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The e-signature for a 2848 also has to be approved by the taxpayer through their own online account. Forget that! Not sure I have even one client whom I would trust to do that correctly. I have uploaded wet-signed-and-scanned 2848s to the online submission portal and had them accepted. Faster than faxing them! As far as I've ever been able to tell, Memphis CAF uses the faxed pages as paper airplanes. They don't seem ever to get them entered. I always faxed to Ogden - those at least get entered.

I think you have a good grasp on this. They need to do a couple things: #1 DON'T MESS UP THE CURRENT PAYMENT AGREEMENT. Stay on schedule at all costs. #2 manage the withholding so that he pays more and she pays little or none. Then you don't have to worry about innocent spouse #3 make sure the property that has a lien on it stays out of the marital property. Those liens can be vague and apply to "all bank accounts" so a joint account might bring her assets in a joint account under the lien. Make sure you client knows what the lien covers. Tom Longview, TX

"In some of our reports, we called IRS customer service numbers and made tax payments. These techniques help us understand the experience you have interacting with the IRS ─ and opportunities to improve it. Here’s a snapshot of what we've found. We called 102 IRS customer service telephone numbers during this year’s tax filing season. We found that 21 of the lines placed us on hold for more than 30 minutes before we ended the call. We made tax payments with cash at retail stores that partner with the IRS. We described the process as convenient (especially for taxpayers without bank accounts) and determined our payments were applied timely and accurately to our tax accounts. We created 5 fictitious organizations and applied for tax-exempt status using a simplified application form (Form 1023-EZ) to test its effectiveness. The IRS approved 4 of our applications ─ and included them on a list of organizations that can receive tax deductible." The approval of 4 fictitious non profits is troubling.

I'd expand a bit on Tom's advice. This is an instance where I'd advise thinking long and hard about putting any assets into joint names. The operating checking account (for the electric bill and groceries and the like) should be fine, but I'd keep everything else separate. Further, if the financially stable person has any health issues or is in a risky profession, the couple should talk to a trust attorney and consider if that person's assets be placed in a trust whose secondary beneficiary is the spouse-to-be, for their benefit but not for their ownership. This gets into legal areas and I'm not giving legal advice - just advice to talk to someone able to give legal advice! Trustee who is not the liened spouse would have to be chosen, perhaps a trigger for wrapping up the trust once the IRS issues are resolved (or not, if the spouse-to-be is still bad with money). It would not be simple or cheap, but possibly less expensive (and peace-of-mind-bringing) than the idea of leaving substantial assets in the hands of one with a track record of making poor choices and bad decisions.

A family law attorney practicing in NC would be a good resource for person # 1.

We have the FinCen requirements on our annual document checklist, but for 2023 I'm putting it in the engagement letter, too. As soon as the draft comes out and I can edit it.

I think you are reading that incorrectly @Lee B. I think they were testing to see if the system worked properly for taxpayers filing for Tax Exempt status and they got an 80% success rate. I don't think they were trying to see if the IRS would catch 5 obviously bogus claims. If that was the case and 80% of the bogus claims for tax exempt status were being approved I would whole-heartedly agree with you. Tom Longview, TX

Then med insurance premiums up to that amount including LTC and medicare (but see below) are deductible. See section 162(l). If under a sec 105 plan, then not taxable. However, the medicare reimbursement would be considered a subsidized health plan; therefore the remaining 25% would not be deductible as SEHI, but that does not effect supplemental or LTC. I am not aware of anything in the code that would prevent a new retiree from starting up a part time business and make just enough to cover his and hers health insurance premiums.

I prepare my own engagement letter based on the one provided by AICPA. For additional information, I also have a cover letter where I remind people about FINCEN filing if applicable, my current year rate and other items. For many forms you can customize but I don't see that form/letter in the list. Perhaps someone else who uses it may reply.

The new postings are usually Tue-Sat. For me, just after midnight PT.

Generally retiree health insurance benefits are not taxable. But in this case the reimbursements are not part of a group plan so the reimbursements are probably taxable income. Second SEHI is limited to Schedule C Taxable Income. The OP doesn't mention whether the clients Schedule C makes a profit. Also, how old is his wife is she still working and does she have access to group health benefits?

Ours recently had two weeks of in patient rotation with repeated issues of things not moving, requiring manual assistance. Dues paying, but also very enlightening.

thanks.. got the same email!

With both of your questions, I had a 2553 denied for improper signature from Verifyle who is approved by the IRS. They required a wet signature. I had this looked into by an upper level person from the IRS whom I met in a tax update class and the response was "wet signature" For the 2848 I have had them accept a digital signature and reject a digital signature. I've not ever been successful using the online method or the account method to obtain a 2848. so again, to save headaches, I just get a wet signature and be done with it.

I don't use social media because of their excessive data mining which is used by hackers and other purveyors of malware.