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After lots of pressure from many different sources: WASHINGTON — The IRS said Monday it will suspend the use of facial recognition technology to authenticate people who create online accounts after the practice was criticized by privacy advocates and lawmakers. The agency said it would no longer use a third-party service, called ID.me, for facial recognition. Critics of the software said the database could become a target for cyberthreats. They also expressed concern about how the information could be used by other government agencies, among other concerns.

"The Internal Revenue Service is temporarily re-assigning 1,200 employees to the frontlines of a challenging 2022 tax season to deal with a daunting backlog of last year’s paper returns and mail from taxpayers. People who have worked as customer-service representatives, tax examiners and clerks in the IRS’s “accounts management” operations during the last two fiscal years are some of the existing staffers that the tax collection agency is gathering for its “Inventory Surge Team,” IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig explained in a message to staffers on Wednesday evening. “This is an all-hands-on-deck situation to help people as quickly as possible, and reduce the stress on employees who have been and continue to face unprecedented levels of inventory to be worked,” Rettig’s message said. The IRS is looking at various ways to help taxpayers and the temporary reassignment of 1,200 employees is one way to do it, a spokesman said. The employees will remain in their re-assigned roles through September, he said."

Check to see if question 2 or 3 jump you to question 6.

E-file the return and hit receive ack right away because it should reject instantly then you can go back into the client, recreate the efile, and it will fix.

It's not a new problem, it's one of the reasons I decided to leave ATX 4 years ago.

If there is a refund, you can e-file with zero AGI. If no refund and no income, you cannot e-file. (See Rev. Proc. rp-22-12 Section 4 for the IRS approved method of adding $1 interest.)

NJ PTE payments must be made online.. https://www.state.nj.us/treasury/taxation/ptepmtsystem.shtml

Margaret, it sounds like you have what few do: Enough. You don't need to make the big bucks, or hustle for more and more clients, or earn 80% in the market each year. You have what you need and are comfortable with, which is enough. Good for you. This concept came from Warren Buffet before he was richer than God. He was at a party with many zillionaires and someone asked him if he wasn't a bit envious. He replied no, because he had what none of them would ever have, Enough.

Beginning next Saturday, some IRS offices will be open for in person assistance: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-taxpayer-assistance-centers-open-on-special-saturdays-for-face-to-face-help

Thank you, Catherine. Will try to look for some guidance on the FTB site. I don't see any adjustments I can make on the CA side on Drake. Back to researching!

Sara EA, thanks for your concern about my rates but I have only about 45 clients, work only during the season, all 1040 with just a sprinkling of rentals or small Sch. C's. I downsized from businesses and payrolls, etc. about 10 years ago when my other CPA retired. I make enough money to cover expenses and pay for dive trips and a little extra. I take no new clients unless referred and are maybe extended family members and lose about as many as gained annually, usually to simpler returns. At 75 with a license expiring end of this year, I just may call it. Or not and go for 3 more years. I enjoy the 10 or so weeks of work and keeping the little gray cells somewhat active. And I love my clients. The biggest reasons for the low income last year are tiny home office deduction, nearly all free CPE from online webinars, QCD's from my RMDs, living off savings while my husband waited to begin his RMDs this year, and very little taxable SS for us. As I mentioned, 2022 will be a killer year for taxes as his income shoots way up and 85% of our SS will be taxable. We will never be in the EIC situation again which was why I questioned it. I agree with your other observations about Medicare, etc. Some things, well, a lot of things, just don't make sense - like me qualifying for EIC when we actually have a lot of nontaxable income in SS. But I will follow the recommendation and add to my Roth. One of them return 23.86% last year and the other was 18.36%. I'll go with the higher one knowing that past performance is no guarantee of future returns. Since inception in 1999, it has an 8.94% average so I'm okay with that!

The expanded EITC is for 2021 only. If congresspeople can stop making faces at one another long enough to get some work done, they may choose to extend it. Actually, now that full retirement age has been extended to 66-67 years for some cohorts, another thing that needs changing is the age for Medicare. Hey congress, people are still working at age 65 so why shouldn't they get EITC like 64 year olds? Many employers make employees go on Medicare at 65 and the work plan becomes secondary insurance, an unnecessary hassle because people have to write checks for their Medicare because they aren't yet collecting SS. Margaret, if you are a CPA making little enough to qualify for EITC, you really have to raise your prices!

Yes it can. Also, consider making a Roth IRA contribution, including Spousal Roth, to get the Retirement Savers Credit. I have an older client who works just enough each year to max out the Roth, just so they can get the credit. It's hard to pass up on free money!

I don't see any difference between this and a scholarship that becomes taxable in order to get the credit. Since this is new this year and unique, your guess is as good as mine but I hope someone else can give you a better answer.

I never have to delete and re-add. I just recreate the e-file and it fixes it and changes the submission ID to have the correct year.

No, NFTs are not the same as cryptocurrency. While they both have unique blockchain identifiers, NFTs cannot be used to buy something, that's why they are referred to as Non Fungible. Most NFTs are digital artwork, although there are exceptions. I disagree with the "Lots and lots of unknowns" categorization.

In the few classes I've taken/articles I've read on cryptocurrency, NFTs usually come up. Apparently there's no official guidance but what I hear/read is that, for now, treating NFTs as you would crypto is probably the best you can do. Property. But do you treat NFT like inventory, then inventory. Did you create it; in biz. Did you receive it for something you did? Then could be compensation, earned income, or could be interest for tying up your NFT/crypto. Selling; you have your basis. No wash sales, though, at least until 2023. Buy something else with it/swap it; probably a sale. Lots and lots of unknowns.