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I used to teach taxes (first for Tax-Aide, then for HRB and local chapter of FSEA) but somewhere along the way I apparently lost the ability to explain taxes to anyone.

Be sure to advise about the IP PIN requirements. These are some small things compared to the i.d. theft, but clients should know before getting an IP PIN: The IP PIN is permanent and can't ever be cancelled, and it will be required to e-file each year forever. A new IP PIN IS issued each year at the beginning of filing season. If taxpayers move during the year, they must file form 8822 for IRS to send the subsequent years' PINs to the correct address, or filing will be delayed until the new PIN is retrieved. This is easier now with clients being able to set up IRS account access, but who knows what security measures and hurdles will be in place in future.

A good primal scream out in the backyard works too.

I'd love to hear their arguments / thought process. Have a client who inherited about $5m from her brother and had NO CLUE it was coming (he was much younger, they didn't really talk, died unexpectedly and had no one else in his life). Every time I talk with her she's royally ticked off that she owes taxes on the income. Um, you retired expecting to live on $40k, now live on $200k per year and you are upset?

https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-provides-tax-inflation-adjustments-for-tax-year-2024

Start with Form 14039. I have had two; the same client two years in a row. I believe that it took about ten months before he got his refund.

Sorry, I lost you at “JohnH has a tax-preparation and consulting business in North Carolina, which makes $100,000 per year.”

I'm such a dunder brain. Client withdrew $250,000 from an IRA and had no withholding, but there is no way he can possibly owe taxes because he withdrew it over several months and not all at one time. Absolutely no way. After a 30 minute conversation (30 minutes that I'll never get back) and haranguing my staff for another 30 minutes, unfortunately, we still do not understand. I wish I were better at my job. Do you think if I recommend one of the big box preparers they might have someone who could understand more easily? I would say Rita hugs all the way around, but I'm in no mood to be that close to him or his offspring, who came to join the 'this has to be wrong' chorus. Happy Wednesday.

https://dor.georgia.gov/life-act-guidance

geez. no social security number necessary? really. and I love "this deduction would not trigger an audit on its own"

I do tax returns for a lot of states, but thank goodness I have NO and never had any and will NOT accept any Georgia clients.

Someone told him about the 72(t) rule that can avoid the 10% early withdrawal penalty if the distributions are determined as a series of substantially equal periodic payments, and he heard it as "avoid tax" and never made it all the way to how the payments must be determined !! You can bang your head against the wall or give him a Rita hug, but he knows he will "avoid tax."

You have the tax season sillies! It's better than crying, but that works too.

Thank you all. Appreciate you. My clients think I am a hero... We are paper filing with the 14039 attached. Proof of dependency is also being attached to paper return (Birth Certs, Passports, College enrollment docs). It required a phone call to AXT support to find out which SS# was compromised. Taxpayers are taking steps to freeze credit, call banks, etc. Tom Longview, TX

OMG, I am laughing so hard and I don't know why. Thank you @Catherine Tom Longview, TX

one change I've noticed in IRS procedure--they no longer issue an IP PIN when taxpayers submit Form 14039 (or at least with two of my clients who filed the form). So they will have to still apply-- https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/get-an-identity-protection-pin

Yup; those links and Form 14039.

SMLLCs are disregarded, so the IRS was correct. Now if the operating LLC was taxed as an S corp, then the S corp could pay rent to the other disregarded LLC.

You could send a PM to Terry D EA. I believe he had had his own identity stolen several years ago.

https://www.identitytheft.gov/#/Steps https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/taxpayer-guide-to-identity-theft https://www.irs.gov/individuals/how-irs-id-theft-victim-assistance-works You can give them the checklist and answer questions but they are going to do a lot of the work.

My favorite is "Why is my 401(K) distribution included on my return? I already paid the tax (pointing to the withholding box). It shouldn't be on my return." Some people are convinced they are "paying" the tax twice and can't grasp the concept that the withholding is just a prepayment of the tax that is going to be due, not the tax itself.