Leaderboard

Given the overall current circumstances that the IRS employees have to work under, it must be a really frustrating place to work.

The 5 year rule applies only to earnings. The basis can be withdrawn at anytime, no tax, no penalty..

I have talked with many of my fellow tax professionals and I keep hearing that if the mess at the IRS does not get cleaned up they will be leaving the field. They are tired of spending hours replying to IRS letters on simple matters and then getting no reply to the letters for months and months. Clients waiting over a year for amended returns to be processed. Clients continually call to see what is going on and then are upset when you tell you don't know, waiting on the IRS to respond. And you can not get through to anyone on the phone, and when you do, the person can not (or will not), help to fix the matter. Clients are frustrated, tax professionals are frustrated, and the IRS just doesn't seem to care.

It only took seven months, but we finally got our refund. No letters or anything and thanks for the interest!

F0urScoreAnd7YearsAgo (not one I use)

It's not like this isn't a societal thing. I've seen many offices with passwords on sticky notes attached to computers, and poor passwords are very popular. Longer passwords are better, and they can simply be a phrase or random words, with some substitutions of symbols and numbers (Allalongthew@tcht0wer).

In the first post, Tom said that all contributions had already been withdrawn and used for college.

Yes, because he has had the account for at least 5 years, he can withdraw up to $10K penalty free under that exclusion as long as he meets the requirements for a first-time home buyer.

Not one that I use: J@ck@jwuth2f@p0w = Jack and Jill went up the hill to fetch a pail of water. I like it because it's mnemonics except for the first word, Jack. I find all of these easy to remember.

"Wanted: Receptionist. If you are good, you will do anything and everything." That also included answering random tax questions. Although, in reality, many of my co-workers became clients and still are. (If you are going to do it at all, do it well! After many years, I finally found an assistant who does it well, most of the time). I once worked for a Tax and Accounting firm where I ended up being the boss and the Boss became the Receptionist. I give her all the credit in the world for training me well. I went on to build my own business and she constantly consulted me. We did remain friends until she retired and beyond. The bottom line is; do your job well. Prepare your client's return as if it were your own.

Had one of these! Less than 2 weeks after e-file (3/14), client received (DD) an odd amount - not an even dollar amount. Early August, they received an additional "odd amount" (Total was, within reason, the refund amount plus interest). I was never able to get to the PPL, nor was the client able to contact the IRS. No explanation whatsoever!

You need to fill out Part III of Form 8606. In some cases you can avoid the penalty but not the tax.

Well said. Tom Longview, TX

Recently there was a lengthy article detailing multiple security problems at many different IRS programs. A recipe for failure: Too many tax law changes, not enough employees, not enough funding, lurching from one tax year to the next tax year putting out one fire after another. As I have said before, 'A slow moving train wreck headed downhill." Long range planning is not a strength of our elected representatives!

All we can do is admit that we're not perfect and we make mistakes too.

I do tell my client's that it's close enough for government work, those that I think will appreciate how broken our government is when it comes to taxes. But there are clients that demand to know why I "did something wrong."

Lion, we being accountants are used to being precise. Given the stressful conditions the IRS and other governmental agencies are dealing with, "reasonably close" may be all we can expect.

Is the exact amount really important? As long as the client receives more than the refund claimed on the return, and the excess is reasonably close to the amount expected when interest is added, I tell them to deposit the check. I don't understand why some checks will show the interest in a small notation on the lower-left while other checks don't, but it isn't worth the trouble to inquire.

I had several clients who benefited; especially self-employed. I have a feeling that may be gone this year.

Yeah, Uber, Lyft and other gig tech high flyers spent Millions and Millions of dollars on misleading ads getting that passed. Money gives you power

My son did that several years ago when the limit was $4000. It made a huge difference and he is now set with real estate. I'm not sure of any requirement that the 10% penalty exemption is restricted to contributions. It seems a bit confusing to have exceptions but not for earnings, too. I did not look at IRC Sec. 408A(d), the reference given in Quickfinders.

Well, I just received my final acceptance from the IRS for my last return on extension. I am officially retired. I started preparing taxes in the '80s with H&R Block, bought a franchise in 1991 then sold it in 1997 after doubling the business. Started doing some returns for friends and investment clients using ATX (with the bunny hop) making only house calls. I joined this community after ATX dropped the previous version. I am thankful for the advice and assistance I have received from various members over the years. I will continue to lurk on the forum in the future. Good Bye and thanks to all. Joel

Yes, underpayment of SUT, Workers Compensation Insurance Premiums & other state and local taxes plus penalties and interest.

Only heard the stories. For CT, the phrase most often used is the Audit from H%!L.

Ouch! I think I am looking at 3 years. But I don’t know that my clients will allow it.