the recipient from spreading. Many in the health care field are doing the same as he is. What they are doing for the rest of us reminds me there is good in the world, even if we do not see it among the bad. Yesterday, for instance, they had 200 staff out sick. They have had over 200 staff test positive. And this is in a major facility with the top safety protocols... Remember, all the available bed count numbers have nothing to do with space available, it has everything to do with the number of staff who can strap up that shift. As odd as it is to say, if those working at the IRS have to slow things down, so be it. They have families too. It is our responsibility to handle our "business". If we get in a position of balance due, or balance owed, it was our own fault, and we should not complain at the consequences.

Appears on page 57 of instructions, and I suppose it is ready to use if they don't change it. Thanks Lion.

I would write across the top in red ink, "Resubmitted With Requested Forms"

See the DRAFT instructions for Form 1040 Line 30: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-dft/i1040gi--dft.pdf Your software will have its own version of the data entry.

We need to get together at Rita's farm (or is it a cemetery?) again. If TN EA Society has a seminar this summer, I can go back again. That was fun meeting you all. Tom Modesto, CA

No. No. No. We are not. When the government makes so many intrusions into our life, demanding we do work for them, with no thought or allowance for our personal issues or struggles, then they should be treated the same way. If the NBA can put a bubble up and complete their season, then the IRS should be able to do the same. Put them all in a hotel next to the service centers and make them work from the bubble until the backlog is completed. Sorry to sound so unfeeling or uncaring. I know the people who work there are our neighbors, but the job needs to get done and I don't see a sense of urgency from the service to do the work of the people that they are charged to do. Tom Modesto, CA

Aren't we being a little too harsh on the beleaguered IRS? The virus shut them down at the worst possible time (must be one of Murphy's laws). Unlike most of us, their employees can't just take home a box of unopened mail containing sensitive taxpayer data to work on there. At one time they had several lots the size of football fields of tractor trailers filled with mail, so they are making progress. At the same time they had to get out a zillion economic stimulus payments. Then they must have had a hundred zillion phone calls about it (a few zillion more than we had). Then there were the PPP loans and another few zillion calls and a zillion tons of new paperwork. I think they've pulled off something close to a miracle by handling all this. They only have a few million pieces of mail left to open AND prepare for the upcoming filing season. Piece of cake. A bright spot is that since so many employees working from home were set up with phones, call wait times were reduced this year. Credit where credit is due.

The IRS has been understaffed and underfunded since 2011. This situation is like slow moving avalanche moving downhill. It will not be fixed anytime soon.