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"Jonnelle Marte notes that the new measures do not change the deadline for when employers need to send W-2 forms with taxpayer information to the IRS - a move that would give the agency a chance to verify returns before issuing..." That speaks volumes. Verify the W2s before allowing any return to be filed. So your refund is late. Big deal. If you are getting WITHHOLDING back, adjust your withholding so that you aren't getting a big fat refund. If you are getting any refundable tax credits, "free money," you can wait for it. It's not right that somebody can walk into any tax office and walk out with thousands of OUR tax dollars, many times using OUR tax dollars to pad the pockets of companies who overcharge and hide the fees by withholding the fee from the refund. I love what I do. And I only do taxes. But in my 20 year career, it sickens me to no end the money that is given away fraudulently. Verifying the W2's and doing away with refundable tax credits would clean house. CLEAN. HOUSE. Why does that seem so simple to me? Am I right?

Heinlein said there may be no one you wish to vote FOR -- but there will inevitably be someone to vote AGAINST. Sometimes that is as good as it gets. Unfortunately. I do wish, sometimes, that I would have to agonize over the better of two good candidates rather than the less slimy and disgusting of two.

This may sound political BUT IS NOT -- it applies to all parties (unfortunately). Cynical - YES /// political -- no. Fixing the tax code for politicians (and other government programs i.e. social security, Medicare, etc.) is not in their (politicians) best interest. PLEASE NOTE: It is in the interest of the "people" but that is different from what is best for politicians. The fixes for the IRS are all basically simple and have been discussed in detail here and also in congress --- require earlier reporting, later filing and matching, etc.. All will help alleviate the unwanted (by the "people") problems. It is the same for Medicare and social security amongst other programs -- a Medicare fraud article in AARP magazine ended by saying ---- we needed to not only figure a way to watch for fraud but need to convince people -- not to commit it, in the first place. Herein lies the "other shoe" for politicians --- rather than make people personality responsible and if they commit fraud ---/// timely; take everything they have and any possible part of any gain - including costs to "get them" ---- thus making it UNPROFITABLE and BOTHERSOME TO DO /// LOOSE everything /// more people would decide not to "do damage to others" for their own profit, etc.. Currently (and foreseeable future) no one in congress (or other levels (lower and/or higher) will do what needs done because it will not only lower their own power base and not be profitable for them BUT given many do eventually get caught --- possibly make them accountable and they might "loose everything" when caught. Shame, but I am at a lost of where to choose, etc. - I still recommend voting even though we are usually picking the "best of the worst" BUT EVENTUALLY --- we might get back up there where we are picking better and better --- as time goes on. rant/temporally over.

Did no one see the (s) after the title?

Personally, I've always considered offering financial advice to be an inherent conflict with tax preparation services, an insurmountable ethical breach. (But then I also think it's unethical for banks to offer brokerage services, so I guess I'm just too old-fashioned in this area.) On the other hand, I see so many instances of people getting ripped off by financial advisors that I want to do something to help them. I've settled on telling them that I don't trust anyone who is paid to give so-called financial advice, and to point out that over 85% of financial advisors can't even consistently beat a simple low-cost total market index fund. (If it weren't for "survivor bias", the figure would be even higher). I urge them to read John Bogle's work in this area in order to learn that the "financial advisor" industry is a huge scam. Sadly, most won't do the simple math, nor will they take the time to learn the basics. And so they keep coming in with these statements clearly designed to obfuscate the facts & hide the reality that their financial advisor is looking out for nobody but himself.

Louisiana is continuing to take bold steps in fighting tax fraud by making a good many of my clients receiving refunds of $25 to $50 pass an identity test (No Joke)! Another preparer recently told me her client received a refund check in the mail for over $5,000. The only problem was that her client had not yet filed his tax return. It was a fraudulent return and the refund was rejected as a direct deposit by the bank as the name on the account did not match the taxpayers name. Rather than running an identity check as they do with $25 refunds, a paper check was issued. Good thing the taxpayer was honest as he would have been able to keep the refund without any questions as Louisiana doesn't match W-2 withholding information. As IRS has repeatedly (for years) stated in our seminars the biggest fraud problem lies in the earned income credit, it's not surprising that still no action is being taken on those returns on either the Federal or State level. Government waste......

​Judy -- it is still available, but the extra discount is gone. Or may still be available, it's not midnight yet.... The code was NATPEVENT

It's close enough to me that I wish I'd known about it sooner. I'm not a member of NATP, so I didn't know about the expo being in Philly.

Oooh, sharing ideas with Intuit about keeping information safe - now isn't THAT a great idea all by itself! /sarc